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Norwich Devils 6 Sussex Thunder 14
The Sussex Thunder made it three wins out of four on
Sunday, when the visiting Norwich Devils were the latest victims of “Thor's
Hammer”. Two touchdowns by the team’s defensive unit saw off last years
Division Two Champions in this hard fought battle at a sun drenched Thunder
Field. The Devils did manage what no other team had done this year and
registered the only touchdown against the Thunder so far this season.
From the opening kick off, the Sussex offense took and
control drove downfield, Phil Allman, twice, and Paul Robinson picking up first
downs.
Norwich stalled the drive at the
30 and the Thunder chose to punt the ball away. A perfectly judged kick by
Chris Percival into the corner, landed at the one yard line, where the Devils
return man, Quincy McGill hesitated, and in two minds whether to pick the ball
up and run it back or just fall on it to kill the play, he did neither and the
ball hit him and bobbled into the endzone where gunner Simon Pinchin dived on
the loose ball to put the first points of the game on the scoreboard, Percival
kicked the extra point.
The rest of the first quarter and the start of the second
was taken up by a 17 play Sussex drive, again unable to punch the ball home,
they attempted a 36 yard field goal which missed left of the posts. In the
first twenty minutes of the game the Norwich offense had been limited to just
three plays.
In an attempt to get some points on the board before the
break, the Devils managed to move the ball for the first time in the game
behind some strong outside running, with time running out quarterback Troy
Schmidgall went for the endzone only to intercepted by the alert Dale Smart.
The first half finished with the Thunder leading 7-0.
The second half started as the first one finished, with
Norwich again mounting a sustained drive, they got as far as the Sussex 4 yard
line but crunching tackles from Danny Minter and Andre Clark forced a fourth
down, with the “Hammer” now bearing down the pressure forced the Devils to
fumble the ball for a 12 yard loss on the play and the Thunder took over on
downs. Sussex returned the favour three plays later when running back Chris
Lampey fumbled to give possession back to the visitors. On their next drive
Sussex looked as if they would increase their lead when Kington found receiver
Chris Morgan over the middle, he evaded one tackle and looked as if he would
break free but a last ditch ankle grab saved the day for the Devil’s.
With the Norwich defense now cancelling out the Thunder
offense, the next three possessions ended in punts. Midway through the fourth
quarter, with Sussex still up by 7, the visitors needed something special to
avoid a loss, and indeed they found it, Schmidgall dropped into the pocket, and
for once had a little bit of time, and a pin point pass found receiver Guy
Davis in the open for a 61 yard score. Norwich Head Coach Nick Rockell decided
to go for the two point conversion and the win, but a great play from the
Thunder defense stopped the play.
The Thunder were forced three and out, but got the ball
again when a fumble was recovered by Sussex linebacker Carlos Gomes.
The hectic end to the game continued when Kington’s pass
was intercepted deep into Norwich territory. It was now the time for the hammer
to come down and fierce pressure from the Sussex defense caused a fumble on a
pitch play and with the ball rolling loose in the endzone defensive lineman
George Korischar recovered the ball for the winning score. Percival converted
the point after.
The Devils now trailed 14-6 but had one last chance to
save the game with less than two minutes on the clock. That chance evaporated
when Schmigdall threw his second interception of the game, being picked off by
Gomes for an 11 yard return. The Thunder saw out the clock with Kington taking
a knee three times.
The Thunder improve to 3-1 on the year and maintain second
place in the Conference. They now face two tough road trips in the next two
weeks with visits to the Southern Sundevils next Sunday (15th) and
the return with Norwich on the 22nd.
Head Coach Len Scott said after the game, “Offensively our
first half performance was probably the best we’ve produced all year, but we
tailed off a bit after the break. Defensively, what can I say, once again they
were superb. Norwich are a tough side to play and gave us more problems than
anyone else so far, but our defense stood firm and produced the goods when
needed.”
Any fans who wish to follow the Thunder on the short trip
along the south coast to Portsmouth this Sunday, the game will be played at
ROKO Leisure
442 Copnor Road
Portsmouth
PO3 5EW.