The punches were flying at Aviation Way -- but it was Westcliff who rose above it to book a place in the Essex President's Shield semi-final.

Visitors Wanderers -- a mixture of players from Writtle Agricultural College and Anglia Poly -- came out aggressively and took a 6-0 lead after Westcliff conceded two early penalties.

But the home side came back hard and scored their first try when a charged down clearing kick was touched down by Nick Sigwart. It was then that the game got out of hand, with punches thrown before the referee won back control.

Geoff Barr was giving the Wanderers back line some trouble and combined with Matt Evans to supply Paul Radley for the go-ahead score which made it 10-6.

From there, Westcliff never looked back as they camped out in the Wanderers half.

Sam Newbury barged through with a host of defenders on his back for a try. He was followed over by Matt Evans and Dashiell Allum (twice) as Westcliff ran up the score.

Published Tuesday, January 14, 2003

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