Gameday 2 is in the books! The Cardiff Hurricanes look every bit the national champions and everyone is seemingly playing for 2nd place.
This was the thoughts of many preseason and after 4 games they have done little to dissuade anyone from those thoughts.
The Gators Orange and Cardiff Bay Coyotes were this week’s victi….I mean opponents.
Game one on the day saw the Gators Orange Vs Cardiff Hurricanes and the Gators started on O and had a pretty decent drive that took them into Canes territory and to the no run zone, something they did 4 or 5 times during the game. The Canes however were not in a mood to give up points and their defense stiffened, stopping the Gators O. At this point the Gators were still tied with the Canes, again, something that would only last a few more plays as Joe Cotterill and the Canes O took 3 or 4 plays before finding Rhys Jackson in the corner of the endzone for the opening score.
Thus begun a familiar pattern through the game. The Gators, featuring the debuting Dean Jackson at QB and the injury recovering Chris Bartlett Legge and Matt Bourke at Receivers, joining Andy Giboney at Running Back and the improving Peth Watkins at Center, worked hard to create opportunities but all too often the Canes were there to make the tackle, deflect the pass, or on the odd occasion or 5, intercept Jackson.
There was no let up in the 2nd stanza as the footballing education continued and the willing Gators defense of Kira Walker, Tom Harrison, Jordan Madden, Ben Pugh and the Defensive captain Ryan Tandy were found wanting time and again by the excellent Cotterill and his receiving Corps of Dylan Bowditch, who threw the ugliest touchdown pass in modern flag history along with a pretty strike for an XP, the returning Kostas Karras, the impressive Rhys Jackson and the standout Cane on the day for this writer; Dr. Jones himself, Chris Jones.
The end result of this game ending up Hurricanes 62 Gators Orange 0. A humbling experience for the Gators but not too unexpected.
Next up was the Cross City Rivalry; the first meeting of the Hurricanes and Coyotes.
Coach Austin and his Coyotes, after witnessing and reffing the first game, were under no illusion of the task ahead of them. Sadly for the Coyotes, Cotterill, the offense and the Canes defense gave them even less quarter than they did the Gators. There was not a time within the game where the Coyotes made it past half way from recollection and another masterclass ensued, resulting in the Final Score being Hurricanes 69 Coyotes 0
This led us to the likely more competitive game of the day and it didn’t disappoint.
The Gators Offense started spritely, driving the field and converting it into points with a Jackson to Matt Bourke score. 6-0 Gators from the off. The Coyotes replied immediately, working their way meticulously down the field before Davies found Hugo Santos in the corner for the score and subsequent XP. Another score from the Coyotes made it 14-6 at the half with the Gators turned away at the death of the half with an interception in the endzone by the ever reliable Mike Austin.
The 2nd half saw the Gators march the field again but, with a sense of déjà vu, were intercepted in the endzone again.
Coyotes took full advantage by scoring again, Davies to Ben “Julio” Harrop this time. 20 -6 Coyotes and the game was almost out of reach for the Gators.
Almost.
The Gators struck back quickly with a half field deep pass finding Bourke in the endzone for the touchdown with Chris Bartlett Legge snagging the XP. 20-13 Coyotes but Gators had a taste for blood!
That taste of blood however, could’ve been as a result of the smack in the mouth the Coyotes Offense gave the Gators D on the very next drive as Davies found the impressive on his debut Matthew Tynan for the 4th score of the game for the Cardiff Bay side, no XP conversion however but with the score now 26-13 and down to approximately 4 minutes left, it looked like a bridge too far for the Gators.
Not to be dissuaded however, Gators QB Jackson, fired a strike to Bourke again, who caught, dipped and juked inside, managing to send Coyotes Safety Kris Strevens the opposite way minus his ankles, before turning on the jets in an across field sprint that outpaced all remaining Coyote defenders for an impressive score. Bourke doubled down on that success by securing a low pass to the middle of the endzone on the XP. 26-20 Coyotes as we hit the 2 minute warning.
All the Coyotes had to do was manage the clock to see the game out but the first play saw a completion that ended up out of bounds, stopping the clock. Another play gained a first down, again stopping the clock. After some backfield trickery, QB Davies took off on a jaunt that took the Coyotes to around 10 yards shy of the Gators goaline. 1st down saw Ben Pugh break up a pass, 2nd down saw Blitzer Jordan Madden deflect a pass incomplete, both of these stopping the clock and with Gators HC Dale Davies only having one timeout remaining, they proved fortuitous. 3rd down and the Coyotes again tried some trickery in the backfield however this time the ball was fumbled and hit the ground, again stopping the clock with about 30 seconds remaining. On 4th, with no other option but to try and score now, Davies found Santos at around the 5 yard line, however Santos’ knee was down at the catch, thus prompting a turn over on downs with 24 seconds remaining for the Gators and 1 timeout.
Jackson led the offense back out for a drive that no one thought would happen. On first down, Jackson fired down the middle, straight towards Strevens, seemingly having found aforementioned ankles and almost intercepted the pass as he and the ball hit the ground together. Fortunately for Jackson and the Gators, the ball hit the ground before being secured. 20 seconds left and 2nd down.
This time Jackson was less errant, aiming a 20 yard pass deep left the Gators Offensive MVG on the day, Chris Bartlett Legge, who high pointed the ball, this action moving him inside the pursuit line of Strevens again and being able to blast by him on his way to the endzone for the tying score. Dramatic to say the least.
It all came down to the extra point play. Jackson took the snap and began to roll left, with Flo James hot in pursuit. With time almost up on Jackson and with James squeezing down on him, he fired a pass to substitute center Ben Pugh in the front left corner of the endzone, who bobbled the pass before securing it with feet inbounds. XP is good and Gators take the lead for the first time in the game with 6 seconds remaining. 27-26 Gators Orange!
2 plays later, the last tackle being made by defensive MVG Tom Harrison and the game came to an end with a dramatic win for the Gators that left the Coyotes bereft.
Gators Orange go 1-1 on the day and finally manages to notch their first in the W column on the season.
Meanwhile, a mere 60 miles due West of the Orange squad, the depleted Gators Blues descended into Swansea, Gowerton to be more precise, the proud holders of a 2-0 record but facing a stiff test on the day, first being the Swansea Hammerheads and their “Offensive Juggernaut” and the 2nd the Gwent Trojans. Both opponents holding a 1-1 season record however both have also faced the Hurricanes this season.
First game on the day saw The Trojans take on the Hurricanes 2 squad, lighter than game-day 1 personnel wise.
That game finished 41-7 to the Trojans.
Next up was the Hammerheads vs the Gators Blue.
Despite the score line, where it finished a heavy 47-13 win for the Hammerheads (that offensive juggernaut in action!) that the biggest difference between the two teams was first up tackling. In wet conditions, the Hammerheads were dialed in on tackling whereas the Gators were less so.
There were however some positives to come out of the result, namely the performance of Jake Corbett, operating on Offense as running back and defense as CB/S with his ball carrying abilities and his defensive skills. Jan Coetsee again stood out on offense as a reliable target, the 2nd of his scores a pinpoint pass, threaded through the smallest of windows by QB Liam Giles allowing 2 Swansea defenders to clatter into one another and Coetsee set off free to the endzone.
A few defensive lapses also allowed Swansea to score deep passes, the first of the day a deep shot from Hammerheads QB Ash Lewis to Andy Cooper, this score being Lewis’ 100th TD toss in his Hammerhead Career, acknowledged by the Gators Blues guys.
Despite the 32-6 half time score, the Gators didn’t give up, as shown by the 15-7 2nd half cumulative score, a short dump off pass to returning Hammerhead Harley Labbett, evading numerous Gator tacklers en route to a score being one of the more frustrating defensive plays of the day.
It’s fair to say on reflection that, whilst the weather played a factor for the Gators, as well as being a few starters short also, the Hammerheads came with a game plan and in executing it, were more consistent and clinical opposed to the Gators. Hammerheads improve to 2-1 and Gators Blues fall to 2-1 with one game each left.
Swansea were straight back on however but Coach Labbett decided to cycle his personnel, giving a fair chunk of the reserves and backups a run out against the 1-2 H2 team. The Canes 2 lost Lauren Oldacre to an injury early on which reduced their numbers to a bare 5 and a later injury forced the injured Lauren back into the lineup with a dodgy hamstring.
However, H2 decided to flip the script in this game, taking a 2 score lead into the half. In an effort to redress the balance, the clearly surprised Hammerheads returned the starters to the field and through the course of the 2nd half, managed to gain the lead, leading 27-20 with H2 QB Carwyn Dennis driving the offense to the Hammerheads end of the field with time expiring.
It came down to a 4th and goal around 10 yards out from Swansea’s endzone but Dennis was unable to find a receiver and a change of possession via a tipped pass interception by Swansea defensive vet Josh Greatorex-Davies left the score intact to end the game and, some would say, a fortuitous dodged bullet for the Hammerheads as they improved to 3-1 on the season, dropping H2 to 1-3.
The last game of the day was the Trojans vs Gators Blues. With the Trojans not yet firing on all cylinders this season this game was seen by the Gators Blues as maybe the “easier” of the 2 games, however it was like choosing to stab your leg with a sharp knife or a fork in reality.
The Trojans, boosted by the return of Patrick Burchell alongside Rich Harris and Chris Soanes were going to present a challenge to any defense. This proved to be true as the Trojans were 19-0 up at the half. These Gators Blues however are not the roll over and acquiesce types and gave as good as they got in the 2nd half, Giles again performing well, actually outduelling the Trojans 19-13 in the 2nd period, however it was not enough as the Trojans outlasted the Gators to finish 32-19 and improve to 3-1 where the Gators Blues slipped back to .500 at 2-2.
The next game-day is 17th and 18th July where the fixtures remain the same as gameday 2.
The Oranges will be aiming to improve on the 62-0 beating by the Hurricanes and an improved defensive performance vs the increasingly dangerous Coyotes, whereas the Blues, hopefully buoyed by returning starters from injuries and a bloody horse show, will be aiming to take a larger bite out of both Hammerheads and Trojans.
As always,
-Dale Davies.