30th July 2005 Finland 34-12 Great Britain, Malmo,
European Championship Pool A Bronze Medal match
After a wet morning in Malmo, the rain stopped an hour before kickoff in this
crucial match. The last time the Brits took on the Finns, Finland had run out 34-9 winners
in Helsinki in 2000. After forcing Finland to punt, Marc Cohen made Britball history by
walking out onto the field for a record 12th cap for the Lions beating the
record of 11 held by Colin Nash. An unsuccessful drive followed, and Cohen punted with
Finland taking over on their own 37 yard line. Good tackling by Rowe, Roach and Hackshaw
led to Finland having a 4th and 1 from the Lions 36 yard line, and on 4th
down Paukkula ran for 19 yards and the first down. Five plays later and Paukkula ran over
left guard from 3 yards out to put Finland 7-0 up. On their next drive, the Lions started
at their 20. Drane completed passes of 12 yards (Simms) and 16 yards (Palumbo), and was
backed up by some good running from Campbell. At 4th and 1 from Finlands
38 yard line, Brian Long went for it, but was stopped for no gain. On Finlands next
play Paukkula ran for 46 yards to the Lions 23, and after a roughing the passer penalty by
Powell Finland completed an 8 yard pass for a TD to put them 14-0 up.
The Lions struck straight back though, with a scrambling Drane hitting Palumbo for 67
yards on their next offensive possession. Aldouss PAT was missed and the Lions
trailed 14-6. Finland extended their lead to 20-6 on their next drive, when Penkki
completed a 48 yard fly pass to Palikainen. The Lions got things going on their next drive
with Dranes 27 yard screen to Campbell, and then his own 19 yard, but two penalties
cost them and they were forced to punt. With three minutes left in the half, Finland put
the game out of the Lions reach with a 4th TD of the half, on Penkkis 5
yard pass to Myohanen. This put Finland 27-6 up at half-time.
Photos courtesy of Andreas Gebek
http://www.sidelineview.de/
With the Brits struggling to move the ball on the ground, Drane came out passing in the
second half, but on their next possession he was picked off at Finlands 30. The
teams traded punts with Glasgows Ryan Hunter performing well on defense in
particular. Finland stretched their lead to 34-6 though on a 9 play 77 yard drive
culminating in Paukkulas 5 yard run up the middle. Drane continued the passing theme
on the Lions next drive with 3 passes to Palumbo, 2 to Campbell and one each to Simms and
Cohen as the Lions drove down to Finlands 9, but on 4th down, Drane was
sacked and the ball was turned over on downs.
After a Finland punt, GB got the ball in excellent field position at Finlands 31
yard line after a 14 yard return by Simms and aided by a personal foul penalty. Drane was
intercepted by Winqvist who subsequently fumbled and was recovered by Drane. After a 9
yard pass to Palumbo, Campbell made no mistake from 13 yards out as he ran over right
tackle to make the score 34-12 with 4 minutes left in the half.
That was the end of the scoring. On the statistics front QB David Drane threw for 270
yards, with MVP Clive Palumbo catching 8 passes for 141 yards. Finland outgained GB 428
yards to 311. Paukkula ran for 138 yards and 2 TDs on just 18 carries.
GB Squad
QB David Drane (London Olympians), Neil Canning (Birmingham Bulls)
RB Kofi Campbell (Birmingham Bulls), Stewart Muir (Kent Exiles), Steve Coles (Coventry
Jets), Marc Saunders (PA Knights), Chris Taylor (Bristol Aztecs)
WR Mark Squire (West Coast Trojans), Marc Cohen (Coventry Jets), Jeremy Simms, Clive
Palumbo, Tam Bryne (all London Olympians), Joe Black (Birmingham Bulls), Duncan Aldous
(London Blitz), Rodney Egerton (PA Knights)
TE Adam Newman (Oxford Saints), Philip Scales (Cologne Falcons)
OL David Carpenter, Mark Lockwood, Kevin Keohane (all PA Knights), Peter Jones, Rob Hardy,
Steve Hopkins, Charlie Wilson (both Bristol Aztecs), Matthew.Meyer (London
Olympians/Hertfordshire Hurricanes), Rab Beveridge (Clyde Valley Hawks)
DL Bernie Hackshaw, Saul Freer (Coventry Jets), Brian Long (Doncaster Mustangs), Peter
Fields, Gavin Collins (PA Knights), Sean Hopkins (Bristol Aztecs), ,
LB Paul Newey (Coventry Jets), Brendan Cunnane (Birmingham Bulls), Craig Pennington, Craig
McDowell (both ASAP Yorkshire Rams), Dale Powell (Southern Sundevils), Ryan Hunter
(Glasgow Tigers), Tom Proctor (Bristol Aztecs)
DB James Brazier (Berlin Adler), Wes Roach, Scott Rowe (both London Olympians), Ahmed
Hashim (Birmingham Bulls), Simon Kockelbergh (PA Knights), Dale Smart (Sussex Thunder)
K Duncan Aldous (London Blitz)
P Marc Cohen (Coventry Jets)