GAME-WEEK FOUR REVIEW | GATORS BLUE EMERGE VICTORIOUS IN FIRST DERBY DAY

As we enter the back end of the BAFA NFFL Wales Division season, it brought up the first ever League inter squad game for the Gators, with the Gators Blues facing off against the Gators Orange.

The Oranges went into the game-day with a myriad of injuries and unavailable players but were determined to take the game to the Blues.

The first drive saw the Blues held by the Orange D and the Oranges faced the same roadblock, with the Blues D preventing a score.

The 2nd Blues drive saw them draw first blood. After a few check down passes by Blues QB Liam Giles, to Ethan Langdon and Keenan Gibson, Giles wound up and hit Dylan Bowry deep for what should've been the opening score, were it not for a cracking Touchdown saving tackle by Ben Pugh. Two plays later however and Giles found Langdon short over the middle and he was able to reach the ball out and break the plane of the goaline for the opening score. A converted XP to Langdon again saw the Blues up 7-0.

Not to be outdone, Oranges QB Dean Jackson struck back on the next drive, finding WR Matt Bourke down the left sideline, who won the contested catch before avoiding the last ditch tackle attempt before cantering to the endzone. The XP attempt was unsuccessful however so left the Blues still leading 7-6.

Orange D again stepped up and stopped the Blues which saw the Orange O take to the field again. The first play saw a pass to the left sideline toward Bourke, who slipped coming out of his break and the ball landed squarely in Blues Safety Dan Davies' hands, only for him to fail to catch it for what would've surely been the easiest pick 6 he would've ever had. Unfortunately, that was a little bit of foreshadowing as a few plays later a pass, again towards Bourke, saw Blues Josh Corbett get his head in the way of the catch and the deflected ball landed in Davies' hands again, this time not making the mistake of dropping it and a quick sidestep of the now defending Jackson, saw him return it for a Pick 6. Giles once again converted the XP, this time to Gibson to put the Blues 14-6 ahead.

Jackson again rebounded instantly and after some high percentage passing to move the offense up the field, found danger man Bourke across the middle who somehow avoided the tackles of Jake Corbett and Davies again before taking it home for 6. Another unsuccessful XP attempt saw the score 14-12 to the Blues.

From a neutral point of view, sadly this was where the scoring ended and thus ensued a defensive struggle. The second half showed how well each team knew each other that, depsite some good play from both Quarterbacks, the Defense's stepped up.

Blues Blitzer Lee White giving Jackson more than he could handle at times with 2 batted passes, disrupting his passing lanes and an interception by Josh Corbett but similarly,

the Oranges stopped most everything that Giles was doing, aside from the high percentage check-down passes short to Langdon, Tom Benfield and Jan Coetsee, was intercepted by Tom Harrison, Matt Bourke and Ben Pugh and was sacked by Jake Williams twice.

The result finished 14-12 and victory for the Blues but sets it up perfectly for the last game-day of the league season when both teams face off next.

The Oranges had a quick turnaround as they were next up against H2; the Cardiff Hurricanes 2nd team.

No doubt the H2 folks would've been looking at the Oranges as a game they could win, especially with a depleted squad.

The opening 10 minutes or so saw both teams struggle in vain to make an impact on the game until the deadlock was broken by a fake pitch from Dale Davies to Dean Jackson before pivoting and throwing a right side fade pass that Harrison brought in for the opening score. Again the XP drought continued as it went unconverted but 6-0 to the oranges.

The lead was doubled on the next drive as Jackson found Harrison again for another score, again no XP and 12-0 at the half for the Oranges despite some good offensive play from the H2 Offense, most notably QB Carwyn Dennis, who was making good reads in finding another former Cynon Valley Celt Liam Beagan and their C Justin Whitney but could not sustain their drives nor find a way into the endzone.

The seconds half saw a combination of the H2 defense stiffen up, notably with good plays by Dan Bestwick and Huw Davies along with the blitz pressure of Adam Williams and the Orange offense misfiring. H2 managed to get on the board with a Dennis to Beagan score that also went unconverted. The Orange D continued to keep pressure on H2's offense with sacks by Pugh and Williams along with interceptions by Jon Fairless and Tom Harrison but that was all she wrote for scoring as the Oranges O killed off the clock, leaving H2 starting on their own 5 yard line with 5 seconds remaining. a 12-6 squeaker for the Oranges but their 3rd win on the season takes them to 3-5 on the year thus far,

The last game of the day saw the Gators Blue take on the undefeated Cardiff Hurricanes team, one that had cantered by their 2nd team in the opening game of the day 72-0.

The Hurricanes again turned on the style, making things look much easier than they should be and despite some good QB play by Giles, who has been much improved this season, he was still sacked 8 times by Cardiff Blitzer extraordinaire Chad Stevens. Blues Blitzer Lee White also managed to register a sack on Cardiff's elusive QB Joe Cotterill and, aside from an XP interception by Josh Corbett, it was all Hurricanes.

The Blues were determined to make some plays and whilst the O couldn't notch up an offensive stat, they played well enough to get into Cardiff territory, with Gibson, Benfield and Coetsee all making some plays but the Cardiff Defense were too experienced and talented to break down.

Finals score saw Cardiff run out comfortable winners 52-0 on the back of another Cotterill Masterclass and saw the Blues on a 3-5 record on the season but above the Oranges on around a 60 point difference.

A short week this week as both teams are back in action Saturday with Oranges facing hosts Swansea Hammerheads and Tydfil Trojans where the Blues host Cardiff Bay Coyotes and Cardiff Hurricanes 2.

The winning season may be slipping away for both squads but there is certainly pride and inter squad bragging rights to be played for.

#BleedBlue