Spartans Twos on the way to the final!

On a beautiful afternoon at Coppice Lane Spartans weathered an early storm to book their place in the Warwickshire Cup Final.

Competition for places in this current second team squad is huge and Skipper Ben Dockery and coach Emma Sly had an extremely difficult job in picking the match day 20.

Up front it was a familiar front row of John Lewis, Harry Owen and Chris Bench with Dan Wayne and Tim Barthram in the engine room. Spoilt for choice on the back row, the starting three were Will Sanders, Luke Rostrom and Mathieau Gassey.

The backs division was also fairly familiar with Andy Harrison and Joe Madden at nine and ten with a midfield partnership of Luke Spears and Dockery. The pacey back three consisted of Brett Garbett, Cameron Holland and Josh Atkins. The strength of the squad was epitomised with a bench including Ryan Devine, Dale Jones, Spencer Kite, Chris Vaughan and Jamie Humpage.

If nothing else the first half could be described as nervy as the men in black attacked up the Coppice Lane slope. Old Leamingtonians were clearly a resurgent outfit, bolstered by some fresh faces out wide and in the pack and they had clear ambitions of exacting some revenge after the heavy defeat they suffered in the previous meeting. They made by far the brighter start and as Spartans defended resiliently clearing their lines on numerous occasions but it was just a matter of time before the numbers told and OL's were over for the opening seven pointer.

Early in the season it could have been a very difficult first forty for the Twos however the current belief and squad cohesion meant that they didn't panic and, under Dockery's leadership, set back to their business.

The home side defended strongly with Sanders and Rostrom leading the way from the back row until, after being under siege for 20 constant minutes they finally had some possession and the opportunity to run. Bench and Gassey took the game by the scruff of the neck as they battered away at the visitors defensive line making yards time and time again until their hard work gave Madden chance to chip back some points, he rewarded his pack with two penalties and Spartans had clawed back to within one point at the half time break.

After the turnaround Spartans knew that with the slope in their favour they were in a strong position and, propelled by fresh legs in Devine, Jones, Kite and Vaughan, they had everything to play for.

A scrum in centre field set the tone for the half as the Spartans pack, as they have done all season, took apart the opposition earning their side a penalty. Madden nudged the ball into the corner and the pack went to work with a great lineout, perfectly executed between Jones and Barthram. The drive was set and rumbled on from the 22 to 10m out before being grounded by the opposition defence. The ball was spun out to Madden who threw an outrageous dummy before darting down the blindside to touch down for Spartans first try of the game, thumping the ground in delight as he did so.

With Spartans in the lead for the first time after 50m it was as if the sleeping giants had been awoken. The set piece was dominating, the back row devastating and the backs, now including Jamie Humpage, were using their space to great effect.

Brett Garbett, Josh Atkins and Cam Holland were linking excellently as a back three and time after time returned kicks with great pace and skill setting the platform for the likes of Kite, Owen and Devine to punch holes in the OL's defence. The support play was also much improved with the visitors struggling to impose themselves on the game.

It was number 8 Gassey who set the platform for the second try as, from Barthrams excellent line out take, he hit a sublime line from Harrison and stormed his way down the park only to be stopped by a last ditch tackle from the visiting full back. The penalty was awarded as the defender did not roll away and Madden nudged his pack into the far corner once again.

Jones' throw was pinpoint and the maul was set, steamrolling towards the OL's line before Bench broke from the back popping to Sanders who crashed over for a second try. The touch line conversion was good and Spartans led 18-8 with 20 to go.

The next try followed almost immediately and was an absolute blinder of a score. Prop Ryan Devine plucked the restart out of thin air and set the platform for Spartans to attack again, strong carries from Wayne and Kite gave Gassey the chance to smash through the line again, this time the full back was no match for the number 8's pace as he stepped and hit the afterburners, diving over for a 60m try. Madden again converted to take Spartans to 25-7.

The home side had the bit between their teeth now and hammered away at the OL's defence which, despite the shift in momentum, was resolute until the end. Despite the scoreline the visitors continued to play with tenacity and ambition, catching Spartans out wide a number of times, fortunately Atkins and Garbett were on hand to make some gutsy last ditch tackles to keep the visitors out.

The determination shown by the visitors was commendable but the added aggression was taking its toll as the discipline at the breakdown began to slip, gifting field position back to the home side numerous times before Spartans got a chance to put the game to bed from 40m out. Skipper Dochery pointed at the sticks and Madden struck it well to finish off an 18 point haul and put Spartans three clear scores ahead.

The final score of the game was a well deserved one for the visitors who spun the ball wide catching Spartans out with the overlap before their 13 rounded off an impressive performance touching down in the corner to give his side a glimmer of hope.

The game restarted with Spartans hungry to claim the last points of the game but it was not to be as the referee drew a close to a fantastically hard fought game between two very good second teams. The Spartans men were clearly elated with this victory, booking themselves a place in the final in the process and the chance to finish off a great season with a league and cup double.

MOTM could have gone to a number of players, Gassey for metres made, Bench for the hard yards, Barthram, Kite or Rostrom for their support play or Harrison who had ran the show from scrum half but in the end it was Fly Half Joe Madden who was presented with the coveted POG award for his wizard like performance.

Final score;
28-12

Tries
Madden
Sanders
Gassey

Cons
Madden x 2

Pens
Madden x 3

Thanks and congratulations must be given to Old Leamingtonians who put in a fantastic team performance and had Spartans in all sorts of trouble at various points in the game, a cracking fixture against the league rivals who will no doubt be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

The celebrations and any thoughts of the cup final will have to be put to one side now as Spartans face a tricky league fixture against Old Coventrians on Saturday. Spartans are currently third in Warwickshire Div 2 with a game in hand and will have to be focused to keep the seven game winning run going and push back to the top of the table. The cup final is scheduled for the 29th April and the full support of the club will be needed if the Twos are going to overcome B&B's to lift the cup.