In this Final the home team did not make that switch to the second string until the final 3 -4 minutes and the result was the customary 40+ points to a shutout - by this time the Knights were also allowing their full squad to enjoy playing in the atmosphere created by nearly 5000 supporters in the Tivoli Neu stadium.

The Knights made the first positive impression on their entry into the Stadium - several players ran to the crowd to give out T Shirts commemorating the clubs greatest moment and advertising their sponsors who made it all possible. Premier Prospects (the Recruitment Specialists from Farnborough) lead the European sponsorship team and additional support is given by Personal Assurance, Travel Inn, the Royal Mail Sports Foundation and Rose Electronics.

The Raiders are funded however on a different scale which allows them to import and pay Canadian and American players and they had a total of 8 North Americans with College Football experience in their line up. The rules of the competition allow only 3 Americans per team but with dual passport holders that condition can be overcome - this was the case with the Raiders who had 5 dual passport holders in their squad.

The Knights on the other hand had to choose between their 6 travelling volunteer American players and Tony Stitt (RB), Ken Ross (LB) and Chris McIver (DB) lined up alongside the visitors 40 travelling British players while the other three were obliged to watch the game from the sideline.

The Knights spirit was evident from the first whistle until the last and while the scoreline shows clearly that they were beaten by a better team they made the Raiders work for every score and every yard. The British visitors received plaudits from the home team, organisation and fans for their determination and for the way in which they conducted themselves before, during and after the game.

The Raiders lead by Head Coach and starting QB Geoff Buffum were impressive through the air and on the ground where star Austrian Running Back Florian Grein put in a performance (173yds and 4TD's from 24 carries) that earned him the Most Valuable Player award.

The Knights opened on Offense and attacked the game from the outset - the Raiders defense however was in outstanding form and their speed in particular was a major factor in restricting the Knights to just 2 first downs in the whole of the half. The home team offense however were equally in fine form - the first quarter seeing them score twice on the ground from short yardage. The first a one yard plunge from Geoff Burns (British/Canadian) RB from 1yd and the second the first of Florian Greins four from 3yds out. The Raiders led 14-0

The second quarter saw the the home team continue their progress with three scores - the first the only passing TD of the day as American QB Buffum hit his American Wide Receiver Chris Rosier for a 13yd score - Rosier played professionally last year in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinatti Bengals. This was folloed by two mopre scores from the home grown talent Florian Grein from 1yd and 3 yds out.

The half time score stood at 35-0 to the Raiders.

At this stage in the past games the Raiders had added a further score in the third quarter and then sent in the back-ups to finish the game. Who knows, this might have been their plan this time but the Knights came out and took control of the third quarter. First the Defense stopped the Raiders as Jon Wyse, who was playing both ways for the Knights, showed he was still capable of producing on Defense despite having dedicated himself to Offensive and Special Teams duties since joining the Knights. His interception of a long Buffum pass intended for Israeli/Canadian David Aaron in the endzone put the Knights on Offense on their own 20yd line.

Powerful running from Tony Stitt and Marc Saunders - inter twined by passes from QB Ashley Heath to Rodney Edgerton saw them take the ball the length of the field on 17 plays to the closest they came to scoring all day. The drive eventually faultered inside the Raiders 5 yd line as the Knights coaching staff looked for 6 points on first down rather than settling for a token 3 point Field Goal.

The Raiders then added a Florian Grein rushing touchdown from 6yds out after a patient drive back down the field to lead 42-0.

The Knights rested QB Heath and under the guidance of young QB Luke Smith they moved down the field with Kingsley Ejiogu making good yardage on the ground. Unfortunately a tipped pass from Smith fell in exactly the right place for the Raiders and the interception set up a final home team drive to Schellreiders 25yd Field Goal and a 45-0 scoreline.

Undaunted the Knights still came back fighting and had driven again to the Raiders 15yd line (this time against their back-up Defense) before the drive again stalled on two incomplete passes.

The Raiders ran out the clock and the celebrating began for the home team who were surprised and delighted to find the Knights joining with them in Mexican waves to the crowd and later in celebrations in their sponsors premises in the City Centre.

Knights Head Coach Steve Rains said "We were beaten by a better team - one that is possibly in the Top 3 in Europe - there is absolutely no shame in that. I am immensely proud of our team, my coaching staff and our fantastic supporters. I know from comments made to me by the Raiders, the Austrian Federation, the Austrian TV and EFAF officials that we have represented the British Senior League well and that we have made an all round positive impression for our Sponsors, the league, our Country and our club. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to lead this campaign and I am pleased that everyone associated with the club has had fun along the way"

Asst Head Coach James Mitchell said "The speed and experience of the Raiders was an all round significant factor. We came to pressure their QB but never got to him - credit to our OLine also as neither team got a sack. Nevertheless this has been a great experience for us and spurs us on to do well domestically so that we might have the chance to try to come back to an EFAF Cup Final again next year - we are so grateful to our sponsors that made this all possible and to the players who poured everything into it. The result was not what we wanted but that aside the experience could not have been better."

Defensive Co-ordinator Ian Ellis added " We may have conceded 45 points but we did not give up scores on any big plays - they had to work for every point. There is no question that the Raiders are a class act - they are organised and play on a level above everyone else in the competition this year and that showed today. What also showed was the spirit in our guys that brings us together at what we call Knightime. We made very few errors and this was a very clean game - unfortunately they made very few errors also and were too good for us ultimately"

Offensive Co-ordinator Rick Bice was equally complimentary "Neither ourselves or the Raiders committed significant errors - we had no turnovers on fumbles and one interception - Luke was unlucky on that one as the ball was tipped and could have gone anywhere. We may not have scored but we kept to our gameplan and patiently chipped away at them - it was agreed by all (both Raiders and Knights) that we deserved to get at least one on the board but it was not to be. I am proud to have been here with our guys who put everything into it and kept going throughout the 4 quarters. This experience will be a lifetime memory and will be a positive motivator for the Knights despite the scoreline"

Team Manager Shelley Hygate praised the organisation and hospitality of the Austrian team "Except for the scoreline this has been a perfect trip. The Raiders are brilliant hosts - they could not have been more helpful and we could not have been made more welcome. We wish them well for their domestic play-offs, the bond that exists between our two clubs which was established in last years competition has been further strengthened and we hope it will continue on into the future".

The Knights return to BSL action on Sunday with their final regular season home game against the Cambridgeshire Cats - kick off 2-30pm at the Varsity Sports ground in Guildford.

Passing

A Heath 5 of 10 for 15yds

Luke Smith 0 of 6 for 0yds 1Int

Receiving

R Edgerton 3 for 20yds

C McIver 1 for -2yds

J Wyse 1 for -3yds

Rushing

K Ejiogu 8 for 70yds

A Stitt 15 for 54yds

M Saunders 9 for 33yds

A Heath 1 for -1yd

Total

Rushing 33 for 157yds

Passing 5 of 16 for 15yds

Total = 49 plays 172yds

Defence

J Wyse 7U 1A plus 1Int

T Mackenzie 5U 2A

C McIver 3U 2A

M Lloyd 3U 1A

S Harrison 3U

C Cooke 2U 1A

K Ross 2U 1A

J Cashman 2U 1A

Passing

G Buffum 16 of 22 for 229yds 1TD

Receiving

C Rosier 4 for 43yds 1TD

D Aaron 3 for 63yds

V Skradski 3 for 59yds

B Dieplinger 2 for 32yds

F Grein 2 for 12yds

B Ballard 1 for 10yds

J Schnellrieder 1 for 10yds

Rushing

F Grein 24 for 173yds 4TD

A Hoheneder 1 for 12yds

G Burns 4 for 9yds 1TD

C Erhart 2 for 6yds

G Buffum 1 for 0yds

Total

Rushing 32 for 200yds 5TD

Passing 16 of 22 for 229yds 1TD