Week 3 Senior Preview

 

A whole host of fantastic matchups make up week 3. We finally see a little more action from out premier teams and the lower levels have a lot to show us as well.

 

London Warriors (3-0)  vs  Bristol Aztecs (3-0) -  Premiership South

The second and third best teams in all of britball a year ago have both won their first matchups. Each side has faced off and defeated Ipswich and both are expected to be as competitive as before. Now though it is harder for both to make the playoffs. With two premier regions both sides ideally need to be aiming for a top two seed. This game then has deep importance for both sides and should make fantastic viewing.

Birmingham Bulls  vs  East Kilbride Pirates (1-0) -  Premiership North

These sides have recent previous despite both coming from different parts of division 1. Both sides won their divisions with 9-1 records last year and met in the playoff semi-finals. In that fixture it was the Scottish side that came out on top in a high scoring 47-27 affair. Now they both find themselves in the premiership. Can Birmingham pull something out of the bag and turn around the result that ended their 2011 season?

Leicester Falcons  vs  Yorkshire Rams  -  Premiership North

Like the Birmingham vs East Kilbride fixture above, this matchup features two sides promoted from division 1 but unlike their second and third seeded rivals these two finished fourth and sixth in the regular season. That is not the end of the tale for Leicester though, the Falcons made their way through the playoffs with a fantastic run that included beating the number one seeded London Olympians and a trip to the final in Crystal Palace. Unfortunately East Kilbride came out better on that day but Leicester are set up well to handle this level of football. Yorkshire meanwhile got into the playoffs with a 7-3 record and were also knocked out by East Kilbride. These two have a common enemy but this match should also prove to be intriguing, showing how each side’s preparations for top level football have gone over the winter.

London Olympians (2-0)  vs  Ipswich Cardinals (2-2) -  Premiership South

Ipswich have had a troubled start to their season with two fairly large losses against last year's second and third seeds. This weekend should be a lot closer as they take on an Olympians side they fought with three times in 2011. While the three fixtures went against them all three were close and this could represent the Cardinals' best opportunity for victory early on. The Olympians will disagree though. They come into the premiership as the only unbeaten division 1 team from last year's regular season. They eventually fell in the playoffs but showed they have strength and will not be pushovers especially for a side like Ipswich.

Tamworth Phoenix  vs  Doncaster Mustangs (0-1) -  Premiership North

Last year Tamworth made the playoffs having sat third for a good portion of the season. Now with the premiership split into two divisions they will fancy their chances in a group that features largely division 1 sides from 2011. The first of these they face is Doncaster who dropped a game in week 1 when their coaches and several players were preparing for last weekend's BUAFL final. Now back it will be a hard ask to expect them to be fully in tune in time for this weekend's fixture. This could be close but Tamworth go in clear favourites.

 

Berkshire Renegades (1-0)  vs  Cambridgeshire Cats (0-1) -  Division 1 Central & South

While these two have never faced off before it is a big game for each club. The Cats are coming off an opening weekend loss against Sussex that puts them on the backfoot already. Berkshire meanwhile having been promoted from division 2 will want to show that they can mix it with one of division 1's biggest teams. They got their first victory against Hampshire last weekend but doing the same against one of the favourites would turn quite a few heads.

Shropshire Revolution  vs  Coventry Jets (1-1) -  Division 1 North

Shropshire got promoted at the end of last season in the league reshuffle. 2011 saw them in the division 2 semi-finals where they lost out against the Trojans. The Jets are re-acclimatising after their poor 2011 and got back to winning ways with victory over those same Trojans last weekend. This will be tough for Shropshire to win but this may be their best chance to beat Coventry as the Jets continue to find their feet.

South Wales Warriors  vs  Hampshire Thrashers (1-1)  -  Division 1 Central & South

South Wales have been in Division 1 before and are glad to find themselves back again. They return as division 2 champions having beaten higher seeded teams throughout the playoffs. The team showed strongly last year both on the ground and through the air on offense and if they can carry that form into this year they will trip up a number of teams. The first of these could be Hampshire. The Thrashers have split their opening fixtures. They picked up a single point victory over the Kent Exiles and then flopped against Berkshire last weekend. They are going to need to raise their game in this one.

East Kent Mavericks (1-0)  vs  Sussex Thunder (1-0) -  Division 1 Central & South

Both these sides won their opening fixtures but last year Sussex were easily the better side. This will be a tricky game for East Kent to win, if they are close to Sussex that may be enough to spark some playoff hopes down the stretch. The side definitely looked stronger in their opener against the Kent Exiles but Sussex once a premier side will need another step to be taken for victory to be won.

Nottingham Caesars (2-0)  vs  Lancashire Wolverines (1-0) -  Division 1 North

The Caesars have started the season very strongly with victories over Merseyside and Coventry in the first two weeks. This weekend they have the Lancashire Wolverines coming to town following promotion from division 2 after a season that brought the Wolverines the second seed and a semi-final spot. Life began strongly for Lancashire in division 1 as they took down the Gateshead Senators 13-0. This matchup certainly represents a step up from that fixture but count them out at your peril.

 

Crewe Railroaders (1-0)  vs  Lincolnshire Bombers (1-1) -  Division 2 Central

This is an interesting fixture. The Bombers were brought back down to earth last weekend after their first victory the week before against the Presidents. Now they face the Crewe Railroaders who are also new to the league this year but got a win first time out last weekend against Staffordshire Surge. Experience will be expected to win out here but Crewe have shown they cannot be underestimated and could spring a surprise here.

Clyde Valley Blackhawks (3-0)  vs  Glasgow Tigers (2-0) -  Division 2 North

While the Blackhawks went 5-5 in 2011 the Tigers went one better at 6-4. When the sides played the results were split with the home side taking victory in each. With this division being decided by eight games not the usual ten after the Wildcats dropout this game has extra meaning for each team as each victory gains more value. This will be a great fixture that will help shape a division where four teams are fighting for playoff spots.

Edinburgh Wolves (2-0)  vs  Carlisle Border Reivers (2-2) -  Division 2 North

As in their debut season the Border Reivers have a number of early fixtures. Unfortunately the results are going the same way as those of 2011. The side sit closer to the bar set by the rest of their division but they are clearly still building. Edinburgh went 5-5 last year and will be hoping to advance from that this year and search for a playoff spot. The Border Reivers could cause them some issues along the way though.

Chester Romans (1-0)  vs  D C Presidents (0-1) -  Division 2 Central

An opening weekend defeat for the Presidents gave the Lincolnshire Bombers their first victory. While the Bombers have closed the gap to the top of their division over the winter they still have work to do. That shows the mountain that the Presidents are climbing and with fellow debutants and division rivals Crewe winning last weekend that means DC will be feeling a little pressure. It was Chester who beat the Bombers last weekend, they will be keen to win again this weekend but a strong showing and a close game are what the Presidents need to aim for.

Bournemouth Bobcats (1-0)  vs  Gloucester Centurions -  Division 2 West

These two sides were towards the base of the West last year. When they played eachother the Bobcats came out on top but the games were by small margins. That will be a reason for hope from the Banshees who for 2012 have become the Centurions as they look to build on their tricky 2011 campaign that ended with a 0-9-1 record.

Article tags: London Warriors adult - Bristol Aztecs adult - Birmingham Bulls adult - East Kilbride Pirates adult - Leicester Falcons adult - Yorkshire Rams adult - London Olympians adult - Ipswich Cardinals adult - Tamworth Phoenix adult - Doncaster Mustangs adult - Berkshire Renegades adult - Cambridgeshire Cats adult - Shropshire Revolution adult - Coventry Jets adult - South Wales Warriors adult - Hampshire Thrashers adult - East Kent Mavericks adult - Sussex Thunder adult - Nottingham Caesars adult - Lancashire Wolverines adult - Crewe Railroaders adult - Lincolnshire Bombers adult - Clyde Valley Blackhawks adult - Glasgow Tigers adult - Edinburgh Wolves adult - Carlisle Border Reivers adult - Chester Romans adult - D C Presidents adult - Bournemouth Bobcats adult - Gloucester Centurions adult -