National Central
Merseyside Nighthawks vs.
Crewe Railroaders
Merseyside are enjoying a
fine start to their National Division campaign, going 2-0 with a 39-7 win over
Shropshire and an impressive 65-0 rout of Lincolnshire. Their 1-9 season last
year is far behind them and the rookies from that season have gained much
needed experience and clicked as a team unit.
Crewe meanwhile are
sitting at 1-2 with defeats to Leicester and Staffordshire being propped up by
a win against the Surge the week after. They’re going to struggle against
Merseyside’s option offence and the match up with the Nighthawks’ quick
receivers is going to be a nightmare for them.
Merseyside Nighthawks to
win by 5 scores or more
Leicester Falcons vs.
Lincolnshire Bombers
Lincolnshire’s struggle
with injuries this year, including their starting quarterback, have seen them
somewhat regress from the impressive season they had last year. But with the
increased competition in the division this year it will be tough for the
Bombers to bounce back from their 0-4 record.
Leicester meanwhile have
struggled to match up with the division’s powerhouses themselves, with their
only wins coming against Crewe and Staffordshire, with losses to Manchester (60-0) and Chester
(37-0). If they want to turn their season around they must learn to score on
the top end teams in the League. They should have enough to take down a beaten
up Bombers side though.
Leicester Falcons to win
by 2 scores
National North
DC Presidents vs.
Gateshead Senators
One of the games to watch
in the National Division this year. DC are flying high on 2-0 at the top of the
North this year whilst Gateshead aren’t far behind, the tie game against
Glasgow holding them back on 2-0-1.
This is the first time
these two North East teams have met but the game will no doubt be played like
an old rivalry, with place in the division, our power rankings and pride at
stake!
It’s made more
interesting with the transfer of coach Jon Rooney heading to DC this past
offseason from Gateshead. Rooney paired up with long time coaching partner Ben
Johnson and have transformed the Presidents from mediocre last season to a
genuine contender for playoffs this year. Home field advantage could be the
difference here but never count out that strong Gateshead defence.
DC Presidents to win by
one score
National South Central
Watford
Cheetahs vs. Colchester Gladiators
Following an impressive 2-0 start to the season, the Cheetahs have
dropped down to a 2-2 record following losses to Bedfordshire Blue Raiders and
Milton Keynes Pathfinders, and with the 2-0 Colchester Gladiators heading into
town, it looks like the Cheetahs may drop below 0.500 for the first time this
season.
When the Gladiators travelled to Watford last season, the Cheetahs won
10-6 to drop Colchester to a 0-2 record. This season, the Gladiators will be
looking for revenge when they try to extend their winning streak to three
games. In what will most likely be a close game, the Gladiators will be relying
on their high scoring offence to carry them over the finishing line.
Gladiators
to steal this one and win by two scores.
Kent
Exiles vs. Essex Spartans
When these two foes squared off at the start of the season, it was the
Kent Exiles who came away with the victory and the inaugural ‘Battle for the
Bridge’ crown.
It’s been a while since the Exiles last played so there may be some
signs of rust when they take on the Spartans this weekend. However, if they can
find a repeat performance of their last game (87-0 win over Maidstone), the
Exiles will comfortably win this one.
When the Spartans were demoted from last season’s Division One South,
some people may have thought that the Spartans have a chance of winning the
National South Central title. Instead, the Spartans have dropped to a 0-3
record and have been shutout twice this season. It’s not been a good year for
the Spartans so far.
Exiles
to edge this one again. Kent by a score.
National South
Solent
Thrashers vs. Farnham Knights
The Thrashers extended their unbeaten run last weekend with a victory
over the Gloucester Centurions and are now the only team in the National South
with a 0 in their L column. No doubt the Thrashers will be hoping that stat
continues for another week following this weekend’s game vs. the Farnham
Knights.
After a sluggish start to the season (losses to Solent and Cornish), the
Knights finally got their first win since the 2011 season (Farnham didn’t
compete in the 2012 season), when they defeated the Swindon Storm 41-0. The
Knights will now be hoping to get their record back up to 0.500 for the season.
Tough
one. Going to go with Solent by a score.
Bournemouth
Bobcats vs. Bristol Apache
Following another defeat last weekend, the Bobcats have dropped to 0-4
and are now playing for pride. It’s not like the Bobcats are playing terrible
this season either. Three games have been decided by a score or less, and no
team have posted 30 points on the Bobcats. It makes you wonder if there’s a
division between the teams O and D.
The surprise team of this season are definitely the Bristol Apache who
are now 3-1 following their blowout victory against the Cornish Sharks. It’ll
be interesting to see how Bristol matchup against Solent or Oxford, but so far
it’s so good from a team who used to be a basement team.
Apache
to move to 4-1 with a two score victory.
How can the Gladiators steal the win by 2 scores? Seems like two scores is fairly comprehensive, hardly a steal.
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