Spartans hand UEA difficult defeat

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Published on Friday, 02 December 2011 10:41

UEAs offence responded immediately with a long 70 yard drive, again revolving around strong running made possible by solid blocking from the offensive line. RB Chris Carson finished the drive off with a five yard touchdown score to tie the game at 6 – 6. Unfortunately the extra point was blocked leaving the scores tied.

The rest of the first half was highly frustrating as both the Pirates offence and defence struggled to gain a foothold in the game. The one highlight being LB Oli Taylor’s interception of a tipped ball.  LSBU added another score before the half on a long touchdown drive to leave the score 14 – 6 at the break.

After a dressing down from the coaches the Pirates looked to respond. The defence was first to react, fantastic pressure from the defensive line deep in LSBU territory resulted in a sack from DT Gavin Barnard, leaving the scores at 14 – 8.

The Pirates offence can also take many positives from the second half, with the inability to turn redzone field-position into points eventually proving costly. In particular aggressive running from RB Joe Van Der Merwe and solid returning from RB Alex Pittson put the Pirates in position to score but it was not meant to be. If these redzone opportunities had been converted then perhaps the scoreline may have been different.

LSBU added a passing score in the fourth quarter to extend its lead to 21 – 8, a lead which they would not relinquish as time expired. Overall this was a highly disappointing performance, but the Pirates left the capital incredibly determined to bounce back and win their remaining games before Christmas.

Charlie Harris