LEEK made it 10 wins out of 10 on home soil to see off Burton 24-5 in the quarter-finals of the Staffordshire Senior Cup.
Leek made light of Burton’s unbeaten away record in a higher division to romp home with plenty to spare.
The tie took time to ignite, and it wasn’t until the 29th minute that Gary McDermott kicked the first points of the day for Leek.
The home side were then rampant against 14 men in first-half overtime as they rattled up 10 unanswered points.
A Luke Granger break set up a couple of rucks from which James Floyd sprinted home for the game’s opening try.
Leek maintained their late first-half pressure to add a McDermott penalty when Burton strayed offside.
The second 40 opened with another McDermott penalty being followed by Burton’s only score, from a five-metre scrum.
But the irrepressible McDermott maintained broad daylight in the scores with his fourth penalty to give the home side a 19-5 lead.
Leek’s superiority was rewarded late in the day with their second try after Burton’s defence was sucked in before Floyd stepped inside for his second.
Leek now face Lichfield in the last four, with Longton playing Walsall in the other semi.
NEWCASTLE skipper Dan Jones bagged a hat-trick of tries to lead his side into the semi-finals of the Staffs Intermediate Cup, courtesy of a 30-20 home win over UTTOXETER.
Newcastle were trailing to an unconverted try when Ronan Evans hit back with a penalty and Jones with his first of that treble.
A further Evans penalty gave Newcastle an 11-8 lead going into the a free-scoring second period.
The two teams swapped tries when Uttoxeter went over before Jones linked superbly with Sam Evans down the left wing to claim his second.
Perhaps the turning point came when Uttoxeter dropped the ball in the opposition half to leave Greg Smalley kicking through and using his football skills to control for Tom Toplass to score.
Jones completed his hat-trick to put the tie out of reach for Uttoxeter who went over for a late consolation try.
MARTIN SPINKS
Rugby Union: Leek and Newcastle through to semis
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