TENBURY RFC supremo Andy Black insists ‘there is no reason why we can’t reach Twickenham’ after moving within two wins of rugby’s hallowed turf with a gritty derby victory over Clee Hill.

The Palmers Meadow men reached the Midlands Junior Vase final by grinding out a 3-0 win in last Saturday’s semi – and are now within sight of the national final at the home of English rugby.

Midlands Five West North leaders Tenbury – unbeaten this entire season – will host Midlands Four side Mellish, from Nottingham, in the regional final on March 16.

But after beating three Midlands Four levels teams - including Clee Hill in front of a big 400-plus crowd – to get this far, director of rugby Black says they will fear no one.

Black said: “All of our previous rounds have been against higher-division teams. We have a team here that can hold our own and we have proven that.

“We always said we were setting our sights on Twickenham and joked among us about getting there – it’s like one of those Channel 4 ‘dream’ programmes!

“But we were always quietly confident within the club that we had got the right set-up. Again, another team hasn’t crossed our line and our defence has held good.

“The team has worked extremely hard this season and the club has galvanised itself and come together from top to bottom, and this is the culmination of that.

“I think your pint has to be half-full, you have to be positive about these things.

“We are carrying on a proud North Midlands tradition. Cleobury Mortimer got to Twickenham a few years ago, we’ve seen pictures of Droitwich there – I don’t see why we can’t join them.”

The semi-final was decided by a solitary Zack Thompson penalty in the second half, with Tenbury soaking up late Clee Hill pressure to secure their progress.

Black added: “I was confident we were going to win but I knew it would be a tight game, although I didn’t expect it to be quite that tight!

“Both teams tried to run the ball but the tackling was strong. The game flowed from end to end but without either side scoring.

“The last five minutes, we were camped on our own line defending and it was painful to watch but the lads held out.”

Clee Hill, meanwhile, still have a promotion push to focus on – they sit fourth in Midlands Four West North and have a big game at leaders Willenhall this Saturday.

Captain Sam Link said: “It was a very tight game on Saturday, both teams played well and defended heroically.

“At the start of the game, we had a lot of pressure but couldn’t capitalise on Tenbury’s yellow card (for prop Craig Curtis). At the end, we were camped on their five-metre line but they wouldn’t give.

“Now we’ve got the top of the league and it will be a good test of character to see if we can bounce back.”