Walsall’s Staffordshire Cup semi-final match proved to be a bit of a disappointment to the Delves Road faithful. The hosts were forced to field a team that that had players missing because of injuries and unavailability. They then had further problems, when, after just ten minutes, they lost the services of their influential lock forward Callum Hoy. A leg injury forcing him to leave the field. The visitors secured their first score after just one minute. They reacted quickly to a Walsall handling error and passed the ball quickly for full back Jack Newton-Taylor to race over for their first try which Joe Byrne converted. The hosts reacted quickly and could well have scored a try, but unfortunately the ball was kicked rather than passed to the potential try scorer. Leek than had a period of pressure and scored two tries. A quickly taken penalty resulted in No 8 Ollie Powell going over, and then some good passing saw flanker Connor Bassett scoring wide out. Outside half Joe Byrne converted both to give his team a healthy half time lead.
Early in the second half a fine try by Lucas Cotterell gave the hosts some hope. The young lock forward gathered a loose ball and then made a forty yards, tackle bursting run, for a try which Adam Nunney converted. This seemed to give the Walsall players the determination to launch attacks. But they struggled to secure possession and also suffered two yellow cards. Although, in contrast, the referee seemed rather lenient on some rather dangerous Leek rucking ‘techniques! The hosts did create scoring opportunities during the final ten minutes, but a combination of good Leek defence or passes not given, saw no addition to the scoreboard. The final action of the game resulted in another Leek score as Byrne broke clear for the try which he also converted.