LINDLEY SWIFTS have set up a home semi-final tie against Moldgreen or Meltham All Blacks after a battling 28-22 Holliday Cup quarter-final triumph at Underbank Rangers.
While the Moldgreen clash at the DRAM Centre fell victim to wet weather, the tie at The Cross somehow survived.
Yet even though the match was played in horrendous conditions, both teams played expansively and thoroughly entertained the crowd.
There was little to separate the teams throughout, with the arch rivals locked 12-12 at the break.
Underbank opened the scoring with a try, but the Swifts' response was almost immediate as Olly Brodzinski scampered over from a neat Ritchie Bower offload and Nick Turner converted.
And within minutes Bower, Turner and Ryan Whitaker combined to send Rudi Corion over with his first touch of the ball to score a second Swifts' converted try.
Underbank dug deep and, with the last play of the half, John Birt dummied over from 10m for the equalising score.
The Swifts now had use of the famous Cross slope and were the first to strike through hooker Sam McCluskey after Turner's neat offload.
Again, Bank's never-say-die spirit shone through as they scored from long range following a break from dangerous cenre Marc Hirst.
Second-rower Brodzinksi scored his second from close range when he caught the home defence napping before Hirst raced in to level the scores.
At that stage, the game looked set for extra time.
But Swifts had other ideas.
When Whitaker put Bower through a gap close to the line, he looked certain to score, only to be denied by some brave defending. But from the play-the-ball, Whitaker darted over to seal a stunning success.
It was a win Lindley just about deserved, with scrum half Whitaker (32 tackles) and loose-forward Bower (39 tackles) leading the defence by example.
