Tuesday 17 January 2012

BUAFL As it Stands: Challenge Cup

We are starting to get towards the business end of largely praised, but often criticised faux Challenge Cup Playoffs series and this weeks games sees two loooong journeys by the southern conference teams to take on their northern counterparts. Check out last weeks article to see how the teams got to where they are now and like us on facebook to stay up to date with the latest news on BUAFL and Britball first!

As both our games take place in the North and it's that time of the year, the weather played a major factor in each! Read on to find out who makes the final!

OBU Panthers @ Bradford Bears
The first of the mammoth journeys saw Oxford Brookes travel 180 miles north to BUAFL new boys Bradford to play in the standard awful northern weather. Bradford have relied on play maker Chris Peel on both sides of the ball, but he has been ably backed up by a strong supporting cast. OBU have shared the load evenly between a plethora of talented players that have shocked the TVC so far this season.


This disparity in talent would prove to be the major difference in what was a game dominated by defence. There was very little scoring by either team in the first half with only a field goal from OBU. Chris Peel, Steven Zurheid and Tom Davies were domianting the OBU offensive front making numerous stops on 3rd and long while James Mcgubbin and Freddie Page put the OBU Panthers on their back, preventing the Bradford offence from even leaving their half with some huge hits big plays behind the line of scrimmage.


In the second half the QB to WR combination that had proven so deadly in their last playoff game paid off again for OBU as Tomi Biberovic hit Ben Carter in stride and Carter shed the tackle from this marker and strolled into the end zone.  Bradford were unable to make any headway on their next drive, but a superb punt was downed inside the OBU two yard line and on the very next play Chris Peel broke through the line of scrimmage and tackled the ball carrier in the end zone for a safety.


This however was the lone bright spot for Bradford and the stifling OBU defence continued their dominance of the game until the final whistle thankfull blew on a wind and rains wept field and the Pantehrs celebrated a 10-2 victory. Bradford can be proud of their efforts in this playoff, to get so far for a new team is impressive! OBU can start planning their imaginary hotel bookings for the final in Leeds!



UEA Pirates @ UH Sharks
The terrible weather in the North also effected our other playoff game as UEA made the journey to take on last years losing finalists. Each team has had a different approach to their games, with Hull depending on explosive plays from QB Sebastian Gogerly and running back Will Hobbs. Imperial won their last game through a combination of excellent defensive play and strong offensive play keeping the ball away from the strong UEA run game.

Both teams set out their stall early, with game plans clearly focussed more on running the ball than putting it in the air due to the terrible conditions. Running backs Timo Millar for Imperial and Will Hobbs for Hull were given the rock early and often, but they were finding the conditions hard to handle as several plays ended with the back slipping in the mud untouched.

Even with the run focussed game the first score of the game was a play action pass. The cornerback covering Hull receiver Thomas Johnson slipped leaving the receiver an easy catch and a jog into the endzone, the PAT was missed as the snap was bobbled on the wet ground.

Tino Millar responded immediately on the next drive, taking advantage of defensive mistakes to break what appeared to be a short gain into a huge 60 yard TD. Imperials special teams seemed to be more able to handle the conditions as the PAT was knocked over without issue, giving Imperial the lead going into the second half.

With the weather getting worse both teams picked up their urgency as the game being called early became a possibility. However neither team was able to perform in what would forever be known as "the Mud Bowl" and Imperial held on to win by a single solitary point.

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If there are any corrections required please email us at dblcoverage@hotmail.co.uk or message Rich or me on the Facebook page. Any comments made about corrections required will be deleted.



2 comments:

  1. You've titled this as UEA Pirates but are reporting on the Imperials V Hull?

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was a mistype in my original title. If you read last weeks report Imperial won the game vs UEA!

    ReplyDelete

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