Warriors’ loosehead prop Lewis Holsey was Hartpury’s hero with a try that secured a 19-19 draw against Jersey Reds in the Championship Cup quarter-finals at the Alpas Arena.
Hartpury were 19-7 down at the break but they staged a stirring second-half fightback which denied Jersey a further score and on-loan Holsey rounded it off with a try soon after he came on as a replacement midway through the second period.
Fly-half James Williams, who appeared for Warriors in a Premiership Rugby Cup match at Saracens while on trial three years ago, added the conversion and the sides will meet again in a winner-takes-all second leg on the Channel Islands on Friday.
Former Warriors utility back Scott van Breda scored two first-half tries for Jersey after he returned from ten minutes in the sin bin for a high tackle.
Three Pears Warriors Academy pair Ben Murphy and Cheick Kone helped Luctonians to a 24-7 win against National Two North champions Hull at Mortimer Park.
Loosehead prop Murphy and lock Kone, who have spent most of the season on dual registrations at Luctonians, both came off the bench to help the Herefordshire club end their season with victory over the recently-crowned champions.
A third Three Pears Warriors Academy player, hooker/back-row Finn Theobald-Thomas, also came off the bench for Stourbridge in their 43-28 defeat at Sheffield Tigers in National Two North.