LEIGH East's brave promotion chase was ended at the semi-final stage in Cumbria by an Askam side that made the most of their opportunities.

It was a valiant effort from East who fielded three players who until recently have been playing in the clubs second and U-18 teams. Billy Bishop and Louis Else in particular impressed with whole-hearted performances.

Despite a nervous start, East claimed the early advantage, getting down field before a fumble from the hosts.

East were clinical from the scrum and fullback Chris Penn scored a great try with a combination of fast feet and athleticism. Adam Holland goaled but Askam applied pressure. Daniel Sayle saw a try disallowed for a forward pass before a long run by hooker Sam Dowsett set the position and wing Tom Askew flew in at the corner. Sam Dowsett goaled and the sides were level after 12 minutes.

Punishing defence then kept Askam at bay while the hosts handed East a couple of penalties. Holland chose to go for goal with one, but it drifted wide. From the possession though, the visitors launched a counter attack and a last tackle play saw Roden link with Watene who in turn found Grainey and Billy Bishop followed him in support for a try by the posts. This time Holland nailed the kick and it was 12-6 after 21 minutes.

Askam were never far away however and their own dogged defence kept up the pressure. Dowsett proved East's undoing with a brilliant ball from dummy half that sent Tom Wilkinson under the posts. Hooker Dowsett converted and the sides were level at the interval - 12-all.

The second half got off to a scrappy start before the hosts put on a 47th minute scrum play. Adam Jackson drifted left and linked with Russ Bolton for the fullback to sail around a despairing tackler to the line. Once more Dowsett converted from out wide and it was 18-12.

Crucially, the hosts got the next try. Big inroads came from Tom Gaffatt and although he was stopped short, Askam moved play right for Tom Butler to score the hosts second try in three minutes. Dowsett converted to make it 24-12.

It was something of an uneasy lead for Askam and Leigh East responded with some pressure. Grainey did everything he could to get to the line unfortunately grounding short and despite their best efforts, Askam's defence was excellent.

Five minutes from time Askam made sure of the result with a close range score. Sam Dowsett was again the creator with a short kick that was pounced on by Goffatt. The excellent Dowsett also added his fifth goal and the hosts finished with a 30-12 success.