BAFA Leagues 2014 Season: Week One Results
Week one of the 2014 British American Football season is officially in the books with some high scoring, and close, games to start the year off, together with some surprising results that are sure to raise eyebrows around the league.
We’ll start our round up with the Premier games and a huge result in the North for newly promoted Gateshead Senators.
Last year’s National League runners-up played host to the Doncaster Mustangs, a playoff team in 2013 and ran up the biggest score of the day in a 60-6 landslide.
The first game in the South conference saw a road win for the Cambridgeshire Cats as they eased away from the Berkshire Renegades for a 19-7 victory,
Into the National League, the North West staged what was, possibly, the game of the day.
Chester Romans were one of the success stories of last season; a 9-1 record and a semi-final place was something to build on coming into this campaign.
In contrast, the Staffordshire Surge were a disappointing 2-8 but had many pieces in place during the offseason.
The lead changed throughout the game, but after a hard fought afternoon’s play, the final score of 29-27 to the visiting Romans was the all-important stat in what was a great advertisement for the sport.
After the news that the DC Presidents would not be competing this year, it meant that the North had a full slate of games to open with.
Newcomers in Aberdeen Roughnecks had a rough time in Dundee falling to the Hurricanes, 40-13. Glasgow Tigers entertained the Edinburgh Wolves in the lowest scoring game of the day with the visitors prevailing by a score of 6-0.
Arguably the biggest shock of the day saw the Clyde Valley Blackhawks take apart the West Coast Trojans, 47-0, in a show of strength against a team that was playing Premier football last time out. Last year’s playoff quarter-finalists showed that there will be no mercy in the lower league.
The only other Conference to have multiple games was in the South West.
Farnham Knights travelled to Swindon and handed the Storm a 55-6 beating. Last year the Gloucester Centurions went 8-2, but missed out on the playoffs, so it was somewhat of a surprise when they were edged out 16-15 in their opener by the Cornish Sharks.
The South West group of teams, including the Solent Thrashers and Bristol Apache, could be a Conference to keep an eye on.
Across the country to the South East and the only game here saw another new team upset the odds somewhat.
Bury Saints played hard all day in their home opener on the way to beating the Essex Spartans 19-13.
It will be interesting to see how they fair against the more favoured Kent Exiles and Watford Cheetahs, but with another new team in this group in the shape of the London Hornets, Bury’s fine start may give them confidence for the road ahead.
Heading back up North to the Midlands Conference where the Lincolnshire Bombers where they downed the Shropshire Revolution 13-8. After the Bombers went winless last season, they will be glad to get off the mark in a group that had no playoff teams in 2013.
