The Cambridgeshire Cats, sponsored by Mickey Flynn's American Pool in Cambridge, travelled to Basildon expecting their toughest game of the season and got exactly that.

Essex had the better of the early exchanges but as the Cats defence toughened up the offence kicked into gear and scored on a 4 yard run by Runningback Ken 'K-Train' Sweeney. The extra point kick was missed leaving the Cats with a slender 6-0 lead.
The Spartans reply was immediate as the ensuing kick off was almost returned for a score leaving Essex with great field position. But the Cats defence refused to buckle and stopped the Spartans from scoring at their own 4 yard line as the first quarter ended.

Spurred on by their team mates efforts Quarterback Nick Tilbury led the Cats offence on a time consuming 16 play, 96 yard drive which was finished off by K-Train Sweeney sprinting in from 7 yards out. Brian Jelley nailed the extra point giving Cambridgeshire a 13-0 lead.
But the Cats could not afford to relax as the Spartans recovered a fumble giving them excellent field position again. Yet again the Cats defence performed brilliantly holding Essex out of the end zone with another Goal Line stand to end the half.

The second half started badly for the Cats as another fumble gifted essex the ball. Fortunately Defensive Back Nate 'Slash' Stroman intercepted a wayward Essex pass
and this time the offence replied immediately as Quarterback Nick Tilbury found Runningback Seth Campbell with a short pass who then broke two desperate tackles and sprinted away from the floundering Essex secondary for a 75 yard touchdown. Jelley added the extra point kick giving the Cats a 20-0 lead.
With the Defence in dominant form the Offence soon had the ball again. Eight plays later Sweeney smashed in from a yard out for his third touchdown of the game. Tilbury passed to receiver John Smith for the two extra points and a 28-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.

But the Spartans refused to lie down and came storming back as Quarterback Aaron Griffiths first found John Stott from 38 yards out and then Paul Simpson, again from 38 yards, with scoring passes. Essex added the two extra points after both touchdowns to reduce the score to 28-16.
Another Cats fumble set up a nail biting finale as Essex moved the ball to the goal line once again. But a third Goal Line stand held the Spartans out of the end zone to seal a hard fought victory in dominant form.    
Linebackers Mickey Howling (11 tackles), Tre 'Dawg' Carpenter (6 tackles) and Chris Wolfe (9 tackles) lead a brilliant defensive display while Defensive Lineman Chris Tann weighed in with 6 tackles and 1.5 sacks. On offence runningback Ken Sweeney ran for 98 yards from 14 carries and Quarterback Nick Tilbury connected on 8 of his 12 pass attempts for 160 yards and a touchdown.

The Cats have another extremely tough game against the Chiltern Cheetahs at Coldhams Common in Cambridge this sunday. Kick Off is at the usual time of 14:30.