FAIRFORD advanced to the semi-finals of the Stroud and District Intermediate Cup at the expense of rivals Tetbury.

Having lost the toss, Fairford spent the first half contending with a tricky wind, and Tetbury edged ahead with an early drop goal.

The visitors looked capable of scoring at will, such was their superiority of their backs, and Fairford were indebted to full back De Giles for a series of superb cover tackles.

Sadly, De Giles was forced to leave the game early with a broken leg and Fairford had to reshuffle their backs.

The home supporters let out a premature cheer when a lovely exchange of passes between Briggs and Southwell saw Sawyer dive over to open his account for the season.

But the try was chalked off after the referee adjudged the ball to have been dropped before the grounding.

Tetbury came right back and, chasing a long wind-assisted kick, their pack gathered the ball and exposed a gaping gap down the blind side to create a try in the corner.

Fairford winger Stansky then slotted a difficult penalty as the home side turned round 8-3 down at half time.

After some words of encouragement from coach Chris Clarke, Fairford emerged a different side in the second half, as they began to dominate all phases of play.

The crowd were made to wait until the final 10 minutes for a try however, when a clever switch pass from Andrew Botha saw Sofa Bowman crash through the Tetbury defence and off load for skipper Anthony Little to touchdown beneath the posts. Stansky's successful conversion sealed the game by the narrowest of margins.

Fairford now travel to local rivals Minety on March 22 for a semi-final encounter.