Edinburgh Wolves keep playoff hopes alive

Posted in: BAFL 2, Edinburgh Wolves    By Scott McCartney Aug 4, 2009 - 7:49:46 PM

Edinburgh Wolves 13 Clyde Valley Blackhawks 12
 
The Edinburgh Wolves kept their playoff hopes alive on Saturday when they beat the Clyde Valley Blackhawks 13-12 in a hard fought contest which saw the capital side narrowly edge out their west coast rivals.

Edinburgh running back Richard Anderson laid some impressive groundwork against a tough Clyde Valley defence, but it was Paul Elder and Stu Galloway who put points on the board to give the Wolves a fighting chance of making the playoffs.

Clyde Valley took the lead in the first quarter when wide receiver Phil McCabe powered through the middle on a five yard touchdown run, but a poor kick meant the extra point was no good.

It looked like the Wolves' losing streak was destined to continue, but Galloway caught the resulting kick-off and used some excellent blocking to weave his way up the field, running the length of the pitch only to be brought down just two yards shy of the goal line.

Running back Elder burst through the defensive line to bring the scores even at six, but the conversion was missed.

Quarterback David Orr Junior put Clyde Valley ahead once more in the third quarter on a short scramble past the centre, but the feisty Edinburgh defence broke up the extra point to keep the score at 12-6.

Edinburgh took the lead for the first time after the Wolves drove up the field to reach the 15 yard line, when a clever reverse play saw receiver Galloway take it the rest of the way as he scampered to the right corner of the end zone. With the extra point in place, and despite a valiant effort by the Blackhawks' offence, the game ended with the capital side the winners.

After losing a few games on the run, Edinburgh coach Don Edmonston was pleased to see the team return to winning ways. "We've had a tough run of games playing both Glasgow twice and having a second game against the unbeaten Titans," he said. "But today the whole team was able to put those games behind us and hold together in a nail biter of a game against the Blackhawks. This was a total team performance and every unit worked hard to give us the win."

The Wolves now travel to Chester on 16 August where, depending on results elsewhere, a win could put the Wolves into the playoffs.

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