Premiership North Week Eight Power Ranking

1. East Kilbride Pirates (3-0)
Ha. Ha. Ha. That's the sound of our prediction of a close game getting laughed all the way out of town. East Kilbride shifted up a notch against Doncaster, handing out a old-fashioned beat down. THE team to beat

2. Tamworth Phoenix (4-0)
Well, they conceded against Nottingham, but it was on offence (a length-of-the-field fumble recovery no less). As expected, it was a dominant performance over the lackluster Caesars. Even with two games before then, the focus of the division is on Tamworth's trip to Hamilton at the end of July.

3. Doncaster Mustangs (4-1)
Ouch Donny, ouch. Losing 53-12 in a game that should have been close made them - and, more importantly, us - look a little silly. They can, however, still look at a potential home game in the play-offs if they can turn over Tamworth in a couple of weeks.

4. Sheffield Predators (2-0)
With the league this week confirming that there will be four play-off places for each division, Sheffield are favorites to tie up that final post-season berth.

5. Lancashire Wolverines (1-1)
If the Black Swarm can beat Coventry this Saturday, they'll seriously be thinking of a six win season and an outside chance at the play-offs - that would be some achievement

Gateshead Senators 40 @ DC Presidents 20‏

by John Hill

At one point in the second quarter, it looked like a young DC Presidents side might give their North East rivals Gateshead a black eye in the first derby of the year.

DC running back Matt Caley had just run in from short range, and former Senator Matt Long had hauled in the two-pointer to make it 20-6. Gateshead were giving up costly yards on penalties, and had just had a player ejected.

Then the Senators unleashed Evander Harewood.

Evander Harewood (#22) carries the ball for the Gateshead offence. Picture courtesy of Durham Photography.

National League Week Eight Power Rankings

1. Chester Romans (3-0)
Another week and another no game for our leaders. That’ll change this week as they head to Merseyside to take on the Nighthawks. It’s going to be a tough game but it’s time to prove they belong at the top of our Power Rankings.


2. Bedfordshire Blue Raiders (4-0)
Again no game for the Blue Raiders. They get their shot at staying here on Sunday as they face off against their sternest challenge yet, the number 4 Colchester Gladiators.


3. Solent Thrashers (4-0)
Another week and the Thrashers may have moved up in our table with a 19-0 shut out of the former big boy Farnham Knights. It’s an impressive win for the rebranded Solent side  and with Farnham out of the way and a decent win over Oxford the Thrashers might start to look at an unbeaten regular season.

Pirates make statement with decisive win over Mustangs

Despite winning their first two games without conceding a point, East Kilbride have recently found themselves under the microscope of the game’s pundits who were suggesting that the Pirates had peaked and were no longer the force they had been in recent years. This only served to add further determination to the squad as they prepared to take on one of the other unbeaten teams in the Premier North division.

East Kilbride received the opening kick-off and an impressive return by Aaron Paterson gave them good field position. On the first play from scrimmage, running back Iain Dick broke free and raced 54 yards to the endzone. Mark Murphy kicked the conversion and the home side were 7-0 ahead with only seconds played. The Defense were equally fired up and forced Doncaster to punt after only three plays. A six play drive ensued, combining the rushing talents of Dick and quarterback Ryan Hunter before the latter finished it with a 14-yard scoring run. Murphy converted for a second time to extend the lead to 14-0. Again the Mustangs couldn’t generate any response and were forced to punt. However, the kick was blocked by Mark Murphy and EK regained possession deep in Doncaster territory. Two plays later, Neil Baptie, now in at Quarterback, carried home from 4 yards before Murphy once more tagged on the extra point.

The home side continued to dominate and took just two plays to get the ball back, with Aaron Paterson snaring an interception and returning it to the Mustangs 3-yard line. An Offensive Pass Interference call pushed the Pirates back temporarily, but they made up the lost yardage before adding a fortuitous touchdown. Baptie was tackled short of the goal-line and the ball was jarred loose on impact, but it fell straight into the hands of Iain Dick who scored instead. Murphy’s conversion made it 28-0 and the Pirates were well in control before the first period had ended.

Iain Dick carries the ball for the Pirates offence. Courtesy of Duncan Gray

BAFANL Playoff structure

PLAYOFF STRUCTURE - NATIONAL

Highest rank team maintains home field advantage.

Quarters -
Top two teams from each conference.
Game A - 1st in North plays 2nd in Central
Game B - 1st in Central plays 2nd in North
Game C - 1st in South plays 2nd in South Central
Game D - 1st in South Central plays 2nd in South

Semi's -
Game N1 - Winners of Game A plays Winners of Game B
Game N2 - Winners of Game C plays Winners of Game D

Final -
Winners of Game N1 vs Winners of Game N2

With both National Final teams being promoted to the Premier Division for 2014. The lowest ranked Premier team in each conference will be demoted.
is the national ne

PLAYOFF STRUCTURE - PREMIER

Quarters -
Game A - 1st North plays 4th South,
Game B - 1st South plays 4th North
Game C - 2nd North plays 3rd South
Game D - 2nd South plays 3rd North

Semi's -
Game P1 - Winners of game A play winners of Game D
Game P2 - Winners of game B play winners of game C

Final -
Winners of Game P1 vs Winners of Game P2