Leicester Falcons 7 Glasgow Tigers 6

The Glasgow Tigers made their second long trip in as many weeks for this semi final playoff game against the Leicester Falcons at Leicester Forest Rugby Club. The Tigers were attempting to continue an unbeaten season on the road while the Falcons had been dominant at home all season. Something had to give.

Sometimes when you watch a game of American Football, you realize that both teams have really given their all, left nothing on the sideline, and tried their utmost to win the game. This was such a game, with neither side deserving to lose, and trying everything they could to win.

The first quarter saw the Falcons close down the Tigers’ offence and when the Leicester side had the ball, both quarterback Arturo Sanchez and running back Timi Dada looked dangerous. The Glasgow defence was fired up when cornerback Graham Whyte recovered a Dada fumble, and after the Tigers were forced to punt the ball away, a combination of a collision with one of his own lineman and a tackle left Sanchez injured and Brad Thompson took over.

The Glasgow side’s offence was led by Scott Couper who stepped in to replace the Tigers’ regular quarterback who was unavailable. With only a few training sessions with the Tigers’ receivers it was always going to be difficult for Couper, but his dangerous scrambling ability kept the Falcons defence on their toes.

In the second quarter an interception from Tigers cornerback Nick Halfpenny gave the Tigers a short field. After a couple of passing completions to David Fallon and Ruaraidh Macdonald, the Glasgow side were looking good, but a solid Leicester defensive stand forced a Derek Russell field goal attempt that was batted down on the line. Similarly a Falcons drive was stopped by Glasgow, breaking up a field goal attempt to leave the first half scoreless.

It was all to play for as the third quarter began and the Tigers started to find some rhythm on offence before a wayward pass was picked off by the Falcons’ Ron Mason to end the threat. Another Tigers interception by David Carney stopped the next Falcons drive and the stalemate continued.

Midway through the 4th quarter a Falcons interception and return by safety Nick Surface gave his side the ball in Glasgow territory. A few plays later and a Sanchez pass was heading into the endzone and in the direction of Tigers player Nick Halfpenny, but as he tried to collect the ball a blatant grab on his facemask from an opposing player led to the ball being deflected off his shoulder at a forty five degree angle and into the hands of receiver Ben Longland for a touchdown. This incident was not observed by the referees and despite Glasgow protests the score stood. Longland added the conversion kick for a 7 -0 lead.

This spurred on the Tigers and a 75 yard Glasgow drive ended with a 10 yard pass from Scott Couper to Ruaraidh Macdonald and a touchdown. This silenced the big home crowd and the Tigers opted for the two point attempt and a possible win, with one minute left in the game. The play was stopped by the Leicester defence when they swarmed on Couper’s run to leave the score at 7 – 6 to the home side.

With under a minute left in the game the Tigers tried an on side kick but a clutch catch from Alec Grant kept the possession with the Falcons and ended the Tigers hopes of making this year’s final. With the Leicester side taking no chances in the final few plays of the game, they realized that they had been pushed to the limit in this game. After the final whistle the supporters gave both teams a long ovation in response to the display and effort shown.

As the season ended for his team this year, Glasgow Head Coach Derek Taylor stated, “Good luck to the Leicester Falcons at Britbowl, but I could not have asked for any more from any of my players and on reflection we were one play away from the final. I’m proud of all of them in the way they conducted themselves today.”