Saracens' last remaining hope of salvaging something from another disappointing season were crushed by Pontypridd in the Parker Pen Shield quarter-finals.

The 17-15 defeat was Saracens' second quarter-final loss in a week, having gone down to Northampton in PowerGen Cup, and they now have only the Premiership to concentrate on.

Yet they had started promisingly. Fly-half Jannie de Beer and Pontypridd's Brett Davey exchanged penalties with de Beer then adding a second.

Pontypridd however scored the first try of the afternoon just before the break after centre Jon Bryant made progress upfield, number eight Michael Owen ending the move with the help of captain Paul John. Davey easily converted to give the Welsh side a 10-6 lead at half-time.

De Beer came back out for Saracens after the break and turned the score around with three penalties, but again Pontypridd bounced back with a superb try by winger Gareth Wyatt. The Welsh side secured possession with a line-up after Davey found touch. Bryant then charged through the gain line with fly-half Ceri Sweeney taking the move on. Wyatt was left to dart through and fend off three Saracens' defenders to score. Again Davey converted to give Pontypridd the decisive lead.

Saracens chief executive Francois Pienaar had no complaints about the result."We deserved to lose. They were far more aggressive and played the game tactically better than us.

"It is a dreadful result because we were two games away from getting into Europe. Our goal is still to finish in the top four of the Premiership but when the chance comes along again we have got to make sure we have learned a lesson from this defeat."

Looking to the semi-finals, Pontypridd boss Lynn Howells said: "We are never confident going into any game but if the performance is as good as today then we have got a good chance. It is just pleasing to be in the semi-finals."