Spartans 2's 12 v Newbold 2's 24

It was always going to be a big ask for Spartans as they hosted league leaders Newbold at Coppice lane with a number of key players unavailable. Fortunately a number of the Third Team men were on hand to answer the clubs call.
The front row remained unchanged with Ryan Devine, Dale Jones and the evergreen John Lewis, behind them was a lock pairing of Tim Barthram and Andy Bennett. The back row welcomed Will 'The Colonel' Sanders back from injury alongside Luke Rostrom at 7 and Chris Bench at 8.
The backs were once again full of changes, Luke Spears and Joe Madden remained in the half back positions with Josh Atkins and Cam Holland in the midfield. The back three consisted of Joe Lucas, Lewis Miller and club stalwart Duncan Bowden.
The substitutes were Mark Norton, Steve Kennard and Guy Waterman alongside new club member Tom Cookman.
The game started at a frantic pace with Newbold on the front foot. Their heavyweight pack pushed hard whilst their experienced fly half ran the show from the middle of the park. Spartans defended well but were eventually stretched too far as slick hands saw the Newbold winger dive over in the corner.
It wasn't too long though before the home side made their mark on the game, once again showing devostating power at scrum time. A nice carry from Bench followed by a slick reverse pass from Spears gave Madden chance to show and go through a gap down the blindside. He drew the last man and spun the ball wide to Duncan Bowden who ran in from 40m for a lovely opening score, converted by Madden.
Unfortunately the rest of the half belonged to Newbold as they ran in a second try down the hill, leaving Spartans with 40 minutes and a 5 point defecit to try and salvage any chance of winning Warwickshire Division 2.
The second half didn't start well, a missed tackle on the far touch line allowed the visiting winger to run in unapposed despite the last ditch defensive efforts from Rostron, putting his body on the line as usual.
With nothing to lose Spartans threw the kitchen sink at Newbold and spent long periods of time in the oppositions 22. Bennett was running the show in the lineout with the aide of Jones' pinpoint throwing and was also making yards in the loose, supported well by Devine, Bench and debutant Cookman. The scrum was also as strong as it had been all season and eventually a massive eight man shove allowed Spears to break right and dive over in the corner.
At 17-12 Spartans were back in the game but, try as they might, they could not crack the Newbold defence who had been putting massive hits in all game.
Some indiscipline and frustration gifted field position back to Newbold and a missed tackle saw their pacey winger sprint in to finish the game at 24-12.
Mentally and physically Spartans could not have given any more but ultimately it came down to a couple of wrong decisions at key moments that cost them the game. Newbold's match report suggested Spartans had pulled in 'more than a few first team players' which must be taken as a compliment given the side was actually missing some regular faces but massive thanks to the guys who stepped up from the Third XV and put in a big shift.
Spartans will learn from this and look to put their efforts into the Warwickshire Cup Final on April 29th. Also big congratulations to Newbold on their league success.
Final score was Spartans 12-24 Newbold.
The POG award went to Andy Bennett this week who dominated in the lineout and led the side in both defence and attack for the full 80 minutes.
Spartans are now battling out for 2nd position and face Rugby St. Andrews next week at Coppice Lane.