Spartans halt the march of Romans on road to play-offs
ACLASSIC encounter where defences were to the fore was played out at the Select Security Stadium when the Halton Spartans entertained local rivals Chester Romans.
Earlier in the season the Romans blanked the Spartans 30-0 and went into Sunday’s game not having lost all season.
However the Spartans, who continue to improve with every game, had other ideas and put a halt to the Romans’ dream of a perfect season with a tremendous 6-6 tie. The result meant the Spartans remain undefeated at the stadium this season, something they set as a target for this campaign.
The game kicked off with the Spartans receiving the ball following a predictable onside kick from the Romans. Ricky Talbot collected the ball with great field position for the Spartans’ offence to commence their first drive.
However, the drive did not start well for Halton as on the very first play the Chester defence stripped the ball and recovered allowing their offence to take to the field. The high-scoring Romans offence also struggled to gain any yardage with the Spartans’ rearguard snuffing out a number of plays. Defensive lineman Dave Quinn led the way with his first sack of the day and the Romans were forced to punt the ball back to the Spartans.
Both offences struggled to get any real traction but it was the Romans’ offence that struck first with a long pass resulting in a touchdown.
The Romans went for a two-point conversion but it failed and they had to settle for a 6-0 lead. The score sparked the Spartans’ offence into life and quarterback Rik Lowthion completed a number of great passes to receiver Matty Fitzsimons. Subsequently, the Halton offence were able to move the ball effectively upfield. The opening quarter came to a close and the Romans defence were hoping this would stop the Spartans’ momentum – but this was not to be the case. Lowthion completed a pass to ever-dependable receiver Ross Dryden in the endzone to knot the scores at 6-6.
The Spartans attempted to kick the point-after, only for the ball to be tipped as it headed towards the uprights, which resulted in it going under the bar by a yard. The rest of the second quarter saw both defences on top with the Spartans rearguard continuing to put pressure on the Romans quarterback.
Defensive lineman Sebastian Januszewicz recorded a sack as the half drew to a close and the teams went into the interval with the scoreline still locked at 6-6.
The start of the second half saw the Spartans kick off and Romans receive.
Chester continued to utilise their much larger squad and rotate players on what was a very hot day, with the aim to take advantage over a depleted Spartans defence. However, this tactic was not to be the case as play after play, the Halton defence crushed the Romans’ running game and play after play they continued to snuff out the Romans’ passing game by a combination of both great rushing pressure by Quinn, Matthew Littler, Neil Penrose and Januszewicz, and great coverage by the linebackers and defensive backs. The defensive play for the quarter saw linebacker Kev Birmingham drop into pass coverage and pick off the Romans’ quarterback with an interception.
On the other side of the ball, the Spartans’ offence made a number of good plays, but never really got going with most drives ending with a punt.
The third quarter closed out with the score still tied at 6-6.
The fourth stanza continued in much the same vein as the third with both offences being held by their opposing defences. As the clock continued to tick down, time management was becoming critical as both teams looked for the right field position to attempt a potential game-winning field goal.
On the last drive of the game, the Spartans drove downfield and were close to field goal range, only for a mix-up in communication which saw the ball fumbled and recovered by Chester.
The Spartans’ defence prepared themselves for what they expected to be a long pass attempt, only to see the Chester offence make a couple of short run plays.
It later transpired that the Romans’ American head coach believed the game would go into overtime, which is not the case in the United Kingdom, and consequently time expired with the scoreline unchanged at 6-6.
Halton’s head coach Ian Beattie was in a buoyant mood after the game.
He said: “Whilst a draw is not ideal for either team, Chester will be regarding this as a loss and we are regarding this as a win. Chester came into the game as hot favourites and were expected to turn us over with ease, but our lads showed a massive amount of grit and determination and ground out a great result.
“I feel today’s game is a defining moment in our season.
“The lads are now believing in themselves and our confidence is building game on game; with one foot in the playoffs we are hitting some great form just at the right time.”