Clean sweep
for Coventry
Coventry
Bears stand proudly atop all three divisions after a clean sweep of the
Peterborough tournament.
After a
heavy defeat in Sussex the Coventry Bears youth side provided the surprise of
the day by edging the Leicester Eagles over two thrilling contests.
Rookie Tom Basnett’s relief was palpable when
his captain and tournament MVP, Shailen Tailor returned an interception for the
game winning touchdown, but he was particularly impressed with fellow rookie
Tikishia McCook. “Tik is progressing
amazingly well;
she’s an enormous benefit to the team”. Tom was quick to praise the Eagles, who
had had the upper hand in previous games for their “great sportsmanship”.
Mik Smith Leicester Eagles Head Coach was not too disheartened
saying, “I think we can take some real positives from today’s games, even
though Coventry pipped us to the tournament victory. Both teams showed determination
and character with the games as close as they were, so I think we managed to
learn a lot about ourselves as a team to keep our heads in the game.”
The junior tournament, also won by the Bears, saw head coach Andrew
Gambrill switch starting quarterback Tom Clancy to receiver with devastating
effect as Tom racked up the points on his way to the tournament MVP award.
Gambrill didn’t think it was such a brave decision, “AJ Mepstead is an
excellent alternative at quarterback, coupled with Tom’s athleticism; the
results prove it was a worthwhile experiment. I envisage the lads both seeing
time under centre throughout the season.
After a
shaky start the Birmingham Silverbacks soon got into their game and kept the
score lines against them to a minimum. This tournament was always going to be
more of a test of character than contender status, a test that many observers
would say that they passed with flying colours.
London
Warriors defense recorded two shutouts including one against eventual winners
the Bears. Entering their first tournament of the year, they played some impressive
football and showed that, once again, they will be a force to reckon with.
The Cadet
competition went to the Coventry Bears, who remain on top of the league with a
near perfect record. Not quite perfect, as today’s foe the Studley Bearcats
gave them a fright drawing the first of the three game schedule, 6-6. However,
Head Coach Gambrill decided to keep the ball on the ground with Hannah
Russell-Yarde and Meshach McCook in the second and third game. Hannah ran in
for 4 scores whilst McCook found space as the Bearcats defense started to key
on Russell-Yarde. Coventry won both games and are now only a few points short
of sealing a place in this years finals.
The next
tournament in Swindon on July 12th looks like being the biggest of
the season so far. Teams interested in attending should contact Ryan Melbourne
on melbournery@isambard.swindon.sch.uk