The Gwent Gators finally took to the field in National League competition in almost 2 years this past weekend.
We have all seen, heard and spoken about Covid-19 and the Global pandemic ad infinitum to this point, so from this point on, talk of it is banned here!
With 2 teams in the League this season, it fell upon the Gators Orange squad to open up the club’s campaign on Saturday June 19th, where they faced off against the Swansea Hammerheads and the Gwent Trojans.
After the Trojans fought to a tough loss against the still reigning National Champion Cardiff Hurricanes, it was Hammerheads Gators time.
Already missing Huw Walford from the Starting line up, Chris Bartlett-Legge’s offense consisted of Captain Andy Giboney, Matt Bourke, Martin Peareth and first time starter at Center, Peth Watkins.
The Defense was marshalled by debutant Ryan Tandy at Safety, Jordan Madden and with Jon Fairless, Ben Pugh and Kira Walker all making their competitive game debut for Gwent. Starting at Blitz was another debutant, Jake Williams, who would go on to make a big impression on the gameday.
The Offense started out slowly, with some nice completions to gain some positive yards but ultimately stall, yielding no points and the development defense took to the field.
The first Hammerheads drive, the defense performed admirably considering it contained 4 players making their league debut, 3 of them making their Gators debut, being Kira Walker, Ben Pugh, Jon Fairless and defensive captain Ryan Tandy, but were unable to prevent the Ash Lewis-Andy Cooper connection for the opening score.
The theme continued for most of the first half, sadly for the Gators. On the 3rd offensive possession, WR Matt Bourke, an injury doubt beforehand, had to succumb to his pre-existing injury and by the half the Offense also lost Martin Peareth to injury also. This forced Jake Williams into the Offensive scheme on short notice; he had only recently joined the Club along with Ben Pugh pulling double duty on offense and defense.
The Gators did manage to get on the board in the 2nd half with a Bartlett-Legge to Giboney touchdown added to with an XP catch by Ben Pugh but by now the talented Swansea team had taken control of the game, with Scores from Alex Thomas twice, Nick Ludlam another from Andy Cooper and Luca Garner-Beynon. David Camp on Swansea’s defense also making Chris work hard, whilst notching up 3 sacks with a 4th from Matt Iles, who also snagged an Interception, as did Luke Morgan.
There was a glimmer of consolation on the very last play of the game as Chris Legge dropped an oh so pretty dime to Jake Williams, who had beaten the coverage to come free toward the back of the endzone but unfortunately he couldn’t secure the catch.
For the Gators defense, Ryan Tandy made an almighty effort on an interception but to see it ruled that it had hit the floor. During that effort he managed to dislocate his pinkie finger, which was quickly fixed, strapped and he was back in the game. Only Jordan Madden bothered the stat sheet however with a sole sack.
A tough game against a very talented Swansea offense and solid defense saw the Gators finish the game 37-7 to Swansea. For a first time development defense there were lots of positives but with the offense not finding a rhythm and losing key starters, it was always going to be a tough game but the Gators took it on the chin and moved on to the 2nd game against the Trojans.
Straight after the Hammerheads game, the Oranges were back on to face the Gwent Trojans. The Trojans suffered at the hands of Joe Cotterill and the Cardiff Hurricanes in their first game so were looking to bounce back and any team with Richard Harris and Christopher Soanes in will always be a threat to score so another tough matchup ahead.
The first half passed fairly quickly with the Orange Offense making some plays but not enough in succession to break the plane of the Endzone. On the Defensive side the Orange Defense acquitted themselves very well but were unable to prevent the Trojans scoring, 2 to Rich Harris and 1 to Chris Soanes with an XP catch from Josh Daley. 19-0 at the half to the Trojans.
At the start of the 2nd half, HC Dale Davies rang some changes on Offense in an effort to bring a spark to the unit. Ben Pugh moved to Center, spelling Peth Watkins, who had turned in a great effort and moved QB Chris Legge to receiver whilst assuming the mantle of QB himself.
The first drive saw the Gators march up the field in 5-10 yard increments before Davies found Ben Pugh for the Gators first half with Chris Legge snagging the XP.
The Gators D managed to hold the Trojans on the next drive and the Offense again put plays together, with Andy Giboney making some running inroads and a lovely strike from Davies to Jake Williams on a post route, who was only just flagged before being home free to the Endzone. The offense then stalled around 10 yards short of scoring again, with some great defense from Trojans Phil James and Ross Thomas.
This time the Gators D were unable to prevent the Trojans from increasing their lead as Trojan QB Alex Thomas found Rich Harris again, for their 3rd TD hook up of the game. The XP however was intercepted by Ben Pugh but his return was cut short by a good tackle from Chris Soanes.
With time winding down and the game all but gone, the Gators O set out again to try and reduce the deficit and after another Davies to Williams hook up over the middle, Davies uncorked a cracker of a deep shot to the right side corner of the Endzone. It skimmed the fingers of Trojans Safety Rich Harris and was secured by Jake Williams for his first ever Gators Touchdown. The XP went unconverted and whilst both Offenses tried again to increase the score, both defenses were able to hold them at bay, game ending Gators Orange 13 Gwent Trojans 25.
This left the Oranges 0-2 on the day and 0-2 on the season also.
Sunday June 20th and it was the turn of the Gators Blues to join the league fun, travelling to Cardiff for Hosts Cardiff Bay Coyotes League bow along with the Cardiff Hurricanes 2 or H2 as they have labelled themselves.
First game was Coyotes vs Hurricanes 2 and despite the dour 7-0 score line for the Hurricanes, it was a very enjoyable game to watch, with the deciding Score being scored as time expired in the first half on a Carwyn Dennis to Liam Beagan connection, former Cynon Valley Celts doing the business.
Next game saw the Gators Blue face off against the Coyotes with a couple of Gators making their League bow in these games, being Jan Coetsee and Keenan Gibson,
Having played in friendlies against Coach Austin’s teams previously, we felt fairly confident heading in but the Coyotes put us on notice quick smart. After a scoreless first drive, a wheel route from Coyotes WR Josh Schofield saw him find himself so open in the corner of the end zone that he could’ve built himself a shop and Coyotes QB Josh Davies made no mistake with the pass.
The Blues Offense headed back out and within 2 plays scored with one of the most fortuitous play I’ve witnessed in Flag. A pass over the middle toward Keenan Gibson was tipped, firstly by Mike Austin and then tipped again by Kris Strevens who helped it past Keenan and into the most grateful hands of Jan Coetsee, who then raced away for the tying score.
Not to be outdone, Josh and the Coyotes offense struck back immediately, throwing a quick strike to Ben Harrop that Blues defender Dan Davies sold out for the interception, only to get his hand to it but Harrop’s hands were stronger, taking the catch in for a score and followed It up by reeling in the XP too, 13-6 Coyotes.
The Offense then stalled after Liam was intercepted by Mike Austin, giving the Coyotes prime field position and they didn’t waste it, this time with a little razzle dazzle that saw Josh Davies hand the ball off before it being flipped to Ben Harrop on the end around, who passed back to Davies; returning the favour and Davies just about managing to get the ball over the line before being flagged. 19-6 Coyotes and they had the Blues on the back foot.
Liam Giles, the Blues QB was not finished for the half however and on a clever hitch and go play, found Tom Benfield open for an immediate reply as the half came to a close, 19-12 Coyotes.
The Gators Coaches immediately went to work on adjustments and the 2nd half started with the Blues Defense finally finding some form, Jake Corbett snagging himself a Josh Davies pass and returning it for the score. 19-18 Coyotes.
The D remained stiff, holding the Coyotes on the next drive before Liam and the offense, aided by the excellent running of RB Keenan Gibson, managed to find Jan Coetsee in the endzone amid a contested catch that Jan dominatingly snatched for the score followed by the first Gators XP of the Day to Tom Benfield. 25-19 Gators Blue.
The remainder of the half saw Jack Webb, subbed in for Last Seasons captain and Blitzer Lee White, who put in a shift at Blitz, using his pace to make Coyotes QB Davies work for every play, harassing as much as he could. It was this pressure that allowed another Jake Corbett Interception followed by his Big Brother, Josh Corbett.
Not to be outdone, Coyotes Blitzer Florence James, who has pace for days and turned in a Week 1 Wales Division Defensive MVP worthy gameday, constantly harassed Liam at QB, eventually catching him in his own endzone for the sack and a safety to boot. 25-21 Gators Blue.
One final score before the end of the game saw Liam find Tom Benfield again, making the final score 31-21 Gators Blue. A great game to watch and a satisfying result for the Gators, especially the 2nd half fight back.
A quick water break and team talk before the Blues were back on against the Hurricanes 2.
Liam and the offense, buoyed by their previous game, started out on fire, marching the field before finding Keenan who made his way into the endzone for the opening score then found Coetsee for the XP, 7-0 Blues. The Gators could not have asked for a better start.
The H2O (Hurricanes 2 Offense, Blame Huw Davies!) were unable to make any headway against a Blues D with its tail up after the previous game and the Offense again put points on the board, Giles to Gibson again, 13-0 Gators.
The next offensive drive for the Canes 2 saw QB Carwyn Dennis intercepted by Dan Davies, making amends for his faux pas in the previous game and housing it for 6, 19-0 Gators.
After another stop by the Blues D, the Giles to Coetsee connection struck again, the first for 6 and the next for the extra point, 26-0 Gators at the half.
The 2nd half couldn’t have started better for the Blues nor worse for the Canes 2 as Dennis was sacked by Lee White and Jack Webb before being picked by Davies again but the Blues couldn’t capitalise.
Another interception for Jake Corbett saw the Blues take possession around their 5 yard line. One handoff later to Keenan Gibson and he juked and dodged the entire Canes 2 team before dancing into the endzone for a rare rushing touchdown before Giles went back to his favourite target for the XP, Jan Coetsee. 33-0 Gators.
After another Webb sack on Dennis, there followed an interception by the other Corbett, Josh, who took it home from 10 yards out for another Pick 6. 39-0 Gators.
On Canes 2’s next possession the rarest of things occurred, after a pass from replacement Canes 2 QB Katherine Fretwell was intercepted by Captain Mark Studley, who managed to evade the first attempted tackle before making his way toward the endzone. We tried to time the return but unfortunately the calendar ended before he reached the endzone.
However, reach the endzone he did for yet another Pick 6, The extra point was scored when Center Ethan Langdon finally bothering the stat man after a solid game without any, secured the catch and the final points of the game, an emphatic 46-0 Gators win over a game Hurricanes 2 team.
This left the Gators as a whole 2-0 and 0-2 for the weekend. Some varied fortunes but some great games and individual performances from many.
The Gators return to the Swamp for a week of training now before both teams go again on July 3rd.
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You can find the photos from the opening weekend here. Via Smugmug.
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