Week 3 Review

The key factor throughout britball this past week has been the weather. In the end eight games across Junior and Senior levels were postponed and those that went ahead were largely low scoring as defense and running attacks ruled the day.

Saturday’s fixtures fared slightly better than Sunday’s. That weekend opening with a surprise result as Cambridgeshire took on Berkshire. The Cambridgeshire Cats went in favourites after a strong 2011 in division 1 but it was the promoted Berkshire side that improved over its opening week win to take victory again here. They defeated the Cats 23-7 and have begun stamping their authority on this division. The Cats meanwhile need to rally quickly to save their chances this year.

The side the Renegades will face next week are the South Wales Warriors who picked up a handy win against the struggling Hampshire Thrashers on Sunday. The Thrashers may have beaten the Exiles in week 1 but it has been tough for them since with two losses to other division 2 promotees in the following two matches. The score in this one was 34-18 in favour of a strong Warriors team.

We finally got a good look at the Northern division in the Premiership this weekend. First the East Kilbride Pirates showed they are a force to be reckoned with on Saturday. The Division 1 champions made the trip to Birmingham to face the Bulls and shut out the home side with a terrific 47-0 scoreline that started early with the Pirates scoring on their first three possessions. East Kilbride started the season as one of the favourites and that has not changed after this game. Then on Sunday Leicester took on Yorkshire in a wet game where the weather won out. Neither side managed to get a point on the board leading to an English Football style nil-nil draw. Leicester went in narrow favourites and will hope they don’t rue this unusual result later in the year.

There was another tie over the weekend. On Saturday the matchup between Bournemouth Bobcats and Gloucester Centurions ended 6-6 between two teams who have always been close. Other close results saw the Nottingham Caesars pull out to a 3-0 start in 2012 with a one point win over the Lancashire Wolverines. The result will still be a bonus for Lancashire who are new to division 1 but also puts Nottingham in pole position in the division. There is a long way still to go though.

The next closest fixture came in Division 2 North, Clyde Valley came out victors against the Glasgow Tigers in a 10-8 match that could have gone either way. The other result in the North was not so close. The Edinburgh Wolves disposed of Carlise in a 51-0 shutout that saw the Border Reivers regress, fortunately they have a break now in which they can reassess before coming back against Dundee.

In the Premier South the London Olympians got their campaign going by condemning Ipswich to an 0-3 start. The Olympians dominated at home 27-0 as Ipswich continue to struggle to find a foothold from which to build. Many sides have found this division tough including Sussex Thunder and last year Coventry. It certainly requires a step up to win at this level, time will tell if Ipswich are able to make the transition. The final senior game was between Shropshire and Coventry on Saturday. The match had the highest total score of the weekend but the result was not particularly close at 49-20. It was the Coventry Jets that got the win and the former britbowl champions are now getting things together again as they start challenging for their division. Shropshire meanwhile should not be too unhappy. They will have plenty of chances to get wins as the season progresses and are a strong side.

In the juniors two matches went ahead. The first saw the Nottingham Caesars in a 20-0 win that could see them emulate their senior sibling. Despite playing one fixture the side already sit 4-0 in the division giving them a great chance at the playoffs. Their opponents Sunday were the Birmingham Bulls who will obviously be looking to improve their fortunes in the coming weeks.

The second game saw the Kent Exiles beat South London Renegades 8-0. The Exiles have now tied their record from 2011 and seem to have made a great step forward over the winter.

The weekend also saw two Youth contact tournaments, the results of these matches are below:

Leicester Falcons Tournament 28th April

Leicester Falcons 6 - 44 DC Presidents
Woodham Warriors 18 - 6 Coventry Jets

Leicester Falcons 6 - 20 Coventry Jets
Woodham Warriors 46 - 12 DC Presidents

Leicester Falcons 0 - 44 Woodham Warriors
DC Presidents 21 - 24 Coventry Jets


Birmingham Bulls Tournament 29th April

Birmingham Bulls 4 - 14 Chorley Buccaneers
Standish Raiders 44 - 6 Tamworth Phoenix

Birmingham Bulls 18 - 0 Standish Raiders
Chorley Buccaneers 1 - 0 Tamworth Phoenix

Birmingham Bulls 1 - 0 Tamworth Phoenix
Chorley Buccaneers 1 - 0 Standish Raiders

 

Article tags: Cambridgeshire Cats adult - Berkshire Renegades adult - South Wales Warriors adult - Hampshire Thrashers adult - East Kilbride Pirates adult - Birmingham Bulls adult - Leicester Falcons adult - Yorkshire Rams adult - Bournemouth Bobcats adult - Gloucester Centurions adult - Nottingham Caesars adult - Lancashire Wolverines adult - Clyde Valley Blackhawks adult - Glasgow Tigers adult - Carlisle Border Reivers adult - Edinburgh Wolves adult - London Olympians adult - Ipswich Cardinals adult - Coventry Jets adult - Shropshire Revolution adult - Nottingham Caesars junior - Birmingham Bulls junior - Kent Exiles junior - South London Renegades junior -