CALNE skipper Tom Morten believes the scoreboard was harsh to his side as their hopes of a place in the national Junior Cup semi finals were emphatically ended by Gloucester side Spartans.

Victory for the home side would have left them one win from a final at Twickenham, but instead it was the Gloucester One side that claimed that prize with a seven-try 50-7 triumph at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

The hosts eventually found themselves swarmed all over by the Red Ants as Paddy Knight led the scoring charge with a hat-trick of tries in front of a sizeable crowd at the Recreation Ground.

Aaron Fowke, Luke Foran, Brad Dunn and Lee Martin also crossed the whitewash for the visitors, with Ashley Lewis booting six conversions and a penalty as they shrugged off the loss of Paul Sutton to a yellow card on the hour mark.

Calne raised some cheer with Marcus Turner crossing the line for their solitary converted try.

Morten said: "Spartans are a very good team and beat us fair and square.

"However, the score didn't reflect how closely contested the match was.

"We have won two trophies this season (Dorset & Wilts & Southern Counties Junior Vases) so we have had a very successful season.

"We will not look to have a strong finish to the season and start preparing for the 2017-18 campaign.

Player coach Alan Wicks added: "We may have lost the match but there were some solid individual performances.

"It just wasn't our day and our cup run has ended, but it was great fun while it lasted.''

Chairman Chris Austin saluted the efforts of Calne Recreation Club who supported the rugby club, providing a marquee at their own expense for both sets of players and fans to eat and watch the subsequent Six Nations game and said: "Our cup run has generated a great deal of local interest and has put Calne on the map.

"We have had a few enquiries from young people looking to play rugby as a result of our success, which is what its all about.''