CLEOBURY Mortimer's Twickenham dream lives on after a solitary swing of the boot kept their magical Powergen Junior Vase run rolling in dramatic fashion.

The Mortimer men marched through to the last four after Allan Shields held his nerve to kick the extra-time penalty that settled their quarter-final clash with Old Saltleians.

It was the only score of the match and many of the record 800-plus crowd at Love Lane must have bit their fingernails down to the quicks as Cleobury held on for a 3-0 win.

The victory sets up a semi-final showdown away at London Exiles on February 25 with a showpiece final at Twickenham, the home of rugby, awaiting the winners.

Cleobury had to withstand a concerted early pressure and defended their line with passion and determination against opponents who possessed an excellent lineout and had a slight edge in the attacking backs.

In a pulsating contest, the Mortimer men were more dominant in the scrum and the loose play round the fringes and spurned a chance to score when Shields pushed a penalty wide.

It was developing into a ding-dong battle with excellent play from both sides but for the remainder of the 80-minutes neither side really threatened the other's two-metre area.

Cleobury coped when loose head prop Hylton Smith was sin-binned midway through the match and survived an almighty scare when the Old Salts' kicker missed a penalty from the same spot as Shields near the end of normal time.

With tiredness creeping in, the teams entered 20 minutes of extra time and with the first period drawing to a close Old Salts were penalised for handling on the floor.

The kick was further out that Shields' earlier miss - but his pre-match practice with kicking assistant Tom Redfern paid off as the ball just crept over the bar.

At 3-0 half the home crowd went wild, while the visiting section were in stunned silence as the interval whistle blew.

Cleobury knew that they had to withstand a real barrage to hold on to their advantage and probably faced the most important 10-minutes of their rugby lives.

Old Salts threw everything at the home line, but the Cleobury defence was superb, dealing determinedly with lineouts, five-metre scrums and flowing backs moves.

To add to the drama a last gasp penalty was awarded to the visitors when the excellent match referee adjudged that prop Tony Heap had committed an infringement.

It was in a scorable spot just five yards from the try-line but given the tight angle from the touchline and the lack of faith in their kicker, Old Salts skipper Chris Davies opted to tap and run.

It was a decision they were soon to rue because while a draw would have seen Old Salts progress as the away team, Cleobury defended the penalty easily and held on for a momentous win.

Club spokesman Dave Hinves said: "Great credit must be given to Old Saltleians RFC and their magnanimous supporters.

"Despite the magnitude of the occasion, they contributed to a game played in an excellent spirit."