1. Milton Keynes Pioneers 20-26 London O's (OT), BIG C Final, 10th August 1997
According to First
Down
this was "the greatest game ever played in the UK". The final of the
1997 BIG C was well advertised, shown live on cable TV and a beautiful
day to boot in a great stadium (Milton Keynes National Hockey Stadium)
which drew in a crowd of 2,500. The lead see-sawed between these two
dominant teams of the 1997 season, and with the O's leading 20-14 late
in the fourth quarter the Pioneers tied the game up on Ken Barnett's 14
yard run. Ken Biggs blocked Gavin Hart's PAT to send the national
championship game to overtime in the first and so far only time in it's
history. London won the coin toss and marched straight down the field
capped off by Justin Oke's 11 yard winning TD run. Match report
2. Leicester Panthers 21-23 Birmingham Bulls, Budweiser National League, 12th June 1988
Those who attended say
this was one of the greatest ever games to be played in the UK. 18
points scored in the last 2 minutes, the lead changing hands twice in
the final minute and the Bulls winning it with a TD on the last play of
the game. The Bulls led 17-9 with 2 minutes to go, but their 4th down
punt was blocked and recovered by the Panthers who scored on the next
play on Sean Payton’s pass to Curt Sanders to cut the lead to
17-15. The Panthers then recovered the onside kick, and 4 plays later
took the lead on Payton’s run. Trevor Carthy returned the
resulting kickoff to the Panthers 40, and then Russ Jensen combined
with Gregg Harris to take the Bulls down to the Panthers 10 yard line.
Jensen then ploughed in from the 2 yard line as time expired. Match report
3. PA Knights 22-26 London O’s, BAFL regular season, 21st July 2003
This had all the
makings of a classic encounter with the PA Knights looking like real
challengers to the reigning champion O’s. The Knights were at
home in boiling conditions, and the O’s with a win would break
the London Ravens long standing record for most consecutive domestic
victories. The Knights stormed out to an early lead with TD’s
from Jon Wyse and Anthony Stitt led them to a 16-0 half-time advantage.
The teams traded scores in the 3rd quarter, and going into the final
period the Knights still held a seemingly unassailable 22-6 lead.
The Os’ led by QB
Stuart Franklin took to the air and scored on two long range passing
scores to Andy Boyle as the O's pulled to 22-20, and took over again
with less than 2 minutes to go. The O's faced a 4th and 9 with 20
seconds to go on the half-way line. However, Boyle caught a slant pass
for 10 yards to keep the drive going. With just 9 seconds on the clock,
Franklin lofted a perfect pass down the left hand touch-line, and Clive
Palumbo ran onto the pass and raced into the endzone for a 36 yard
score. There was no way back for the Knights, and the O's were left to
celebrate a historic win. Match report
4. Glasgow Lions 26-20 Nottingham Hoods, Budweiser National League, 5th May 1991
One of the most
infamous incidents in Britball history happened at Helenvale, Glasgow
in this - the "1/4-second game". The Nottingham Hoods had travelled to
play the Lions in a regular season game and had built a lead of 20-14
with only a few seconds left in the game. Hoods QB Mike Grossner 'took
a knee' on 4th down to end the game but the timekeeper ruled that a
quarter of a second remained in the game. Glasgow took over on downs
and scored on the last play of the game, missed the extra point and the
game went into overtime. The Lions won the toss and received the ball,
marched 65 yards in 7 plays where Lions QB Darren Trainer hit Andy
McGowen in the end zone to win the game 26-20. No match report
5. Birmingham Bulls 39-38 Olympians, NDMA Coke Bowl Final, 4th August 1991
The culmination of the
1991 NDMA season saw the Birmingham Bulls triumph over the London
Olympians 39-38 in a thrilling see-saw game at Alexander Stadium,
Birmingham. In front of 4,000 fans, trailing by 36-14 as the final
quarter began the O's scored 24 unanswered points to lead the game
38-36 with only a minute to go. Bulls QB Dave Kramme engineered a six
play, 62 yard drive enabling the Bulls to snatch victory with a 23-yard
field goal from Mark Webb with 17 seconds left to break the hearts of
the London side. Match report
6. Thames Valley Chargers 28-23 Chelmsford Cherokee, Budweiser National League, 10th June 1989
Chelmsford took an
early 10-0 lead, but were pegged back by the Chargers who took the lead
14-10 by half-time. The teams traded scores in the second half and with
19 seconds left, the Chargers led 22-16. Cherokee TE Robin Kiddie
caught Phil Charron’s 60 yard hail mary pass to and with the PAT
sensationally took a 23-22 lead. Chelmsford’s subsequent kickoff
went out the back of the endzone with 1 second left giving the Chargers
one last play with 1 second left. Ez Charles then rumbled 70 yards to
secure an astonishing win for the Chargers. Match report
7. Luton Flyers 37-39 CMK Bucks, 28th June 1987
The Flyers stormed
out to a 34-7 half-time with RB Dave Munn accounting for 32 points of
them. The Bucks fought back in the second half with QB Milan
Zuzek, who flew in
from Ohio earlier that day, scoring a TD and completing TD passes
to John Price and
Ian Colledge to close the gap and when Zuzek completed a 2nd TD strike
to Price with minutes left on the clock the Bucks had completed the
biggest turnaround in Budwesier League history. Match report
8. Leicester Panthers 37-35 Glasgow Lions, NDMA, 23rd June 1990
Leicester scored 25 4th
quarter points snatching victory with just 27 seconds left on the clock
with John Jeub’s 11 yard catch from Mike Fanger. Earlier two
scores from John Braff had given the Scots a 28-12 lead going into the
final 15 minutes. However, the Panthers rallied on two TD catches from
Simon Dore to tie the scores at 28-28, and took the lead on Rex
Harrison’s field goal. The Lions retook the lead on Sean
Airlie’s 62 yard TD catch before Jeub’s late heroics. Match report.
9. London Olympians 24-23 Birmingham Bulls, BAFA Division One Final, 14th August 1994
Bulls kicker Andy Raffo
fluffed his lines by missing a PAT and two field goals – the last
one a 42 yarder with 30 seconds left. Allann Tait hit 3 PAT’s and
what turned out to be the winning points with a 20 yard field goal
midway through the final quarter. The Bulls mounted a long late drive
late in the 4th quarter which culminated in Raffo’s miss as the
Olympians held on to win a third straight title. Match report
10. London Ravens 45-7 Streatham Olympians, Summerbowl, 1985
Not that this was a
close game, but more of a historic game for British American Football.
The Ravens won the first ever British final in Summerbowl I at Villa
Park with a 45-7 hammering over the Streatham Olympians. Joe St Louis
ran for over 108 yards, and the Ravens outgained the Olympians 456
yards to just 182. Match report
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