Silhillians 13 – Spartans 14

Saturday saw the Sils lose at home for the first time in the 2009/10 league season, a result that left the team ruing numerous missed opportunities to clinch victory against a motivated Spartans side.
Facing a team that had ground out some impressive results to date, the Sils started the game with the express intention of retaining possession, working through their phases and wearing down the visitors’ heavier pack. With some early sniping runs into the heart of the visitors’ defence, it appeared that things were going to plan from the whistle. Failure to convert this pressure into points was, however, to prove vital in the end.
Despite their initial dominance, the Sils soon found themselves on the back foot, as a succession of turnovers at the breakdown combined with a heavy penalty account gave Spartans the foothold to get back in the game. Whilst the visitors made good use of the rolling maul, it was to be the softest of tries that finally saw them register on the scoreboard. An up-and-under clearance from the Sils found the Spartans full-back, whose darting run through the middle of a loose defensive-line put him clear. A sharp offload to his supporting flanker saw the visitors draw first blood and finish under the posts. 7-0.
The scoreboard was to prove untroubled for the rest of the half, though winger Nic Powell came close when held up over the line following some quick hands out wide. Sils’ failure to string phase-play together killed any opportunity to test the Spartans defence, and it was with a sense of frustration from the home side that the referee blew for half-time.
The second half started in much the same fashion as the first as Spartans succeeded in preventing any quick ball at the base. The penalty count, meanwhile, continued to mount against the Sils, who were fortunate as the visitors’ fly-half missed a succession of kicks in front of the post. Fifteen minutes in, however, and the Sils were to find themselves 14-0 down, the referee deciding to award a penalty try after a period of concerted Spartans pressure up front and some excellent Sils defence. It was this that finally seemed to galvanise the home team into action.
The ensuing kick-off saw the Sils snatch possession after a superb chase from the back-row, and the forwards proceeded to mount a series of blistering phases that drove deep into the opposition half. The Sils line-out, which had been excellent all day, provided a sound base from which to attack the Spartans line, with some strong carrying from the Sils pack taking the ball over the visitors’ defensive line. When the ball was finally spun out wide, it was winger Harry Law who found himself in space, beating the covering defence to power his way over for a well-earned team try. 14-7 with Dave Grey adding the extras.
The Sils received the kick-off and promptly did the same again, making intelligent use of the ball with some strong running and a searching kick that pegged Spartans back in their twenty-two. A rare penalty conceded by the visitors allowed Dave Grey to reduce the deficit to four points with fourteen minutes to play, and another shortly afterwards narrowed the gap to a solitary point. Despite further forays into Spartans territory, the game ended with a damp squib as the scrum was repeatedly re-set, the Sils looking, and failing, to snatch the winning score. It was just one of those days. 14-13 at full-time.