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Merseyside Nighthawks 12-12 Gateshead Senators
Merseyside
Nighthawks travelled to Gateshead to take on the much fancied ex-BAFL Premier
Senators team for what was their fifth game in a row, looking to finally get
that elusive first win, and get their season back on track before a short break
between games.
The
first quarter opened with the Nighthawks receiving the ball, however a solid
return to midfield wasn't capitalised on, and the Nighthawks were forced to
punt. Miscommunication saw the long snap go awry, giving the Senators excellent
field position. The Merseyside defense continued their recent strong showings,
and were able to hold off the Senators attacks forcing a turnover on downs. The
Nighthawks looked to move away from their own goal-line, and moved the chains
when quarterback Andy Dyson found Jason Elliott for a first down. This was
short lived though as the home team recorded the first points when linebacker
Matthew Kidd was able to anticipate the ball and returned the interception the
short distance to the endzone. Strong pressure on the point after attempt
forced the kick wide.
The
Nighthawks offense started to move the ball slowly in the second quarter, Dyson
connecting with his receivers, and the strong running of Nathan Hazel and Ben
Kamara, behind a rejuvenated offensive line. However, the next team to trouble
the scorer was again the Senators as a receiver found himself in the seam and
was able to catch the ball in stride and take it in for a 40 yard touchdown. Once
more the kick was forced wide, but the Senators had doubled their lead to 12-0.
Defense took over for the remainder of the half, with corner back Dave Eldridge
recording two interceptions for the Nighthawks, and safety James McEvoy two bat
downs to shutdown the Gateshead passing game.
The
third quarter was a stalemate, with defenses again preventing any points, but
it was the Nighthawks offense that looked to be finding their groove. A brave
call on fourth down saw Dyson sneak for the first as the Nighthawks made found
way into the redzone, but faltered turning the ball over on downs. The
Merseyside stifling defense stepped up now, and when an attempted end around
was snuffed out in the backfield by nose tackle Simon McHardy, the Senators
were again forced to punt. The Merseyside offense was again able to move the
ball, but again the redzone was as far as they got. The Nighthawks defense used
this to gain their offense great field position as Craig Pennington forced a
fumble in the backfield, allowing fellow linebacker Rick Keir to recover the
ball as the third quarter ended.
The
Nighthawks were not to be denied this time as Dyson found Joe Black inside the
10 for a first and goal, and two plays later, hit Black again for a touchdown.
The conversion was unsuccessful and the score remained at 12-6. This gave the defense
a lift, and the Merseyside’s were winning the field position battle, not
allowing the Senators offense to breathe. The offense were also buoyed by their
previous success, and used the short field to their advantage, Nathan Hazel
taking the ball down to the Senators 3 yard line. A penalty moved them back 5
yards, but they shrugged the set back off, as Dyson found Elliott who was able
to for the extra yardage and drag the defender into the endzone on third down.
With the score at 12-12, the Nighthawks conversion attempt was wide due to good
pressure from the Senators defense. With only 2 minutes left on the clock, the
Senators took a good kick return to midfield, but were stopped short on fourth
down to turn the ball over. With 6 seconds left, the Nighthawks went for the
win, with Dyson launching a bomb, which was picked off as time expired leaving
the score 12-12.
Head
coach Gary Lee said, "Today was always going to be tough, playing our
fifth game in a row against a team in play off contention, but it was a really
good performance from us today on both sides of the ball. There were a few
early hiccups, but the team never dropped their heads, and showed great
character to come back from 2 scores down with only 10 minutes left."
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'TMFT' MVP was awarded to Jason Elliott.
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The
Nighthawks now have a two week break before travelling across the Pennines for
the return leg against the Yorkshire Rams on July 12th at South Leeds Stadium.
Yorkshire won the first game 30-0 and look strong, but the Nighthawks will be
looking to build on today’s result, and improve through the rest of the season.
To
contact the Nighthawks:
Tel:
CLUBCALL - 07845 60-50-20
E-mail:
merseysidenighthawks@hotmail.co.uk
Visit the website: merseysidenigthhawks.com
Images courtesy of Merseyside Nighthawks