|
Nottingham Caesars 7 Tamworth Phoenix 39
Nottingham
Caesars travelled to Tamworth Phoenix and suffered their biggest defeat in 3
years.
With the Caesars receiving the ball the game kicked off at 3:00pm, with a
nervous start by both team as the both managed to fumble the ball in the
opening exchanges leading to the ball being turned over on 3 occasions. The
third fumble was committed by the Caesars saw the Phoenix gain possession of
the ball, on their first play the Phoenix passed the ball which was caught on
the Caesars 6 yard line. On the third play of the next series the ball was
handed to a Tamworth running back who crashed through through Caesars defense
to score a touchdown. The Phoenix then kicked the extra point 7-0 to the
Phoenix. This was the only score in the first quarter although there was one
extra ordinary passage of play, with the Phoenix camped on the Caesars 11 yard
line, and looking likely to score, the Caesars defense managed to push the
Phoenix defense back to the 41 yard line from which the Phoenix were unable to
threaten the Caesars endzone
With the Phoenix in possession of the ball at the start of the second quarter
and deep in their half, they looked to pass their way out of trouble but a brilliant
interception by defensive back Antony Philips left the Caesars camped on the
Phoenix’s 14 yard line. On the third play of the next series the Caesars were
awarded a pass interference penalty on the 1 yard line. On the first play the
ball was handed to running back Simon Dale who burst through the Phoenix defensive
line to score a touchdown, with kicker Allan McKay adding the extra point the
scores were tied at 7-7.
Tamworth were
quick to respond as they put together three series of plays that saw them gain
quick yards and end up on the Caesars 14 yard line, from which they ran the
ball into the endzone adding the extra point the score moved to 14-7 in favour
of the Phoenix. With the Caesars looking to make a quick reply they attempted a
long pass that was intercepted and run back into the Nottingham endzone, this
time the extra point was missed so the score was 20-7 to the Phoenix. This
remind the score at halftime
With the Phoenix have the majority of the possession in the third quarter they
made it count as half way through the period they scored another touchdown, to
which they added the extra point to take the score to 27-7. With the Caesars offense
seeing very little of the ball they were unable to threaten the Phoenix’s goal
line
The Caesars started the fourth
in
possession of the ball, but they had a pass intercepted on the first play of
the quarter. But in the following series of plays the Caesars defense held firm
and forced the home side to punt the ball back to the Nottingham offense. With
the game all put lost the Caesars started to mix things up and try some new
combinations which resulted in them starting to gain some meaningful yards,
unfortunately whilst attempting a long pass Caesars quarterback Dan Johnson had
another pass intercepted which for the second time in the game the Phoenix ran
back into the Caesars endzone, failing to add the extra point they moved the
score board on to 33-7. The Caesars were unable to gain a first down, as they
took possession of the ball and had to punt to the Phoenix. The Phoenix then
put together a series of plays which culminated in a final touchdown, failing
to score the extra points the score clicked over to 39-7. This remained the
score until the final whistle..
The Caesars next game sees them at home at The Harvey
Hadden Sports Complex when they host the Oxford Saints. Kick off 2.30pm on
Sunday the 21st of June, so with very little time to prepare for
what is a crucial game the Caesars will have to turn things around very
quickly.