Twickenham here we come! How Horsham RFC beat St Austell to set up trip to HQ

Horsham will play Old Northamptonians at rugby HQ at 5pm on Sunday after beat St Austell in the Papa John’s Cup semi-final in front of a large, buzzing Coolhurst crowd last Saturday.

Three tries by Declan Nwachukwu secured the win but Stocker said Horsham’s excellent defence had been key on a day when the team were not at their fluent best. See 13 pictures from the match here.

Now all at the club are looking forward to a huge day out, with a large number of fans likely to be present to cheer on their heroes.

Horsham overcame talented, spirited St Austell in a game that displayed the best of community rugby in terms of passionate support, committed play and nerves as befitting any major semi-final.

Horsham came out on top but will have reflected that their performance included too many unforced errors. But Horsham's defence was miserly, and again it stood firm - especially in the tense final minutes which saw them close out the game and spark scenes of joy.

Early, possession was granted to St Austell, but Horsham's defence coped. And when on eight minutes they secured possession, forwards and backs moved the ball deep into the Saints 22m and, after 23 phases, a grubber kick from Joe Blake saw Declan Nwachukwu dot down and score out wide, Oli Chennel converting excellently.

St Austell kicked the ball to the corner and despite being repelled initially, maintained composure and mauled the ball over the line for a converted try, 7-7.

On 38 minutes, Horsham put together several phases and with Saints infringing at the breakdown, Chennel stepped up and converted a penalty from 30m for a 10-7 interval lead.

Early in the second half Nwachukwu was given 5m of space, rounded the last man and stepped inside the full-back to finish under the posts for a try converted by Chennel, 17-7.

Saints surged back into the Horsham half and converted a penalty. Then a wayward exit kick found the Saints 15 in space, his mazy run from the halfway saw an excellent finish - the conversion making it 17-17.

On 60 minutes a kick through was needlessly checked by Tom Johnson with cover in behind and he had 10 minutes in the bin. Josh Earle followed him for a high tackle, leaving Horsham with 13 men.

Despite conceding one penalty to give Saints the lead on 70 minutes, Horsham weathered the storm to gain belief that they win it.

Restored to full complement, a scrum was moved swiftly to Nwachukwu who rounded the defence and powered through the last tackle to finish expertly – 22-20. St Austell pressed... until Horsham secured possession to clinch the win.

Delighted Stocker said: “We are hugely pleased to have got over the line in this very tense match.

"The contrasting scenes at the end show just how much this meant to both sets of players and clubs and shows the magic of any cup run, particularly at community level with the opportunity of a lifetime at stake and the chance to play on the hallowed turf of Twickenham.

"St Austell were excellent throughout and hugely gracious in defeat where players and supporters were a huge credit to their club. We have made new friends forged in the crucible of a tough rugby match played in the best of spirits.

"In our colder coaching opinion, we never settled and too many unforced errors gave away possession and field position against a well drilled team with some X-factor players and an excellent lineout operation.

"Despite this, our defence was excellent and limited a dangerous side throughout.

"The final quarter, down to 13 men showed the character of the team and when you have that, you are never out of the fight.

"In a match that was finely balanced throughout, we managed to convert three of our four opportunities, all of which fell to Declan Nwachukwu and that proved enough of a difference.

"He was quite rightly awarded player of the match by our opponents as he was simply unplayable.

"We would like to publicly thank St Austell for their huge part in what was a tremendous club occasion. A true community club with a great spirit.”