Domonic Fox fights for the extra yard
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On Sunday the Cambridgeshire Cats sponsored by Mickey Flynns hosted the Southern Sundevils who had beaten the Cats soundly at Southampton 33 – 6. The Sundevils won the toss and decided to receive the ball. The Cats kicked off and a great tackle by Glenn Pavely forced the Sundevils to start from the 5 yard line. The Cats defence did not allow much forcing the Devils to punt.
New signing Martin Ray from U.E.A Pirates received the punt and returned it well giving the Cats offence good field position. A reception from Jonathon Smith gave the Cats a first down, but then a poor shotgun gave up some big yardage. An incomplete pass was then followed by disaster when a Sundevil #11 stepped in front of a pass for an interception.
The Cats defence took to the field and lead by linebackers Samson McCoy, Mickey Howling and Chris Wolfe stopped the Sundevils offence in 3 plays. This again forced a punt which was partially blocked at the line giving the Cats the ball back at midfield. Runs by Ken Sweeney and Stephen Morrison did not advance the ball against Southern’s very aggressive defence and Simon Lewis punted the ball for the Cats deep into Sundevils territory.
Despite moving the ball on short passes the Sundevils were forced into a 4th down conversion by a Jim Logden sack. The 4th down pass from Southern quarterback Bruce Gemmell found a receiver but Simon Lewis played man and ball perfectly forcing an incompletion. The Cats offence could not move the ball and yielded good field position from a fumbled snap. This did not help the Sundevils with the Cats defence in good form and a well read Ian Brazier tackle on a screen pass forced another unsuccessful 4th down attempt. A nice pass from Cats quarterback Nick Tilbury found Dominic fox for a 25 yard gain, followed by a nice catch and run by Martin Ray giving the Cats a 1st down inside the Sundevils red zone. Again the Sundevils defence got tough but a after taking a couple losses the Cats completed a tipped pass to the ever alert Dominic Fox. It was first down on the Sundevils 10 yard line and one pass fell incomplete, but then on 2nd down Nick Tilbury found Fox in the end zone for the first score. The Brian Jelley point after was wide right but the Cats had the lead 6 – 0.
The Sundevils had a good return to their 40 yard line and quarterback Gemmell completed consecutive passes but unlike the previous encounter the Cats defence was restricting the yards after the catch to a minimum. Great coverage by cornerbacks Nate Ashby and Matt Brown broke up a 4th down attempt giving the ball back to the Cats. Both teams traded punts with the Sundevils gaining slightly in field position but then Quarterback Nick Tilbury found wide reciever Matt Smith who broke a tackle and raced down the sideline. The Sundevils safety caught him at the 10 yard line but this gave the Cats a real chance to score. A Nick Tilbury run moved the offence to the 5 yard line when disaster struck. A Ken Sweeney fumble was picked up by Southern linebacker Scott Miller and he raced 99 yards for a touchdown. The Southern point after was good giving the Sundevils a 7 – 6 lead.
Martin Ray received the kick off and looked to have broken free, only a shoe string tackle prevented him scoring but he had given the offence great field position. Unfortunately the relentless Southern pass rush did not allow a completion, making the score 7 – 6 at half time.
In the second half the Cats received the ball and the Sundevils kicked away from the dangerous Martin Ray only to find Dominic Fox is also electric on returns. The last defender tackled Dominic on the 50 yard line, giving the Cats offence a good start in the second half. With some good runs from Stephen Morrison behind the blocking of Tinsley, Begbie, Guild, Jelley, Moore and Crosby again the offence was in the Devils red zone. But again the aggresive Devils stopped a score and forced a turnover on downs.
Offences again exchanged two sets of punts but Phil Fussell managed to block the last Sundevil punt which meant that the Cats ended up with the best field position but an end zone interception by a Sundevils defensive back meant that the Cats still trailed by 1 point gonig into the 4th quarter. The Cat defence again forced a punt which Martin Ray gladly caught and ran back 60 yards for a touchdown. Stephen Morrison took the option of a 2 point score and the Cats lead 14 – 7.
Disaster almost struck when the Sundevils return man broke a long run. Only a last gasp tackle by Paul Donaghy at the Cats 20 yard line prevented a score, but the Cats defence would now have to hold firm. A strange and long series of plays interspersed with penalties was finally ended by an end zone bat down by linebacker Mickey Howling.
The Cats offence could not penetrate the Sundevils defence though and were forced to punt. The Sundevils returner weaved his way back upfield and scored a 50 yard touchdown. The point after kick was good tying the game at 14 – 14.
The Cambridgeshire offence took to the field still confident that the game could be won, and after a long hook up between Nick Tilbury and Dominic Fox the signs were good, but then a Sundevils defensive back made a great play by intercepting a pass. The Cats defence was in no mood to give up though and did not allow any yardage for the Sundevils. The Cats offence again took to the field but with little time on the clock the Sundevils knew that the Cats would pass and blitzed the quarterback sacking him close to the goal line. The Cats punt was then blocked for a touchdown giving the Sundevils a 21 –14 lead.
In a cruel twist of fate star returner Martin Ray slipped up on the 5 yard line leaving the Cats offence 95 yards to go to tie the game. The Cats had little option than to pass and the Sundevils knew this and a Paul Jenkins interception return for a touchdown made the score 28 – 14 which does not really give a fair reflection of the game.
The Cats next game is a Saturday evening game versus the London Blitz on the 26th June. Kick off is at 16.00 at Coldhams common, Cambridge. The Cats will feature new signing ex-London Monarch Alan Tait. Anyone wishing to join or help out with the Cambridgeshire Cats are welcome to call Head coach Simon Hatcher on 07791396655 or e-mail simon.hatcher@ntlworld.com
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