Hill House School reach Yorkshire Cup semi-finals

The Doncaster school produced a stirring comeback as they came from 14-5 down to reach the last four of the county knockout competition.

Isaac Sprenger scored tries in both halves, while Jonah Tucsemskyi and William Burridge also touched down to seal a memorable victory.

One of the oldest derby matches in the school rugby calendar was played under the floodlights at Doncaster Knights’ Castle Park.

And, despite the cold and wet conditions, the match proved to be a classic encounter with all the passion and effort associated with a derby clash.

Hill House applied some early pressure but a long clearance from Mount’s fly-half led to a turnover and a try to put them 7-0 ahead.

Sprenger crashed through Mount’s defence in response and the game reached half time with the Sheffield school leading 7-5.

Mount extended their lead from the restart as Hill House failed to gather the ball and the conversion moved them 14-5 ahead.

Hill House remained calm, showed some good handling despite the cold and slowly asserted some forward dominance. Some sensational tacking by the backs, led by Henry Westmorland-Smith, saw the Doncaster boys begin to get the upper hand.

A deft chip by Flynn Love-Edwards was collected by Tucsemskyi who finished with outrageous skill to help reduce the deficit to 14-12.

Powerful running by forwards Paul Mellor, Finnan Doody, Henry Jones, Nate Close and Sprenger, and a dominant performance in the lineout by Spencer Butt, then proved decisive.

Firstly Sprenger went over for his second score and then Burridge crossed the line to seal an excellent 26-14 win for Hill House.

Chris Rose, Hill House’s director of rugby, said: “This was a defining performance for these boys.

“To come from behind in these conditions and overcome a strong Mount St.Mary’s team was a tremendous result and they can only improve from here.”

Hill House can now look forward to a semi-final in the new year.