Racers remain on course for cup treble

Racing Club beat ten-man Bloxwich to make it three cup wins on the bounce and reach the quarter-final of the Les James Challenge Cup.

The hosts had Lewis Perry sent off in the 17th minute only to take a deserved lead two minutes later courtesy of a Neil Grainger penalty. Racers improved after the break and equalised in the 61st minute through Myron Semper.

As the hosts tired, Racing Club added further goals in the last five minutes through Paul Hunter and Michael Crawford to set up a last-eight tie at Stretton Eagles.

“We hadn’t had a game for a month or more whereas they’d played all over Christmas and it showed,” said Racers boss Lee Knight. “We struggled to get to grips with the pace of the game and even after the sending-off they were the better team for 15 minutes.

“However, in the second half we showed our quality and the lads were superb.

“We threw Paul Hunter on for 20 minutes and even at 45 years of age he changed the game.”

Racers return to league action tomorrow with a trip to Pelsall before entertaining Pilkington XXX in the Birmingham Midweek Cup quarter-final on Tuesday evening (7.45pm).