AMERICAN Football — Inverclyde Goliaths Triumph In Britbowl Final

THE Division Two North Britbowl final in Newcastle saw second-ranked Halton Spartans face fifth-ranked Inverclyde Goliaths who had, in their first season, already knocked out first-ranked Birmingham Bulls.

Fans around the UK voted in their thousands predicting who would win this game, giving Goliaths a 10 per cent chance of pulling off the victory.

With the team run-outs, national anthems and coin toss out of the way, Goliaths kicked the ball to Spartans for them to make a sizeable 50-yard return into Goliaths’s territory. It didn’t take Spartans long to show why they were finalists. Two plays into their first drive saw the first touchdown (TD), which was then converted for the points-after-touchdown (PAT) for a score of 7-0.

Goliaths were unable to move the ball as required on their first drive and chose to punt to the Spartans who duly returned the ball to the endzone. Thankfully an illegal block in the back gave Spartans a spot foul. Two plays into Spartans’s second drive and the Goliaths sparked into life. Grant Malcolmson intercepted the ball at the Goliaths’s 20-yard line, jumping the wide receiver’s (WR) route.

The ball was now being freely moved down field by Goliaths, an unusual mix of pass and run plays culminated in a pass play to WR Ruaraidh MacDonald who flew past his defender to catch the ball in the endzone. Goliaths were unable to convert the PAT.

Above, left, Ruaraidh MacDonald hauling in a crucial first-down catch, and, right, Bob Lynch, Fabio Marturano and Chris Lang

Spartans continued their dominant start to the first half; another strong kick-off return gave a very favourable field position that was duly taken. A mix of run-and-pass plays ground down Goliaths’s defense resulted in a Spartan’s passing TD, however they failed to convert giving a score of 13-6 points.

Goliaths, despite being one score down, continued to build on their momentum from late in the first quarter. Quarterback QB Kris Kennedy found his groove in pocket, completing passes at will with some fantastic grabs by the WR group. A side-line pass a little under thrown was hauled in by Bud McFerren who side-stepped his defender and sprinted to the endzone for a fantastic TD. Fabio Marturano caught the two-point PAT to give Goliaths their first lead of the game at 14-13.

Goliaths’s defense had at this point figured out what the Spartans had to offer; their passing game of quick slants and strong power run game were continually stuffed with nothing being given. Goliaths back on offense continued to move the football and Spartans struggled to keep up with what they were being presented with. Another pass from Kris Kennedy to favoured WR Ruaraidh MacDonald was converted for another TD, with the two-point PAT not converted, extending the lead to 20-13.

Above, left, Kris Kennedy completing another pass, and, right, Ruaraidh MacDonald with his first touchdown of the day

Numerous penalties on both sides of the ball led to a loss of focus and frustration for Goliaths’s defense. Caught on their heels, a trademark Spartans’s quick slant was caught with the WR stopped on the Goliaths one-yard line. The clock very much under one minute with no Spartans timeouts remaining gave Goliaths a huge task. Linebacker (LB) core Scott Little and Bob Lynch, in back-to-back plays, stuffed the Spartans’s run game for massive losses ensuring the first-half clock ran out, ending the half 20- 13 in Goliaths’s favour.

Goliaths received the ball to kick off the second half. A fair return from Bud McFerren gave some positive field position. It was clear that both sides were beginning to show nerves with neither having anything to report on in third quarter which ended with Goliaths holding onto their 20-13 lead.

Things livened up in the fourth quarter. After a number of stalemate plays, Ruaraidh MacDonald, moonlighting in the safety position on defense, intercepted the Spartans’s QB on the 25-yard line, returning the ball after a slick side-step into the endzone for a TD. Bud McFerren with the help of his full offensive line was pushed into the endzone to convert the two-point PAT leaving the score at 28-13.

There was a quick-fire response from Spartans, driving the field, culminating in a passing TD converting the two-point PAT, for a score-line of 28-21 score entering the final stretch of the half. Running-back (RB) Bud McFerren, in back-to-back plays, ran the ball 65 yards and then 75 yards to the endzone but a holding and block in the back penalty pushed Goliaths way back forcing them to punt.

Spartans went three-and-out quickly, giving the ball, with under three minutes, to Goliaths’s offense. The ball was fed to Bud McFerren who sprinted 59 yards to the one- yard line, using his years of experience and kneeling on the line to keep the clock running.

Some massive play calls came from Goliaths’s head coach McClintock, opting to kneel the ball on the first two plays to run time off the clock. With under a minute remaining, RB Scott Little barrelled his way into the endzone, getting back up for the next play in which he smashed Spartans’s defensive line on his way to converting the two-point PAT for a 36-21 scoreline.

With under one minute remaining and no time-outs, Spartans had everything to do. Goliaths were in a strict prevent defense hoping to keep Spartans in bounds to run the clock further, however the trad mark slant play was run all the way to the Goliaths’s endzone for a TD, failing to convert, for a 36-27 scoreline.

Spartans were still down by two scores and went for the on-side kick which ultimately failed as Goliaths’s WR Richie Moore safely caught the ball to seal the win. Goliaths took the victory formation and kneeled the ball one final time to seal the Division Two North Britbowl Championship 36-27.

The match was the culmination of an amazing first season for Inverclyde Goliaths The club had set a season target of four wins and four losses but have managed to go way beyond that. The season started slowly, with the first three games giving results of one win and two losses, so it was fair of the pundits to write off Goliaths who appeared to be following the path of many first season teams who struggle to find the way of winning.

Goliaths’s final defeat was the third game of the season against eventual division winners Clyde Valley Blackhawks. After that, the team knew what they had to fix and how they were going to do it — Goliaths went on a seven-game winning streak on their way to the final.

Planning for 2020 season has already commenced — experienced or rookie players can contact the team on inverclydeamfit@hotmail.com to register interest. Inverclyde American Football Community Club (IAFCC) is also keen to recruit more coaching and volunteer staff, with or without experience of American football, as full training will be provided.

IAFCC continues through the autumn with both the Inverclyde Mighty Ducks (three to eight-year-olds) and Inverclyde Phoenix (eight to 14-year-olds) training non-contact flag football at Greenock Wanderers’ Rugby Club every Sunday 11:30am.