On Saturday, Havant 1st XV continued their PapaJons Cup journey with a semi-final against Heath R.U.F.C who hailed from just outside Halifax, Yorkshire.

Hooks Lane was packed, swelled by over 100 traveling fans and the locals turning out in numbers to see if Havant could make the final.

Will Knight had the opportunity to name seven replacements but more importantly, he named an unchanged starting XV from the Camberley game the previous week. One of the replacements was Eddie Lewis making his 1stXV debut.

Havant like last week made a quick start forcing the Heath team into defending their 22 then their 5m line, Joel Knight found space and was over in a flash giving Havant the early lead 7-0.

Heath hit back five minutes later when Havant were penalized at the scrum, Chris Johnson making no mistake 7-3.

The strong running Heath team made headway again but were stopped with an excellent turnover by Wes Dugan and the pressure was relieved by a penalty to halfway.

Minutes later Havant nudged further in front in this cagey game with a big Joel Knight penalty on the 10-meter line 10-3 to the Blue & White hoops. Havant were nearly in for their 2nd try moments later when a lung-bursting run by captain Joel Knight he offloaded to Rory Penfold, but he was stopped as the winger came from nowhere.

Two penalties in almost as many minutes from Chris Johnson made it a one-point game going into the final ten minutes of the half 10-9.

In the next periods of play were Havant trying to extend their lead, firstly Dylan Lawley was caught in the air catching a high ball, and the resulting penalty saw Havant in an excellent field position inside the 22, After some pressure Heath gave a cheap penalty away and Joel Knight made no mistake. 13-9.

Half-time Havant 13 Heath 9

The 2nd period started with a bang, Havant introduce scrum half Jake Hewett to the game after an injury to Ben Holt, the impact was immediate as a clever kick over the top was gathered by an onrushing Cam Smith, he offloaded to Reuben Knight who scored under the posts, brother Joel Knight converted and Havant's lead was 20-9.

Heath were sucker punched some five minutes later when Jake Hewett kick through again, this time he missed the bouncing ball but it was gathered by Wes Dugan who scored to the left of the posts. Jacob Knight added the extras giving Havant a massive 27-9 lead with just over ten minutes gone of the half. The faithful were in full voice by now.

Back came Heath as they pinned Havant in their own half trying to force their way back into the game, their marauding forwards tried punching holes in the Havant defensive wall which was holding firm, built on a solid foundation of playing for each other, and plain old guts.

The pressure finally paid off when Heath scored a couple of well-worked tries. The game was on a knife edge now and the tension around the ground was palpable. Heath's aerial threat and big pack were taking their toll on the Havant defence, once again the faithful rallied the players from the sidelines. Havant kept them out with clever rucking and clearing penalties.

The last ten minutes were pretty much one-way traffic as Heath sought to score another try, but each time they were thwarted by the dogged defence which stuck to its task. Some individual moments of brilliance highlighted the collective defensive effort none more so when Jerome Trail secured an all-important turnover and penalty at a ruck for holding on. The faithful were again in full voice which seemed to lift the players for the final onslaught. The referee's final whistle was a mixture of relief and celebration, wild celebration around the park. Havant through to a Twickenham Final.

A huge shout out to Heath who were not only gentleman on the park but gentleman off it. A credit to your club.

Full-time Havant 27 Heath 21

Will Knight's thoughts after the game
"What a day! The whole occasion has been fantastic!
Heath is a top, top club. Great people and had a very good side that just never gave up.
We showed today how we can play both sides of the ball. Some great scores but I think what defined the game was our defence. It was immense against wave after wave of attacks and the last 10 minutes were crazy.
Thank you to Heath and their fantastic support that made the long trip down and a huge thank you to our own amazing supporters the noise was incredible.
Let's do it all again next week shall we?"