BUAFL Predictions: Northern Conference

UH Sharks @ Leeds Celtics

Two of the oldest teams in British collegiate football face off in this match-up. Hull are having a great season thus far, having been the only team to score on conference power house Hallam. They will be looking to put their error-riddled performance against Huddersfield behind them and show they are a playoff calibre force to be reckoned with. 

Leeds have been a bit slow of the mark this season, posting two scoreless losses to Hallam and Bradford. They will be aiming to send shockwaves round the league with an upset in this week’s game. Expect to see two well drilled and varied offences facing off against two aggressive defences. We may even see some passing!
UH Sharks by 22

Leeds Carnegie @ Bangor Muddogs

Other than the heavy defeat at the hands of the Sabres, this will be the Muddogs only challenge of the regular season. If Bangor win, they are all but guaranteed postseason football, pushing one of Sheffield or (more likely) Bradford out of contention. This could result in needing a 7-1 record or better to make the post-season in the Northern Conference!
 

A lot has been said about Carnegies defence; it is in fact a defence that held Hull to fewer points than Hallam’s D did and has only been scored on once all season. Whether it is the best defence in the country is for you to decide but Americans or not, Bangor will have trouble moving the ball on them.
Carnegie by 12

York Centurions @ Hallam Warriors

Like most of the fixtures this weekend it looks like another one sided affair. Hallam has shut out much better offences than the Centurions in the past and it would be a surprise if they concede more than one score, if any at all. The league table flatters to deceive York, currently 5^th. They have had the easiest starting schedule of all the teams in the Northern Conference and have managed to win three games by only scoring 28 points! That alone probably tells you enough about the quality of the teams they were facing.

Running out of their new look Double Wing and Spread offence, the league leaders are not the one dimensional offence everyone labels them as. If the Warriors have the game won by half time they may decide to experiment with some new plays, air the ball out and prepare their back-ups for the impending play offs.

When York played second place Sabres earlier this season, they conceded 44 unanswered points, if that is an indication of how strong the Centurions defence is, Hallam’s premier RB Danny Pyle could be looking at another record breaking day at Bawtry Road.

Shutout – Hallam by 40+

Huddersfield Hawks @ LJM Fury

Last week Huddersfield suffered their fourth consecutive defeat of the season away at Bradford and once again failed to score a single point. In fact the Hawks have not scored a single point so far this season!

Liverpool, also winless so far, has a game in hand over Huddersfield, due to their fixture against the Stallions being called off last weekend because of the weather, but more importantly their offence has scored points.

The Fury have been involved in some close contests so far this season, narrowly losing to the Outlaws and Centurions by a single score and by 22 points to a seasoned Carnegie offence. Will this be the week where the Liverpudlians finally record their first win of the season? I think so!

Liverpool by 12 points

Manchester Tyrants @ Sheffield Sabres

There has been much speculation recently that the Tyrants may be folding as a club, due to a lack of players. So it was surprising to hear that this fixture was still on. The Tyrants haven’t played a game since Week 5, when they lost by a single score to York Centurions (7-0).

The Sabres by contrast, currently occupy second place in the league, with a potent offence responsible for almost two hundred points in just four games. The Sabres will of course be frustrated after having their derby match up against the Warriors called off at the last minute a week ago and will probably be out for blood.

The Sabres will hope QB Dan Jones can take advantage of the depleted Tyrants secondary after softening up the visitor’s’ D-Line with their powerful running backs. If the Tyrants haven’t already folded, this game could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back!

Shutout - Sabres win by 30+ points.