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Merseyside Nighthawks 6-6 Manchester Titans
After winning their first three games the Manchester Titans season has been left hanging the balance. A poor reverse against Dundee and a disappointing 6-6 tie against Merseyside have overshadowed strong performances and wins against Lancashire, East Midlands and Shropshire on Sunday.
Following 3 solid days of rain the games kicked off under a torrential downpour that continued throughout the game, credit then to the quality of the pitch at Broughton Park as conditions underfoot relatively firm. This said the overall conditions were poor and handling the ball would prove to be difficult.
Despite this Merseyside took the lead in under two minutes from a pass. The Nighthawks kicked off and after both sides squandered good field position; Merseyside took the field on their own 30 yard line. On third and long a controversial pass interference call moved the Nighthawks into Titans territory and a long pass into the corner gave Merseyside an early 6-0 lead.
The game then descended into stalemate, the miserly Titans defense who, if you remove points conceded through interceptions and special teams have shut-out 15 from 20 quarters this season were not in a forgiving mood. They forced two turnovers, caught three interceptions and sacked the Merseyside quarterback on four occasions ensuring that no further points would be conceded.
The Titans offense, after drawing a blank against Dundee again struggled to gain any momentum. Robust running from Nathan Hazel and a spirited performance from rookie Timothy Barton were the only positives to be drawn from a performance as dreary as the weather. Merseyside defended stoutly and also forced turnovers, catching three interceptions of their own.
The scored remained level until late in the fourth when a Merseyside punt was caught by Anthony Bingham who took advantage of some good blocking to cut across field and go 74 yards to tie the game. There was drama to come though; both teams exchanged punts until an interception by Merseyside gave them field position inside Titans territory with 1:15 on the clock.
Merseyside went for a field goal on second down; the failed attempt gave the Titans the ball with 48 seconds left. Another interception on third down moved Merseyside to within 20 yards with 8 seconds remaining. They went for another field goal attempt, which was rushed by the Titans defense, forced to scramble and pass the Merseyside kicker picked out Titans linebacker Chris McGrail who returned for 10 yards. A penalty on the play saw the Titans get the ball on halfway with two seconds remaining.
With one chance to win the game the Titans offense took the field, the large crowd who had braved the weather looked on in suspense the players took to their positions, only to see the Titans, somewhat inexplicably, take a knee.