BUAFL As It Stands: Challenge Cup Playoff

Following on from the Championship Playoff Wildcard bracket we take a look at the Challenge Cup playoffs if they were to start today. Take a look at our opening article to see how we got to the fixtures we are looking at today.

North

Lincoln Colonials @ Glasgow Tigers

Lincoln come into this game as underdogs to a Glasgow team that will feel hard done by to end up outside of the Championship playoffs and Glasgow would very quickly show why they were favourites quickly scoring two TD’s in the first quarter.

Lincoln responded in the second when deep in his own half QB Simon Wilkinson floated a pass to Wide Receiver Tom Bray who broke a tackle and ran the ball the length of the field. This however was the lone bright spot for Lincoln as they struggled to put anything together for the rest of the game as Glasgow dominated on defence and put up two more touchdowns as the game wound down to run out convincing winners at 28-7 and will play Hull Sharks in the quarter finals.

Chris Peel leads the Bradford Offence

Northumbria Mustangs @ Bradford Bears

The second of our Northern Wildcard games sees a clash between Northern and Border rivals as Northumbria travel down to take on Bradford.

The first quarter of the game showed that both teams were nervous of the occasion as misfires on offence prevented any team getting on the scoreboard and allowed the punters to rack up some serious yardage.

Bradford jack of all trades Chris Peel had the game changing moment when he sacked the Northumbria QB and caused him to fumble. Peel grabbed the ball and returned it to the Northumbria 15. From there he took the snap from under centre and handed the ball off to running back Nomsey Para-Mallam who got to the edge and ran the ball in for 6. Bradford got the two point conversion and went into the half 8-0 up.

After the score in the second quarter the game turned into a defensive battle with Chris Peel, Steven Zurheid and Tom Davies all pitching in to stymie the Northumbria Offence. The game would end on a last minute goal line stand by the Bradford defence when William Obubo picked off a last gasp pass in the end zone. Bradford win 8-0 and will play new boys Northampton Nemesis in the next round.

South

Plymouth Blitz @ Essex Blades

East vs West clash in the first of our southern playoffs as the underrated Plymouth Blitz take on the Essex Blades.

Essex surprise Plymouth, starting with an efficient drive with their double wing offence churning out yards on the ground that resulted in a field goal.  Plymouths defence rose to the occasion in their red zone with Middle Linebacker Edwin Quashie- Idun making the key stop on 3^rd and short.

The rest of the first quarter was uneventful with the two teams trading possessions in a largely dull affair.

In the second quarter however Plymouth running back Tom Jones suddenly unleashed a pair of long touchdown runs, breaking through the middle of the Blades defence. Both extra points were missed and the half ended with Plymouth leading 12-3.

Plymouth received the ball first in the second half and return man Rob Mallia did his best Devin Hester impression, weaving his way through the Essex Kick Coverage team for 90 yards before being caught inside the five by the kicker. Tom Jones finished off in style hurdling over a defender on the line to score Plymouths third.

This score at the start of the third seemed to take the wind out of the Blades sails and Plymouth began to run wild, racking up a pair of touchdowns before the end of the game. Plymouth win 28-3 and  will travel to the OBU Panthers for the next round.

UEA Pirates on another TD drive.

UEA Pirates @ Exeter Demons

The final clash sees another long journey as the UEA Pirates travel from Norwich to Exeter to take on the Demons.

The Pirates looked to take an early lead with RB Chris Carson running hard, but QB Mark Rivett threw an interception right into the hands of Exeter CB Josh Amis. This however would be the only highlight for Exeter in the first half as UEA rode runningback Chris Carson to three unanswered touchdowns, giving them a 21-0 lead going into the half.

The Demons looked to Amis again to provide the spark  in the second half and the CB/WR/KR answered with a long kick return followed by a 20 yard touchdown grab giving Exeter their first score of the game. However just as in the first half this proved to be the only highlight for Exeter as UEA continued to hand the ball to Carson, who scored another TD and QB Mark Rivett made up for his interception in the first half with a 70 yard touchdown pass for wide receiver Andy Custerton (PAT missed).

The game ended with a long consolation touchdown run by Cody Yellowless-Bound for Exeter with kicker Jamie Sancto slotting over the PAT and the scores finished 34-14. UEA go on to face the Imperial Immortals in the next round.