Old Saltleians 12, Spartans 13.

For the first time in a decade Spartans pulled off a surprise victory against a strong Old Saltleians side as they snatched a win by the tightest of margins at Watton Lane in a well-contested game.
Poor weather meant both sides had a bar of soap to play with instead of a ball, and both sides struggled to string any play together as passes were spilt. With Spartans forwards still recovering from a physical battering at the hands of Newcastle, the sight of an even bigger ‘Salts pack produced plenty of nerves and as the game of a thousand scrums developed it was the home side who edged the battles up front, but the black defence proved equal to the attack and stalemate followed. Despite plenty of endeavour, neither side were able to break the deadlock until shortly before half time when Salts seized yet another knock on and broke through to score. From the restart, Spartans had just one throw of the dice and bagged a penalty as a small reward for a huge all-round effort for forty minutes.
The Men In Black faced a daunting prospect for the second half and any dreams of a comeback turned into a nightmare as the home forwards piled in to the rucks and mauls, keeping the ball very well. An extremely large ‘Salts forward eventually showed his class as he powered over from one metre, but crucially the kick was missed and the gap stayed at nine points. As Spartans chased the game it was now ‘Salts turn to defend, and some hard won ball was put to good useonly for the final pass to go astray. Having gone close twice, Spartans finally got over into the corner as a miracle pass found Jamie Parker and, with an excellent touchline conversion, black hearts began beating faster. With ten minutes to go and just two points separating the sides ‘Salts were still in the driving seat, but play remained mostly in the middle of the field. With nerves jangling the home side conceded a penalty which Tom Hardy banged over, setting up a grandstand finish for a home side roared on by their President’s day crowd. The final few minutes seemed to last forever with a series of scrums and lineouts, but eventuallythe whistle blew leaving ‘Salts stunned by a rare Spartans win.

This week Spartans travel to Nottingham for the start of the RFU Intermediate Cup Competition.