GAME-DAY REPORT | GATORS GO WEST SEEKING REVENGE AND REDEMPTION.
- Dale Davies
- Nov 24, 2020
- 8 min read
After last week’s home losses to Swansea Hammerheads, one in a development game and the other in a more competitive vein, the Gators headed to Swansea in the return leg of the double headed double headers.
'DEVELOPMENT" GAME
Facing off on Swansea Recreation ground, in the shadows of St. Helens, which was hosting the Ospreys against Benetton and, ironically, saw more passing spectators than were permitted inside the Rugby ground, including Welsh rugby legend Shane Williams, the Gators started game one; the development game of the two, on defense.
With a mix of inexperience and players playing out of position for experience, Gators QB2 Liam Giles tried his hand as Blitzer and almost immediately found success, sacking Swansea QB Andy Cooper twice in succession.
He then led the offense onto the field and took them down the field, before getting Huw Walford in for the score. No success on the extra point try saw the Gators with an early lead 6-0.
Swansea rallied almost straight away and a pitch to Cooper from one of their other receivers resulted in a few missed tackles and a running TD for the Hammerheads. The extra point try was converted via a pass from Cooper to young Jack Wright, making it 7-6 Hammerheads.
Both Gators and Hammerhead offenses traded interceptions, the aforementioned Wright with one for Swansea and Chris Bartlett-Legge with 3 on the day; 2 in the first half, but the half ended with no more change to the score.
Half time 7-6 Hammerheads.
The 2nd half was even quieter on the scoring front. With the Gators making more personnel changes, giving the whole match day squad as much time on field as possible, it made little difference to the score. Even with some well executed plays on both sides of the ball; a well timed double blitz seemingly flummoxed Cooper, with Club Captain Mark Studley finally deflagging the Quarterback, the highlight of the 2nd half, the Gators ultimately lacked consistency to punch another damaging blow to Swansea’s defense.
Swansea’s sole score in this half came from a deep shot toward Nick Ludlam but with Gators backup Safety Matt Bourke in prime position to snag another interception, he managed to palm it and deflect it just over his head and, unluckily for the Gators, straight into Ludlam’s grateful hands, who had a free canter to the endzone for an unconverted score.
That totalled the scoring for game one, with Swansea Hammerheads taking, on balance, a deserved victory in the development game, 13-6.
"COMPETITIVE" GAME
A quick water break and team talk and the Gators were back on, this time for the “competitive game” with their starting team, beginning with the defensive unit; facing the strongest Swansea team they have faced since the 2019 WelshBowl tournament.
Swansea started with the ball and drove the field with the excellent on the day Ash Lewis at Quarterback, on 4th and half to go, Lewis let rip to WR Alex Thomas for a half of the field scoring pass. No extra point though. Hammerheads draw first blood, 6-0.
The Gators first time on O, first play and Gators QB Chris Bartlett-Legge decided to unleash the dragon in an attempt of a quick strike reply, looking for WR Matt Bourke streaking deep. Unfortunately the ball was slightly underthrown and it ended up fortunate not to have been an interception.
So an inauspicious start to the game for the offense but after successive completions to Ethan Langdon, Andy Giboney and take 2 of the deep shot to Bourke, this time a beautiful arcing rope of a pass, hitting the receiver in stride with only the last gasp desperation tackle by Swansea defender Tushon Blackson preventing the score. On the next play Chris Legge found Giboney on a slant route across the middle and the wee Irishman zoomed his way into the corner of the endzone to open the Gators account. The extra point attempt was well defended by Swansea’s David Camp so the score remained 6-6.
The Hammerhead offense weren’t taking the challenge lightly and after a couple of Jet Sweep plays by now WR Andy Cooper moving Swansea close to the halfway line, Ash looked to play action the 3rd down but a mix of good defensive coverage and pressure by Gators Blitzer Lee White, forced him to throw the ball away, forcing another 4th down. Swansea were able to convert for a 1st when WR Thomas threatened deep then hooked up just past the 1st down marker and Lewis found him. On the next play, a well designed play, coupled with a defensive breakdown, gave Center Nick Ludlam (Welcome back Nick!) all the space he could have dreamed of in the middle of the endzone and a QB of Lewis’ quality was not going to miss that.
Touchdown Hammerheads, 12-6
After another failed extra point try; a fade route by Thomas to the back left of the endzone well defended by Safety Dan Davies.
The pressure was put back onto the Gators offense to reply. Again Chris Legge opened up the drive looking deep but overthrowing his target. A bit of trickery on the next play saw Legge take off for a run, giving the O a little breathing room. A pass to Giboney, getting the Gators closer to halfway saw 4th and half before Legge went back to the deep pass towards Bourke, this time a good effort by the Swansea defender unfortunately saw him collide into the Gators WR, drawing a Pass Interference call, resulting in a 1st down for the Gators.
A lovely bit of blitz avoidance saw Legge roll left and find Langdon on a mid range out route before firing a strike towards 1st team debutant Martin Peareth in the endzone, who couldn’t quite reel it in. 3rd down saw an excellently located deep strike at the back of the endzone for Bourke who pulls an absolute rabbit out of the hat with the catch, unfortunately with no referee having a clear view of the foot placement, it was deemed out of bounds. The very next play, 4th down, Legge rolled right and finds Giboney in the back corner of the endzone, only for the joy to be short lived as Legge had passed the line of scrimmage before releasing the pass, thus resulting in a penalty which included a loss of down, ruling the score out and a change of possession.
Swansea, on the next possession went 4 and out, giving the Gators the ball back, starting on their 5 yard line. A quick 10 yard strike to Bourke moved the offense close to the half way line and another pass, this time to Peareth gained the 1st down. The next play saw Swansea Blitzer David Camp collide with Legge, resulting in a 10 yard penalty and a fresh set of downs, around 10 yards short of the Swansea endzone. Two plays later and Legge found Bourke in the corner of the endzone for a Gators score with a conversion by Langdon putting the Gators 13-12 up.
Swansea looked to reply immediately again and a quick pitch followed by a deep pass to Thomas put the Hammerheads on the Gators goaline. A quick hitch route and Lewis finds Thomas for the score. With another failed extra point attempt, it put the Hammerheads 18-13 in the lead and now inside the 2 minute warning, the Gators looked to try and reply with the clock against them.
On 1st down, Legge hits Giboney for a quick 10 yard gain and decides to try his luck deep once more. Matt Bourke runs a timely hitch and go to stagger Swansea’s Jack Wright on D, coupled with a lovely pump fake by Legge and Bourke secures the catch, after a little circus bobble, for the touchdown. Another converted extra point, this time with Peareth showing some strong hands and it’s back to a 2 point advantage to the Gators 20-18.
Not to be outdone, Ash Lewis and the Swansea offense attempted to flip the script with 40 seconds left, and after some quick plays to get to half way, Lewis targeted Thomas again, despite some very good coverage from Mark Studley, the throw and Thomas’ athleticism and hands secured the catch in the endzone for another Hammerhead touchdown. Still devoid of extra points in the half, the score remained 24-20 and that took the game to the half.
The Gators started the 2nd half with the ball and Chris Legge set about regaining the lead again and after a delightful pass into space for Huw Walford to run under for a 1st down, Legge set his sights downfield yet again and with Bourke drawing double coverage from the Hammerhead defenders, they left Giboney to fly down the right sideline uncovered and Legge duly found him to regain the lead for the Gators. The extra point try was unsuccessful however. Gators back in front 26-24.
Swansea’s next drive saw them stall just short of the goaline with the Gators taking over on downs.
Gators QB Chris Legge had to be at his ducking and diving best to avoid Swansea’s blitzers on the next series but still orchestrated a patient yet effective drive down field, which included a nice pass to Peareth before finding Walford for the 1st down. The next play saw Legge hit Peareth across the middle for a big gain but was deflagged just short of the Touchdown. A few defensive penalties and a sack later, Legge found Walford again but this time in the front corner of the endzone for another Gators score and followed it up by catching the extra point, making the score 33-24 and the first time all game, nay all day, that one team had more than a one score advantage.
With a collision injury to Safety Dan Davies forcing him out of the game, Chris Legge was asked to pull double duty and play in Dan’s stead on defense.
Ash Lewis got the Swansea wheels in motion again, driving down the field with completions to Alex Thomas and Andy Cooper to set them up on the Gators 5 yard line. A resolute stand from the Gators defense ended on 4th down where Lewis linked up with Cooper on a drag route before heading in unopposed from 2 yards out despite a last gasp dive from Chris Legge and the Hammerheads finally banished the extra point curse, with Lewis finding Thomas in the front corner of the endzone. Gators 33-31.
Out the Gators offense went again and with time rapidly diminishing and the game’s end in sight, Gators QB Legge, after a short completion to Walford, decided to roll right before launching a ball back left to a wide open Peareth who had sneaked beyond the last defender and caught the deep pass and took it to the house. Time management be damned! Another Legge to Walford hook up claimed the extra point, seeing the Gators regain their 9 point advantage, 40-31.
With time now a real issue for the Hammerhead offense, the first play of their next, and final as it became, possession saw Lewis pass to Cooper, only to see the ball fly through his hands and into the grateful hands of Josh Corbett, who, between him and his brother, Jake, wilfully manned the Gators short defense all game, thus a well-deserved reward for his efforts in the game. In his attempt to return it for a score he was tackled about 10 yards short. Gators ball.
It was at this point, with less than 20 seconds remaining that Head Coach and aging Quarterback Dale Davies took the helm to see out the remaining time.
On the first play a nonchalant Davies stood prone in the pocket facing down the oncoming blitzer David Camp and, after a little pump fake over the top of Camp, decides to uncork a cheeky and thoroughly unnecessary behind the back pass to Giboney, stood in place from where he took the snap from the Center and passed it to the QB, who then took off towards the endzone, being stopped around 3 yards shy.
The next play saw Davies take the snap, slide to his left a little and pop a short pass to Walford in the corner of the endzone for the game sealing score. The following extra point was unsuccessful but mattered little to the final score.
Gators 46-31 Hammerheads.
Gameday MVG’s (Most Valuable Gators)
Offense: Martin Peareth
Defense: Mark Studley.
Our thanks go to Swansea for both game days and all 4 games. Results aside, it’s provided some much needed relief from real world problems, if only for a few hours and the chance of some competitive games against different people along with the opportunity to reconnect with Flag Football friends face to face. Thank you Hammerheads!
Next up for the Gators is a joint scrimmage and double header with the Cardiff Bay Coyotes in December, more details coming soon!
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