Spartans 14 - Leek 23

Leek continued to use their big centre as their forwards drove close to the rucks, but it was Spartans who were on the score sheet first when, from their first meaningful attack, they drove hard down the right before the ball was passed wide left for Alex Garbett to cross the whitewash. The conversion slipped by the posts but Spartans had an unlikely 5-0 lead, and in the next few minutes a drive into the Leek 22 saw a penalty awarded and Tom Hardy bisected the posts to extend the lead to 8-0. Strong driving play from Leek saw burly centre Shane Dicker held up on the line and penalised for not releasing, but minutes later Leek landed 3 points to reduce the lead to 8-3. From the kick off, Leek’s catch was well met and not releasing gave the Tom Hardy another shot at the posts. He converted and at 11-3 Spartans had worked really hard with everything to play for in the 2nd half.

With the elements behind them, on 46 minutes as Leek pressure built up deep inside the Spartans 22 it led to a penalty on the 5 metre line and strong rucking engaged the Spartans pack allowing the ball finally to move wide right where Dicker crashed over in the tackle to score Leek’s first try. At 11-8, Leek had clearly decided to use their huge pack and ten minutes later Leek’s forwards moved towards the Spartan line with a series of rucks that finally saw them flop over the line. This time they converted and Leek had taken the lead a 15-11 lead. Spartans were not going to lie down and they wrestled possession away from Leek, trying to move the ball across the back line. With Leek were near their own line and in a dangerous position under their own posts a penalty was awarded with Hardy converting to reduce Leek’s lead to the slenderest of margins at 15-14, but with ten minutes left Leek won another penalty which crept over the bar and they edged to a 4 point gap. Spartans were not finished and they attacked well during the last few minutes, but tiring against their supersized opponents they couldn't make the telling move and eventually Leek cleared their lines with a penalty. As the game entered the 85th minute, Leek broke out of their half and a cruel bounce saw them win the race to the corner with the referee awarding the try to deny Spartans a bonus point.

Overall, a highly competitive game with both sides deserving credit for producing an exciting affair despite the wind and rain.