BOURNEMOUTH RAIDERS 14-8 CANTERBURY COYOTES

A depleted Bournemouth Raiders side moved to the brink of a place in the national semi-finals with a thrilling 14-8 home victory against the Canterbury Coyotes at Brockenhurst College in the British Senior Flag League. The key to the Raiders victory was an interception count of 8 to 0 in their favour, but it still needed a TD from Tim Smith (on his debut) with just over 2 minutes to go to beat off the strong challenge of the team from Kent.

The Raiders got off to an impressive start as they registered two first downs in quick succession. Mark Elliott opened the game with an 8 yard carry, and the QB Brad Smith hit WR Stu Winship on a 15 yard out pattern. The opening drive stalled thereafter, and Bournemouth were forced to punt. With very much an unknown offense to counter, the Bournemouth D were caught napping as Canterbury put a good looking drive together. They themselves registered a couple of first downs in an 11 play drive that included having a TD called back for one of their WR's standing in an offside position. Having survived that let-off Bournemouth defense stiffened and after 3 successive stops for only one yard (Greg Cottell registering a sack), Tim Smith made an interception on fourth down.

Two plays later and it was the Raiders who took the lead on Brad Smith's 65 yard pass to WR Tim Smith. Smith still had work to do after making the catch but he weaved past a number of defenders with a blistering turn of pace. The 2 PAT failed, and the Raiders led 6-0. This was a lead they held onto half-time as both sides defenses held firm. All members of the Raiders defense made tackles as Cnaterbury's previously successful running game was shut down, and they were forced to take to the air. Matt Hemsley and Lee Eatly put constant pressure on the Canterbury offense throughout the game, and this pressure led to defensive lineman Allen Gilbert (also on his debut) picking up an interception after a blocked pass. Matt Heasman also notced his first interception of the season on the final play of the first half, after Stu Winship had deflected a pass into his path.

The Raiders tried to keep it tight at the start of the second half, but it was the Coyotes who exploded out of the blocks. On the second play of the half, CB Warren Rees made a diving tackle on the Raiders' 20 to prevent a Canterbury WR scoring. On the next play, Rees again came up big with an interception by the touchline.

Bournemouth then went 3 and out, and Canterbury got the ball back. On their next play, the Coyotes tied the scores on a long range pass following a pump fake from the Coyotes QB to their star WR. The 2 PAT was added to put the Coyotes 8-6 up.

With the Raider's O stalling, it was only Bournemouth's impressive defense that prevented them from going further behind. A further sack by Greg Cottell and a couple of interceptions for Tim Smith (bringing his match total to 3) all stopped Canterbury drives in their tracks.

The crucial passage in the game occurred with just 4 minutes remaining. A Coyotes WR sprinted clear of the Bournemouth D and appeared to be heading for the winning score for the Coyotes, but a last ditch tackle by Tim Smith stopped him on Bournemouth's 5 yard-line. The Raiders defense held out impressively with Lee Eatly's goal-line stop of the Coyotes QB a huge play, and Brad Smith's interception in the corner of the endzone getting the ball back for the Raiders.

With the ball turned over and with 3 minutes on the clock, Brad Smith connected with Tim Smith on a 80-yard TD to get the Raiders out of jail. The Smith combination worked again on the 2 PAT to give the Raiders a 14-8 advantage with 2 minutes to play. Brad Smith finished with impressive passing statistics of 7-15-189 and 2 TD's, with Tim Smith catching 4 passes for 160 yards.