SPARTANS won the County Cup after beating Old Bristolians in a repeat of last year's Under-15s final. The Gloucester-based side fielded eight Gloucester Rugby Academy representatives including internationals Harrison Fowke and Tom Seabrook and South West representative Luca Cappuccini as well as Old Bristolians having seven Bristol Academy players, including international Andy Christie.

There was increased interest as the two sides had met in the group stages before Christmas when the Bristol outfit inflicted Spartans' first competitive defeat in three seasons, scoring a last gasp try and conversion to snatch the win.

Spartans broke the deadlock with Brad Dunn squeezing over in the left hand corner.

Scrum half Charlie Chapman converted excellently against the wind from the left touch line.

A rare missed touch kick resulted in a dangerous moment for the Gloucester side as Old Bristolians sought to equal matters but an excellent pick-up from Tom Broady and offload enabled the Spartans back line to push up into the opposition half. Dunn stepped inside and fed centre Tom Seabrook on an outside loop and he was not to be caught. Broady slotted the conversion.

To their credit Old Bristolians began to exert some pressure on the Spartans defence that stood firm for long periods but the penalty count eventually proved too much and the Bristol team narrowed the deficit to 14-3.

Slick hands saw Fowke offload around the back of the last ditch tackle from Old Bristolians to feed Dunn with his second try. The conversion was missed by Chapman from the left.

The second half kicked off with the wind now in Spartans' favour and Chapman slotted a penalty to take his side three scores clear.

Ed Bogue finished well following several phases and Cappuccini was on hand to finish a driving maul that confirmed the Gloucester pack's physical dominance.

Charlie Chapman capped an excellent performance and personal tally of 14 points by dummying at a ruck in centre field and finally reaching out full stretch to touch down despite the attention of the three tacklers.

With the finals seconds ticking away Seabrook latched on to a loose ball and sprinted 80 metres to score what he thought was the final points for Spartans, only to be pulled back for offside and from the resultant quick tap penalty Old Bristolians scored a fine consolation try.

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