Halton on the right track after blanking Railroaders
CREWE RAILROADERS ...................... 0 HALTON SPARTANS .......................... 37
THE Halton Spartans played their third game of the season making the short trip to Crewe Railroaders looking for that elusive first win of 2017 – and they got just that.
The offence racked up 37 points with five touchdowns while the defence shutout the Railroaders and delivered five turnovers in a dominant performance.
With both units working well it also allowed the Spartans to rotate and utilise their large squad giving most players some welcome game time and experience, the most notable of which was all three Spartans quarterbacks played their part in the convincing win.
The game commenced with the Spartans kicking-off and the Railroaders returning.
The Spartans’ defence took to the field first and laid down their marker with linebacker Kev Birmingham recovering a Railroader fumble, allowing the Halton offence to take to the field.
With quarterback Ricky Talbot at the helm, the Spartans offence started brightly and moved the ball down the field but were unable to cross the whitewash for a touchdown.
Instead, Matt Fitzsimons slotted over a field goal to put Halton up 3-0.
The Railroaders’ offence again struggled to gain any yards against the resolute Spartans defence which saw a number of drives in the quarter resulting in three-and-outs with the ball being punted on fourth down.
On the other hand, the Spartans’ offence made light work of the Crewe defence with strong runs from running backs Danny Barnes, Martin Murphy and Craig Owen with both Owen and Murphy crossing for touchdowns converted by Fitzsimons to fashion a 17-0 lead at the end of the opening stanza.
The second quarter again saw the Spartans’ defence on top with Dave Quinn, Andre Alexander and ex-Railroader Matthew Littler putting pressure on the Crewe quarterback on almost every play.
It was inevitable that safety Doug Laughton came up with his first interception of the day.
On the other side of the ball the Spartans’ offence lost their way a little and despite putting together some great drives failed to put any more points on the board and the teams headed for the interval with the scoreline unchanged.
Following the break the Spartans defence picked up where they left off with interceptions from both linebacker Dave Tickle and Laughton.
For the Spartans’ offence, the first quarterback switch of the day saw rookie Husam Farraj take to the field for his first-ever competitive game – and he certainly did not disappoint.
He controlled the offence well and they put two further touchdowns on the board including a second sixpointer for Murphy.
One for the highlight reel was the fantastic long pass he tossed to wide receiver Ben Hogan for a touchdown.
With only one of the touchdowns converted by Fitzsimons the score at the end of the third quarter was 30-0 for the Spartans.
The final quarter saw the Halton defence hold the Railroaders offence for a number of three-and-outs as they continued their domination.
The Spartans’ offence saw their third quarterback of the day Rik Lothion take his position behind centre.
Former Railroader Lothion was ● ( inset) keen to impress against his old club – and he did not disappoint, as the Spartans offence continued to provide great pass protection, allowing the quarterback to pick out Fitzsimons for probably the best touchdown of the day.
Fitzsimons gathered a great pass from Lothion fending off a defender with his hand and sprinted into the endzone. With Fitzsimons then also adding the point after attempt it took his personal tally for the day to 13.
This was to be the last score of the game as Halton were able to celebrate a terrific 37-0 triumph.
The Spartans looked to have now kick-started their season with a strong win, and now have a week off to prepare from a very tough away game against local rivals Chester Romans on June 4. ● WEST BANK BEARS U10s entertained Wigan side Ince Rose Bridge on Sunday aiming to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Another brilliant performance saw the young Bears score six superb tries against gutsy opponents who did not give in despite never being able to get on the front foot against the home side’s solid team defence.
Kian McGann racked up another three tries to take his tally to 28 in 11 games, but his efforts were made much simpler by, yet again, outstanding play from the tough set of forwards.
Oliver Stankevitch, Josh Swindley, Michael Lawton and Harry Hughes were immense.
Teammates Tyler McGann, Josh Swindley and Joshua Lawrenson also got their names on the scoresheet with both individual and team ● efforts in the clash.
‘Speed sets’ from the classy backs caused the Wigan side problems throughout with Daniel Owen, Lucas Hendry, Harvey Bennett and George Hughes particularly strong.
The interchange bench performed especially well with Ciaran Whyment, Declan Roberts and Todd Dennett all rising to the challenges they faced on the field.
The parents’ man-of-thematch honour was awarded to Kian McGann, with Lucas Hendry taking the top tackler accolade with 15 stops made during the encounter.