Eastleigh Devils 14 Raiders 0

2nd June 1991

Basildon Warriors 0 Bournemouth Raiders 34

The Raiders came into this game expecting an easy win against their inexperienced opponents, but despite what the scoreline suggests it wasn’t that easy.

The first quarter started well. On the Raiders first possession Mark Elliott gained some substantial yards on the ground but several penalties and a muffed fourth down saw Basildon get the ball. Soon after they were forced to punt. However, the punt was blocked and Stu Winship recovered the ball and ran it into the endzone, only to see the referees call it back for clipping. The Raiders went downhill for the rest of the first quarter and then they took to the air for the second.

Cleveland hit Steve Shergold with a couple of passes, then two screens to Elliott worked for forty yards. Finally, the drive was capped off when Elliott ran in his first touchdown for the Raiders from eleven yards. Mark Constant added the 2 PAT on a pass from Cleveland. On the Raiders next drive Bradley Smith handed off to Steve Shergold on a reverse and Shergold ran in for a 21 yard score. The 2 PAT failed.

A 14-0 lead at half-time was unacceptable and the offense came out in fine form for the second half. On defense , the Raiders began to slaughter their smaller opponents. James Savage had a particularly good game (equalling the club record with 3.5 sacks in one game) and Simon Osborn got in on the act with two sacks.

The only score of the third quarter was a 60 yard bomb to Steve Shergold who then added another on a pass from Cleveland in the fourth quarter. Rich Smith added a 2 PAT but Bradley Smith dropped one.

The Raiders rounded off the scoring on the last play of the match with an 18 yard TD pass from Cleveland to Shergold.

TEAM

ELLIOTT WINSHIP B.SMITH S.SHERGOLD R.SMITH SAVAGE OSBORN K.SHERGOLD BATTEY LOVELESS CONSTANT WHITE HARRISON CLEVELAND HEASMAN MASON

STATS

PASSING

CLEVELAND 22-36-1-268-3

RUSHING

ELLIOTT 5-32-1
B.SMITH 6-23
SHERGOLD 1-21-1
CLEVELAND 1-5

RECEIVING

S.SHERGOLD 11-186-3
CONSTANT 5-17
B.SMITH 3-22
ELLIOTT 2-41
R.SMITH 1-2

SACKS

SAVAGE 3.5
OSBORN 2.0
BATTEY 1.5

INTERCEPTIONS

NONE

PUNT RETURNS

NONE

KICK RETURNS

S.SHERGOLD 1-25

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9th June 1991

Despite having a vastly understength team and playing the previously undefeated Crawley Raiders, Bournemouth showed that they had turned into winners by defeating their namesakes 8-0 and catapulted themselves into contention for the Southern Championship. The running game was non-existent for Bournemouth and the pass game was not as good as normal, however it was the reknowned defense that came up trumps for Bournemouth with 6 interceptions and five sacks.

The first half was relatively dull and the main highlight was when Crawley got to Bournemouth’s goal-line but a Heasman tackle and a Savage sack held the Crawley team at bay until the half-time whistle went.

The second half started badly as Mark Elliott dropped an easy interception and Crawley began to drive down the field. However, the drive ended abruptly after a Stuart Winship interception. The ball then exchanged hands a few times before Matt White made the game breaking play. A way-ward Crawley pass was picked off by White who returned it to the five yard line.

Three plays later Rich Cleveland hit Steve Shergold for a touchdown only to see one of the referees rule it incomplete. With a crunch fourth and goal, Craig Roberts, the Bournemouth Raiders new offensive coach called a tight end release play.

Rich Smith caught the crucial TD

Unfortunately, Rich Cleveland was hurried out of the pocket but he managed to hit Rich Smith in the endzone for 6 crucial points. The 2 PAT saw Cleveland pick out Shergold once more without an incompletion being called this time.

Kev Shergold - 2 interceptions

The fourth quarter saw the men in red (using borrowed kit from Eastleigh!) hang onto their lead thanks to interceptions from Kevin Shergold (2) and Matt Heasman. It also saw Crawley given a few chances to score thanks to four interceptions thrown by Rich Cleveland!

TEAM

ELLIOTT HEASMAN MOLAND WINSHIP B.SMITH S.SHERGOLD K.SHERGOLD MASON SAVAGE LOVELESS WHITE CLEVELAND CONSTANT R.SMITH WHICKHAM

STATS

PASSING

CLEVELAND 14-28-4-71-1

RUSHING

CLEVELAND 1-4
R.SMITH 1-2
B.SMITH 2-(-3)
ELLIOTT 2-(-4)

RECEIVING

S.SHERGOLD 4-35
ELLIOTT 5-14
CONSTANT 3-14
R.SMITH 1-6-1
B.SMITH 1-2

SACKS

SAVAGE 2.0
ELLIOTT 1.0
MOLAND 1.0
WINSHIP 1.0

INTERCEPTIONS

K.SHERGOLD 2-10
WHITE 1-16
WINSHIP 1-9
HEASMAN 1-5
S.SHERGOLD 1-0

PUNT RETURNS

S.SHERGOLD 1-2

KICK RETURNS

S.SHERGOLD 1-16

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Raiders Claim Win In Called Off Game

Sunday 23rd June 1991

RAIDERS 1    EASTLEIGH DEVILS 0

This is a copy of the letter that Mark Elliott sent to the league headquarters in response to Eastleigh trying to claim a forfeit win for the abandoned home game against Eastleigh:

Re: CANCELLED GAME VS. EASTLEIGH DEVILS 23/6/91

Dear Sir,

I understand, with great dismay, that Mr.O'Field of the Eastleigh Devils has complained, unjustly in my view, about the facilities we provided for the game and indeed my teams organisation in general. Although he would not give any specific reasons as to why he would not let the game commence.

I can to some extent appreciate Mr.O'Field's discontent but I feel that he is unfairly expecting a much smaller club like my own to match the standard of facilities which a financially sound club like his own is capable of.

We fulfilled all league specifications as they are set out in the rule-book, as we always have done, with no previous complaints aimed at us.

Here is a summary of the items which Mr.O'Field may possibly be dissatisfied with:

1. CHANGING ROOMS

There were no changing facilities as the groundsmen, who is a personal friend of the team, was not present due to the downpour of rain. He had previously said that he was willing to open the changing rooms for us at no cost whenever we required them.

Mr.O'Field then proceded to go over my head and contacted some gentlemen from the Bournemouth Parks and Recreation Department and argued with them that they should open the changing facilities. The gentlemen were greatly offended and angered by some of Mr.O'Field's comments and I was forced to apologise to them on behalf of everyone present.

2. REFRESHMENTS

We provided several bottles of water and also filled three of Mr.O'Field's large containers with water.

3. PADDING FOR THE POSTS

Mr.O'Field complained that there was no padding on the goalposts at which point I presented the padding which was in the boot of my car. Mr.O'Field's coaching staff then said that it was not necessary to put padding on the posts as they were willing to play without it.

4. FIRST AID

After I had satisfied Mr.O'Field's complaints about the padding on the posts he demanded to see who was my registered first aider. The gentlemen concerned then produced the document certifying that he was a qualified first aider.

At the point it became painfully obvious that Mr.O'Field had no intention of playing the game at all and he began to manipulate the fact that there are no mature adults involved in the running of my team. He demanded that I call off the game and play it at his ground within the next six days unless I could provide another first aider or an ambulance. I argued that this was an unfair and unnecessary statement as only one first aider is required and an ambulance is not mandatory. Also it is worth mentioning that Mr.O'Field had two qualified first aiders with him at the time.

5. TEAM JUDGES/REFEREES

Mr.O'Field informed me several days before the game that he could bring down two BAFRA officials with him on the condition that I paid them. I agreed to this as I had been unable to supply any referees despite contacting John West, Graham Coleman, Kevin Holt and an official in Bournemouth whom I only know as Sean.

On the day of the game I was willing to provide a team judge, as one of our supporters knew a sufficient enough amount of the rules to referee under the supervision of the two BAFRA officials. However, Mr.O'Field suggested that his son Kirk should be the third referee because he knew the touch game better. I agreed to this as I trusted Kirk to do a reasonably unbiased job. Unfortunately referees were the only item that we were to agree on all day.

6. PLAYING FACILITIES

The pitch was marked out suitably and indeed the Bournemouth Bearcats had played the Jets Juniors on the same field the day before and I did not recall hearing any complaints from the Jets and I was refereeing over on their side of the field.

7. CHAIN/DOWN MARKERS

The chain and down markers were supplied by myself. I borrowed them from Roger Smith of the Bearcats. We had enough people to man the equipment as well.

CONCLUSION

Although I do not wish to imply anything sinister I cannot help but feel that if Eastleigh had a 5-0 record as opposed to a 3-2 record there would have been no problem in playing the game as they have played us on our own ground twice before with no complaints.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Elliott (Manager)

P.S. I hope this situation can be resolved without too much aggravation.

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Crawley Canter To Championship

CRAWLEY RAIDERS    24    BOURNEMOUTH RAIDERS    0

In the eagerly anticipated showdown between the two Raiders sides with 4-1 records, it was Crawley who took the Southern Championship with a decisive victory.

Bournemouth had the first possession of the match, and on their first drive they picked up two first downs thanks to great link ups between Cleveland and Steve Shergold. Unfortunately the drive turned sour for Bournemouth and Crawley took over the game.

Bradley Smith was tackled on the four yard line when trying to punt and Crawley took over. They failed to reach the endzone on their first three downs but on fourth and goal Crawley's tightend pulled off a great catch despite the efforts of Kevin Shergold. The PAT was good and Crawley took a 7-0 lead. Bournemouth once again self-destructed on offense but defensively Leigh Arnold and Kevin Mason had their best games at cornerback and the Shergold brothers let nothing past them either. Cornerback/safety Matt White had to leave the game with an injured leg but Bournemouth struggled on.

In the second half the Crawley offense notched up a field goal to make the game safe at 10-0. At this point Bournemouth went to pieces. Bradley Smith had an unsuccessful attempt at QB, and then Mark Elliott was carried from the field with a back injury. Matt Heasman was then ejected in a dispute shortly after Crawley had scored their second TD when their WR had caught a tipped pass, and ran into the endzone despite being
tackled at least twice by Bournemouth players!

With the two distinguished linebackers out of the game the Raiders then watched helplessly as Crawley ran in their third touchdown from twenty yards.

The offense got back on track in the final stages but it was too late. Crawley had taken the championship, and Bournemouth would have to settle for the play-offs.

TEAM

Back row (left to right) - Steve Shergold, Stuart Winship, Chris Haughton, Mark Elliott, Bradley Smith, Leigh Arnold, Richard Cleveland, Matt White, James Savage, Kevin Mason, Kevin Shergold
Front row (left to right) - Matt Heasman, Marc Reeks, Matt Hobson, Simon Osborn, Ian Loveless, Richard Smith, Alex Moland

STATS

PASSING   

CLEVELAND    15-31-5-130-0        
B.SMITH    0-2-1-0-0

RUSHING   

HEASMAN    1-6        
ELLIOTT    2-0        
B.SMITH         1-0

RECEIVING   

S.SHERGOLD    6-105        
REEKS         4-12        
ELLIOTT         4-8        
HAUGHTON         1-5

SACKS   

MOLAND 2.0
HOBSON         1.0               
SAVAGE         1.0

INTERCEPTIONS   

S.SHERGOLD    2-6        
ELLIOTT         1-34

PUNT RETURNS       

S.SHERGOLD     2-12

KICK RETURNS       

S.SHERGOLD     4-51

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Shergold Snatches It For The Raiders

SOUTHERN WILD-CARD GAME

EASTLEIGH DEVILS        6         BOURNEMOUTH RAIDERS         8

The Raiders had finished the regular season with a 4-2 record and thought that in doing so they had snatched a semi-final berth in the play-offs. They had after all finished with the fourth best record in the country. Not so however. A week after the season finished the league declared that there should be a wild-card play-off to decide who should qualify for the semi-finals between Bournemouth and Eastleigh (who finished with a poorer record at 3-3). It is thought that as the League ruled in Bournemouth’s favour in the middle of the season in an abandoned match (see report of this), that the League wanted to even things up by letting Eastleigh into the play-offs through the back door. To compound things, the League ruled that the same should be played at Eastleigh’s Lord’s Hill ground!

When it came down to it, however, Bournemouth came out on top of their southern rivals for the first time in 7 meetings.

Eastleigh controlled the ball for much of the first quarter but failed to score when a field-goal went wide after a fifty yard drive. The surprise miss by Eastleigh's kicker had nothing to do with the dirty late hits he had earlier received from Marc Reeks and Steve Shergold!

The first half showed the Raiders new found running game. Superb blocking by the offensive line and full-back Matt Heasman saw Mark Elliott pick up a couple of first downs. However, the score remained 0-0 until the second half when safety Rich Cleveland lost his footing only to watch his man catch the ball and walk into the endzone. Without their regular kicker, by now in hospital, the extra point whistled past the wrong side of the uprights. Eastleigh led the wild-card match 6-0.

On the next drive Bradley Smith threw his first interception of the season and was then harshly dropped in favour of the more experienced Rich Cleveland.

At the beginning of the third quarter Mark Elliott bobbled a kick return, before running the ball back for 27 yards and then getting steam-rollered by three Eastleigh players. The rest of the quarter was uneventful except for a fourth and inches for the Devils, when the Devils QB was tackled by the defensive line for a turnover only to see the referee give a first down in favour of Eastleigh.

The fourth quarter saw the Eastleigh reserves participating due to over-confidence from their coaches. The Raiders were riled at such mockery and stepped up a gear. Facing third and five the Devils WR ran ten yards downfield and stumbled over Leigh Arnold's leg. The Eastleigh team judge called for pass interference only to see the penalty overruled by Eric Pearson, the league official. On fourth down (and with only minutes to go), the cocky reserve kicker had the ball fired over his head with Winship in hot pursuit. The kicker picked up the ball on the four yard line only to be pounced on by Winship with Cleveland closely behind.

The Raiders were in disarray, being undecided whether to pass or run. Elliott called a run which was over-ruled by coach Roberts. The pass was incomplete. On second down due to an error by QB Cleveland, he fumbled the ball under no apparant pressure. The ball was recovered by Eastleigh, however the Raiders kept possession due to a bizarre referee-ing decision. On third down Steve Shergold ran a basic pattern only to see the ball thrown short and wobbling.

Steve pulled off a great athletic dive and caught the ball for a TD. The 2 PAT was an exact replica of the touchdown and that put the Raiders 8-6 up. Steve Shergold then killed off all Eastleigh hopes with an interception and the Raiders hung on for a famous victory. The MVP was the Offensive Line (MOLAND, HOBSON, WINSHIP, OSBORN, LOVELESS).

The Raiders after defeating our arch-rivals, the Eastleigh Devils, 8-6 in the 1991 Play-Off game
5 of that team are still playing for the Raiders now - Matt Heasman (55), Rich Cleveland (44), Brad Smith (number obscured), Stu Winship (number obscured), Mark Elliott (number and face obscured!).

TEAM

ELLIOTT    WINSHIP    B.SMITH     R.SMITH    S.SHERGOLD    K.SHERGOLD     HEASMAN    WHITE    CLEVELAND     ARNOLD    REEKS    MOLAND     MASON    HOBSON    HAUGHTON     SAVAGE    OSBORN    LOVELESS

STATS

PASSING   

CLEVELAND         5-10-0-45-1        
B.SMITH         3-5-1-18-0

RUSHING   

ELLIOTT         7-26        
S.SHERGOLD    2-5    
B.SMITH    2-4        
CLEVELAND    3-2

RECEIVING   

S.SHERGOLD    6-53-1        
ELLIOTT    2-10

SACKS   

SAVAGE    2.0        
WINSHIP         2.0   
HOBSON         1.0        
MOLAND         1.0

INTERCEPTIONS       

S.SHERGOLD         2-39        
B.SMITH         2-9

PUNT RETURNS       

S.SHERGOLD         3-16

KICK RETURNS       

ELLIOTT         1-27
S.SHERGOLD 1-18

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Bournemouth Outgunned

NATIONAL SEMI-FINAL

BOURNEMOUTH RAIDERS        6         NEWMARKET MUSTANGS         33

The Raiders travelled north to Cambridge to face the Newmarket Mustangs in the National semi-final in the hardest game they ever played. They were hampered in their efforts due to the loss of three key players: Alex Moland (work commitments), Leigh Arnold (broken collar bone) and Matt White.

On the opening kick-off Steve Shergold fumbled the ball on a reverse to Bradley Smith only to see the Mustangs recover the ball on the 11 yard line. Two running plays later, and the ball was positioned on Bournemouth's two yard line. On third down the attempted pass was incomplete and so the Mustangs opted for a field goal which hit the flailing arms of Osborn and fell short. The Raiders then put together a modest drive that took them to the Newmarket forty yard line. During this drive, whilst catching a fifteen yard pass Marc Reeks fell awkwardly and was rushed to hospital with a suspected broken arm.

With Newmarket's running game stalling for the time being they threw a bomb down the middle of the field to Winston Mensah (#81) which he picked out of the hands of safety Steve Shergold and CB Rich Smith and ran in for the first score of the game. The PAT was blocked by Simon Osborn.

Despite a number of passes to Steve Shergold and one or two to all other receivers QB Bradley Smith, starting for the second game on the trot, was unable to get the offense rolling and the Raiders rarely threatened in the first half. One reason for this may have been the constant bickering between some of the players. In contrast Newmarket's offense was in full flight and added two further TD's in the first half to lead 20-0 at the break. During half-time a team talk by Eric Pearson inspired the Raiders, and they started the second half with a new found confidence. Following the Mustangs fourth TD of the game, the Raiders defense toughened up and in a highly charged atmosphere a scuffle broke out following a late hit by Mark Elliott on Scott Wilson of the Mustangs.

Rich Smith was then savagely speared and taken to hospital with a suspected bruised right buttock! The Raiders had to adjust due to these injuries which saw Stu Winship moving to outside linebacker. Following a few penalties by Newmarket and a 'cheat' play by coach Roberts which saw Shergold remain on the sidelines after a timeout and gain 40 yards in a connection from Smith, the Raiders suddenly had reasonable field position. Following another pass to Shergold, Bournemouth were positioned on Newmarket's one yard line and a quick out pattern again by Shergold resulted in Bradley Smith throwing the first TD the Mustangs had conceded all season. The two point attempt was intercepted. On the kick-off, a quick challenge by Stu Winship left the Mustangs in bad field position. They were forced back to their two yard line only to complete another long pass to John Mensah and then score through a reverse even though Marc Reeks (after returning from a hospital and being told not to play for 4 weeks) tackled the WR on our 20 yard line. This ended the scoring and Bournemouth had lost the semi-final 33-6.

However, the tension had not ended between the two teams. With the Newmarket supporters and many of their players swearing at Bournemouth, the Raiders retailiated by making plenty of snide comments about the lack of any beach in the Newmarket area! The game ended with Newmarket awarding Simon Osborn the MVP award, as he was the only person they had to adjust to (however, speculation arose that he was only awarded MVP as he was the only person not giving the Newmarket players or supporters any abuse).

TEAM

ELLIOTT    WINSHIP    B.SMITH     R.SMITH    S.SHERGOLD    HEASMAN     CLEVELAND    REEKS    MASON     HOBSON    HAUGHTON    SAVAGE     OSBORN    LOVELESS    K.SHERGOLD

STATS

PASSING   

B.SMITH             14-24-3-181-1        
CLEVELAND         1-3-0-17-0

RUSHING   

ELLIOTT   2-0

RECEIVING   

S.SHERGOLD    10-157-1        
HAUGHTON         3-16        
REEKS                      1-15        
CLEVELAND         1-10

SACKS       

SAVAGE         1.0        
ELLIOTT         1.0        
HOBSON         1.0

INTERCEPTIONS   

S.SHERGOLD    2-41        
CLEVELAND         1-15

PUNT RETURNS       

NONE

KICK RETURNS       

S.SHERGOLD     3-87       
B.SMITH         3-31

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1991 Season – Final Statistics

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Special teams were more effective than last season thanks to some precise punting by Bradley Smith, whilst Stu Winship achieved better length snaps. Bournemouth tackled ferociously on kick and punt returns, which left opponents in poor field position on many occasions. As usual Bournemouth kicked no field goals or PAT’s preferring to score direct. Kick and punt returns were sound throughout (Bradley and Steve averaged over 14 yards per kick return) except in the national semi-final when Bradley and Steve fumbled the ball on the very first play of the match on an attempted reverse.

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