After trailing 15-14 at the half, the O's reeled off 28 unanswered points to romp home as convincing winners of Britbowl 2002.

O's head coach Riq Ayub said: "I'm very proud of my players for winning this championship. Our execution in the first half was terrible and we weren't playing the type of football we needed to play.

"We refocused and got back to basics and produced when we got back on the field."

London made the brighter start to the Championship Game by scoring twice inside the opening four minutes.

Running back Warren Keen - who was in training camp with the Amsterdam Admirals before a hand injury ended his 2002 NFL Europe League season - opened the scoring on the second play from scrimmage - a 44-yard run around right end. Andy Boyle added the extra point.

Boyle then stretched London's lead when he took a slant pass from quarterback Junior Price 77 yards to the end zone. Boyle converted his own score for a 14-0 first quarter lead.

The Farnham-based Knights began their fight back late in the first quarter when American running back Tony Stitt forced his way into the end zone from 3 yards out. The extra point attempt was blocked to leave the Knights behind 14-6.

The Knights moved to within two points when quarterback Ashley Heath threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver John Clarke. With just over four minutes remaining in the half, the Knights moved into a 15-14 lead on Steve Belcher's 29-yard field goal.

With Stuart Franklin replacing Price at quarterback for the O's in the second half, London took control of the game and marched to glory.

Franklin threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to WR Marvin Allen, 36 yards to WR Clive Palumbo and also ran for a 1-yard score as the O's opened up a 35-15 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Franklin capped an impressive second half display by throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Palumbo to complete the scoring.

Palumbo earned game MVP honours with 4 receptions for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Franklin completed 7 of 9 passes for 80 yards and 2 scores.

Leading London's defensive effort was linebacker Tim Newton (11 tackles and 2 forced fumbles), safety Scott Rowe (3 tackles and 2 interceptions) and linebacker Aden Durde (4 tackles, 1 interception and 2 pass defences), who drew special praise from his head coach.

Ayub said: "I think that Aden is a great individual who has worked very, very hard. I think that in a bigger pool or at the next level he will excel.

"He was an absolute lion out there today. I think he deserves a shot with NFL Europe. It's not my decision and I understand that but, in my experience, I would look at him."