JUST 80 minutes separate Hampshire Under-20S from a return to Twickenham.

The 2002 champions reached the last four of this year's competition with a satisfactory 18-12 success over Oxfordshire, although they almost let it slip towards the end.

Having cruised into a 15-0 interval lead through tries by back-row pairing Richard Herring and Mark Turner, coupled with a conversion and a penalty by Dan Neville, Hampshire were safely in the box seat.

Neville's second penalty extended the advantage but the visitors dropped away to allow Oxfordshire two tries in quick succession to keep them interested.

But Hampshire held on to book their place in the semi-final. They have been given the best chance of progressing to their second final in four years with a home tie against Cheshire, likely to be at Trojans on Sunday, May 8.

Manager Peter Allen had mixed feelings over the result, although he praised the forwards.

"They were outstanding, and well led by Lloyd Staszkiewicz, returning from injury and playing his first game back," he said.

"However, we were much better than the score suggested but went to sleep at 18-0, so I am pleased but a little disappointed we didn't convert all our possession into points."