Tigers in playoff victory
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Glasgow Tigers
By william clark
Aug 31, 2009 - 10:58:56 PM
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Tigers in playoff victory
Staffordshire Surge hosted the Glasgow Tigers this Sunday in a quarter-final playoff game at Stoke Rugby Club. The sport started here in 1983 and this is the first time that a local club had ever hosted a playoff game in Stoke on Trent.
Glasgow Tigers came into this game unbeaten on the road while the Staffordshire Surge ended the regular season with a narrow win for an impressive overall 8 – 2 record in the regular season.
Glasgow began with quarterback Matt McCusker passing to several of his receiving corps combined with some solid running from Graeme Clee. However a solid Surge defensive unit held the Tigers to a field goal attempt from Derek Russell that was just wide left.
Staffordshire quarterback Richard Large tried to muster his own team with a similar drive only to see Tigers linebacker Jason Gillespie pick off one of his passes. The rest of the first half saw the Tigers dominate the game and they turned this into points midway through the second quarter when McCusker found receiver Ruaraidh MacDonald for the opening score. A blocked extra point kick from the Surge defence kept it at 6 – 0 to the Tigers. For the remainder of the half the Glasgow defense stopped the Surge gaining any momentum with an interception from Jamie McCansh and then a fumble recovery by Chris Lang.
It was a fired up Staffordshire offense that started the third quarter and on the back of some short passes from Large to his receivers and some hard earned gains from running back George Furlonge they found themselves inside the Glasgow 20 yard line. Just as things began to look ominous for the Tigers, up stepped linebacker Rafe Shanagum to intercept a Surge pass and return it 20 yards to give Glasgow the ball again.
Apart from an interception by Staffordshire’s John Ward, the Tigers controlled the remainder of the game and after linebacker Jamie McCansh scooped up a Surge fumble, Matt McCusker passed to David Fallon, Ally Choat and Ryan McCluskey to use up the clock and move down the field. The Tigers added to their lead in the final minutes when Scott Watson ploughed through the field for a touchdown and a 12 – 0 lead. On the resultant kick off, James “Shawshank” Ledger sealed the win for the Tigers with a fumble recovery deep in Staffordshire territory.
At the final whistle Glasgow Head Coach Derek Taylor stated, “lm delighted with the work rate shown by my players today against some tough opponents and now we can look forward to a great semi final clash with the Leicester Falcons.”
Glasgow Tigers came into this game unbeaten on the road while the Staffordshire Surge ended the regular season with a narrow win for an impressive overall 8 – 2 record in the regular season.
Glasgow began with quarterback Matt McCusker passing to several of his receiving corps combined with some solid running from Graeme Clee. However a solid Surge defensive unit held the Tigers to a field goal attempt from Derek Russell that was just wide left.
Staffordshire quarterback Richard Large tried to muster his own team with a similar drive only to see Tigers linebacker Jason Gillespie pick off one of his passes. The rest of the first half saw the Tigers dominate the game and they turned this into points midway through the second quarter when McCusker found receiver Ruaraidh MacDonald for the opening score. A blocked extra point kick from the Surge defence kept it at 6 – 0 to the Tigers. For the remainder of the half the Glasgow defense stopped the Surge gaining any momentum with an interception from Jamie McCansh and then a fumble recovery by Chris Lang.
It was a fired up Staffordshire offense that started the third quarter and on the back of some short passes from Large to his receivers and some hard earned gains from running back George Furlonge they found themselves inside the Glasgow 20 yard line. Just as things began to look ominous for the Tigers, up stepped linebacker Rafe Shanagum to intercept a Surge pass and return it 20 yards to give Glasgow the ball again.
Apart from an interception by Staffordshire’s John Ward, the Tigers controlled the remainder of the game and after linebacker Jamie McCansh scooped up a Surge fumble, Matt McCusker passed to David Fallon, Ally Choat and Ryan McCluskey to use up the clock and move down the field. The Tigers added to their lead in the final minutes when Scott Watson ploughed through the field for a touchdown and a 12 – 0 lead. On the resultant kick off, James “Shawshank” Ledger sealed the win for the Tigers with a fumble recovery deep in Staffordshire territory.
At the final whistle Glasgow Head Coach Derek Taylor stated, “lm delighted with the work rate shown by my players today against some tough opponents and now we can look forward to a great semi final clash with the Leicester Falcons.”