21. Helsinki Roosters 20-21 Manchester Spartans, Football League of Europe, 29th May 1994
Import receivers Curtis Bell and Manny Johnson combined on a stunning
80 yard trick play TD to lead the Spartans to victory with just 23
seconds left. The Finns had gone ahead 20-14 with 50 seconds remaining
on a 28 yard pass from Lopez to Laitimen. Bell received the ball on a
reverse and then tossed the ball to Johnson who raced in to score.
Kicker Nils Almelid nailed the PAT to secure the win. Match report.
22. PA Knights 22-21 London Olympians, BAFL Division One, 7th August 2005
In a game that showcased the very best of top level British American
Football the current National Champions held on with a thrilling one
point victory over the former champion London Olympians.
Paul Attia carried the ball 32 times for
With Stuart Franklin not available for the game the Londoners turned to
former Great Britain QB Junior Price to lead their offense. The Knights
defense however - led by former London Monarch Tony Mackenzie slammed
the door shut on the visitors ground game and they were soon forced to
punt the ball back to the Knights.
Knights QB Ashley Heath then engineered a patient Knights drive
featuring strong runs from Attia complimented by two short yardage pick
ups by Paul "Benny" Wakeford. With the Olympians crowding the line of
scrimmage to stop the run, QB Heath fired a 39yd bomb to Wide Receiver
Jonathon Gerring to open the scoring for the Knights. Steve Belchers
extra point attempt was judged to have missed and the Knights led 6-0
as the quarter came to an end.
The Olympians were forced again to punt to the Knights and a good
return from Mike Dunson saw the home team take possession at their own
40yd line. The Knights turned again to Attia and his darting runs
behind full back Moses Tomas made good use of the ground clearing
ability of the Knights Offensive line. The drive set up Paul Wakefords
four yard run - the fullback going into the endzone virtually untouched
behind Center Dave Carpenter and Right Guard Kevin Keohane. Steve
Belcher made sure of the kick by perfectly splitting the uprights and
the Knights stretched their lead to 13-0.
The two defences then dominated the next couple of drives. Price was
chased and harried by Defensive Ends Tim Siewert and Liam Smith while
Tony Mackenzie and Ken Ross added to their tackle stats when the
visitors attempted to run.
With the half coming to an end the Knights had possesion again. A short
screen pass to Paul Wakeford looked likely to result in a big gain for
the home team but the Olympians Sacha Conte came up with a big play as
he managed to intercept the pass and return it to the Knights 15yd line.
Price then found just enough time to get the ball in the air to Andy
Boyle who hauled in the 19yd pass for the first league points to be
scored against the Knights defense in a home game this year. Boyle
kicked the extra point and the score stood at 13-7 at the half.
The Olympians had the first possession of the second half and they came
out in a determined mood. A long drive from the visitors ate up the
clock and kept the Knights defense on the field for a lot longer than
they had been used to in the first half. Fourth down conversions from
Clive Palumbo and Andy Boyle kept the drive going, as with the Olympian
ground game failing to make progress, Price went to the air to keep the
visitors moving.
Facing fourth down and short yardage at the Knights 12yd line the
visitors had the choice of a 29yd Field Goal to close the Knights lead
to just a Field Goal or to go for it and keep the prospect of a go
ahead touchdown alive. Having already converted two fourth down
situations on the drive the visitors coaching staff decided to roll the
dice again - unfortunately for them it was third time unlucky as the
Knights Defense held firm and the home team took over the ball deep in
their own territory.
A short run and an incomplete pass saw the Knights facing third and
long on their own 15yd line. With the Olympian Offense in a bouyant
mood and the Knights Defense needing a break the home team faced a
crucial third down conversion attempt. Paul Attia was handed the ball
and with Moses Tomas and former London Ravens star Joe StLouis leading
the way he blasted his way to a 25yd gain for the Knights.
QB Ashley Heath found Jonathon Gerring down the sideline for a good
gain and Gavin Hart, giving Attia a well earned breathing space, picked
up another first down as the Knights embarked on their own time
consuming drive. With the bulk of the Knights drive eating up yards on
the ground the drive took the two teams into the fourth quarter. The
drive however was slowed by the Olympian defense as the Knights entered
their redzone (20yd line) and, facing fourth down and 2 from the 4 yard
line, this time it was the Knights coaching staff who had the decision
to make. With Steve Belcher, one of the best ever British League
kickers, available and the prospect of stretching their lead to a two
score margin the Knights settled for a 21yd Belcher Field Goal to lead
16-7.
The Olympians are well known for their comeback wins and the Knights
knew that the game was far from over. With Price finding success
through the air - and a Knights penalty adding a 15yd helping hand -
the visitors were soon threatening the home teams endzone. Again with
Mackenzie driving them on the Knights defense stiffened and the
Olympians faced a vital fourth down and goal to go from the 1yd line.
The Olympians running back appeared to have fumbled the ball at the 1yd
line - and the Knights looked to have stopped his progress short of the
endzone. No signal was given but after momentary confusion the referees
unpicked the pile and signalled an Olympian score. Boyle added the
extra point and with 9 minutes remaining the score now stood at 16-14.
The Knights again sought to control the game and the clock with their
running game. This time however it was the Olympian defense that held
firm and the Knights were forced to punt. Great Britain and All Europe
returner Jeremy Sims caught Steve Belchers punt at the Olympian 24 yard
line - 76yards later the Londoners were celebrating a go ahead score.
Boyle added the extra point and with 5 minutes remaining the momentum
had dramatically swung in favour of the visitors who led for the first
time 16-21 after Boyles PAT.
After Boyles kick off into the endzone the Knights took over at their
own 20yd line. There was no doubt that their drive needed to result in
a score if they were to win the game.
After one short gain a loss of yardage on their second play saw them
staring defeat in the face. Many teams would have crumbled - but QB
Ashley Heath calmly picked out Tony Talbot with a pinpoint 9yd pass to
give the Knights a first down. Paul Attia picked up good yardage on the
next play and then fullback Moses Tomas added to that with a 9yd pass
reception from Heath. The Olympians however stiffened their defense
again and the Knights found themselves facing another 3rd down
situation. This time Heath hit WR Jon Gerring for a 25yd gain to both
keep the drive alive and put the Knights deep into Olympian territory.
Attia then followed Tomas and StLouis in a repeat of the earlier big
gain and was barely stopped by the visitors at their one yard line.
From there Full Back Tomas was unstoppable and he crashed into the
endzone for and emotional score with just 1 minute remaining on the
clock. The Knights two point conversion attempt narrowly failed and the
home team led 22-21.
The Olympians were not simply going to accept defeat and a good return
from Clive Palumbo saw them takeover at the halfway line. Price
completed a pass to Sims to put the visitors at the Knights 32yd line -
but time was running out for the visitors. An incomplete pass and
another Knights run stop saw Price spike the ball on the next play to
give Boyle the time to attempt a 49yd Field Goal to win the game. The
Knights knew that the NFL Europe triallist had the leg to make the kick
- but the celebrations started as the attempt fell short. Match report
23. Birmingham Bulls 26-20 Leicester Panthers (OT), BAFA Division One Semi-Final, 7th August 1994
LB Martin Hughes returned an interception 38 yards for a TD to secure a
final spot for the Bulls. Earlier drama had sent the game into overtime
as Panthers QB Kargbo bundled his way in for the tying score with
seconds remaining, and then the Panthers D blocked a last second field
goal from Bulls kicker Andy Raffo. Match report.
24. Germany 9-38 Great Britain Lions, European Championship Semi-Final, 21st August 1989
The GB Lions swamped the Germans on their own patch in this European
Championship semi-final.Nottingham Hoods receiver Allan Brown caught
two touchdowns while running backs Victor Ebubideke and Trevor Carthy
ran in two each themselves. In front of a partisan 6,000 Hamburg crowd
and a national TV audience, the British players put on their best ever
performance to lead 19-0 at half-time and 38-0 in the final period.
Germany only scored near the end against GB's second string defense. No
match report
25. Rockingham Rebels 28-29 Medway Mustangs, Combined Gridiron League Duke Division Week 1, 1989
Rockingham led 28-3 in the third quarter as the Mustangs struggled to
come to grips with a new defensive system, and they sealed a remarkable
comeback victory with Keith Isham’s winning PAT in the dying
seconds. No match report
26. Manchester Spartans 27-25 Northants Storm, Coke Bowl, 4th August 1990
Spartans won back to back national championships as WR Allan Brown
scored a hat-trick of TD receptions, but the win was only secured
2.44mins from time when Johnny Atlas (who scored 3 times himself)
was stopped on a 2 PAT conversion that would have tied the scores. Match report.
27. Norwich Devils 17-13 Cambridgeshire Cats, BAFL Division Two, 23rd July 2007
The Norwich Devils became Division 2 South East Conference champions
with a hard fought victory over their closest rivals from Cambridge.
Man of the match Ben Green returned a kick off 70 yards for a
spectacular touchdown with just 46 seconds left on the clock to
maintain the Devils unbeaten record. The Devils led 10-7 at half-time,
and the second half was dominated by both defenses and seemed to be
petering out to a low scoring win for Norwich. Then late in the fourth
quarter, the Cats looked to have snatched the game putting together a
quick-fire 71 yard drive culminating in a 12 yard scoring pass from
Brown to receiver Gurkinder Mann. Casey's extra point kick was blocked,
but the Cats led 13 - 10 with under a minute to play. It was then Green
came up with the big play, returning the kick off for the winning
score. He then added the extra point, and so claiming all 17 of
Norwich's points. Match report
28. Finland 0-26 Great Britain Lions, European Championship Final, 27th August 1989
Torrential rain had caused this European final to be staged several
hours late and 20 miles from Hamburg, it's original venue. But none of
these problems affected a rampaging Great Britain who adopted a ground
attack because of the poor weather conditions and inadequate lighting.
Victor Ebubideke and Trevor Carthy again led the charge with the Raven
scoring the first points on a 50-yard break over right tackle. A
defense which was to make six interceptions then kept the pressure on
the Finns. Linebacker Karl Goodwin returned the first interception deep
into Finnish territory where Ebubideke completed the job for a 12-0
lead which GB held at the half.
The Finns came out fired up in the second half and almost got back into
the game with a long drive only to turn the ball over on downs after a
successful GB blitz on fourth and five. Britain then surprised their
opponents by going to the air and Jason Elliot found Allan Brown in the
end zone from 30 yards. An extra point from Toby Hester gave Britain an
unassailable 19-0 lead. Carthy finally got in on the scoring act in the
fourth quarter to seal a truly memorable victory more impressive than
the European Championship had ever seen before. No match report
29. Northants Storm 16-22 Leeds Cougars (OT), Budweiser National Quarter-Final, 22nd July 1989
Leeds looked to be heading out of the playoffs with the scores tied at
16-16 in the dying moments and the Storm camped on the Cougars one yard
line. The Cougars halted the Storm though sending the game into
overtime, and then won the game on Dave McIntosh’s 2 yard run
minutes into the fifth period. Match report
30. London Ravens 13-51 Birmingham Bulls, Budweiser National Semi-Final, 21st August 1988
After losing their unbeaten record earlier in the season, the Ravens
minds were concentrated on retaining their national title but they were
destroyed by a Russ Jensen and Trevor Carthy inspired Bulls team.
Jensen controlled the tempo of the play and passed for 2 TD’s and
Carthy produced a fine example of two way football to send the Bulls
through to the final. Match report
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