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Cambridgeshire
Cats 0 London Cobras 32
Play
off excitement continued at Boston Manor on Sunday as the undefeated London
Cobras welcomed the Cambridgeshire Cats.
The
game kicked off under some black clouds, but unlike the previous week the rain
held off for the afternoon. The Cats won the toss and elected to receive, and
on the opening series a 33-yard pass set them up in good position inside the
Cobras red zone. This was to be as close as Cambridge would get all afternoon
as Cats quarterback Tommy Durkin was picked off in the end zone by corner back
Damilola Alaran for a touchback.
The
Cobras first offensive series started with a 46 yard pass from quarterback
Jerome Allen to receiver Will Bryce for 46 yards. This was then followed by a
12-yard reception by Mark McGowan and runs from leading rusher Kwabena Oteng to
land the Cobras in the red zone. The Cambridgeshire defense then dug their
heels in and forced the turnover on fourth down. This was to be the story of
the first quarter as the teams switched ends for the second.
Things
soon changed as a mistake from a Cats corner back allowed Manny Mukoro to score
on a 32-yard reception.
The extra point
attempt was no good and the Cobras took a slender 6-0 lead. This score opened
the floodgates for the Cobras. On the ensuing kick off, line backer Moses
Sangobiyi forced a fumble that was recovered by Ariel Mofondo on the Cats 21
yard line.
Bryce then gained 11 yards
on an end around and Allen finished the drive with a 10 yard scoring pass to
Juma Woodhouse who made a spectacular circus catch over the back of the safety.
The 2 point conversation was good from Allen to tight end Matt Russell and the
Cobras moved on to 14-0.
The
following Cats series saw them pinned back inside their own 5 yard line by the
ever swarming Cobra defense. Forced to punt on fourth and a mile, an odd
decision by the Cats punter saw him roll out and run for the first down.
Despite gaining 13 yards, this was not far
enough, and since he was punting from inside the end zone the Cobra offense
took over at the 13 going in. Oteng saw his opportunity and on second down
raced into the endzone for a 7 yard score.
The 2 point run from Jamal Moore was good pushing the Cobras on the
22-0. The final Cats offensive series of the half saw Durkin drop back and look
up to find Tanny Fernandez, Mark Horne and Kyle Price coming at him.
The sack ended up 30 yards behind the line
of on scrimmage inside the Cats endzone for a safety making the score 24-0.
This
is where the score stayed through a penalty filled and uneventful third
quarter.
As
the ball was held high by the referee to mark the end of the game the Cobra
sideline erupted in the knowledge that they were to be promoted to division 1
and were on their way to the National Championship game at Brit Bowl XXII.
Head
Coach Jeff Brown, fresh from his Gatorade bath, was delighted, 'These boys have
worked hard for this, and I'm very proud of them all.
We're very excited about being Southern Conference Champions and
are now looking ahead to winning the National title'.
General
Manager and coach Gerry Anderson added: 'A massive congrats goes out to the
Cobras players who stuck with it through the adversity they sometimes faced and
kept believing in a dream that started for some of them back in 2006. Thank
yous go out to Marvin, Aden and all the other coaches and support staff that
made this happen. From the parents who work tirelessly for the cause, to those
who just come and support us on game day.'
The
Cobras will be back in action on Sunday 21 September at BritBowl XXII at the
Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster where they will face the Northern Conference
champions, the Tamworth Phoenix.