Having finished the regular season a perfect 8-0, the Lancashire Wolverine Colts headed into the playoffs to face Forth Valley Fusion. Electing to kick the ball again, the Colts record-breaking defence took to the field, eager to force the turnover this defence thrives on. This was not to be, however, as the Forth Valley offence gained some tough yards up the middle of the field. Despite this, the Colts defence proved strong and forced the Fusion offence into a punting situation. This was a sign of things to come for the first quarter for both teams, with the Colts offence being unable to sustain any consistent offence, despite the hardest efforts of TE Sam Bloomfield, who made a key 3^rd down catch and RB Eden Quigley. With neither team mounting much offensively due to penalties and swarming defence, the 2^nd quarter quickly came around.

And it was in this quarter that the Lancashire offence finally clicked. Rihan Malik’s leaping catch at the 1-yard line and strong running from backs Alex Hodson and Eden Quigley resulted in Lancashire scoring the first points of the game when QB Jonny Glover called his own number for the touchdown. The PAT was knocked through from the ever-consistent boot of Chris Astley, taking the score to 8-0. The heavily penalised nature of the first half continued, which brought back a Forth Valley score, potentially tying the game. The defence took this as a reminder that they weren’t untouchable and proved stout, forcing yet another punt from the Forth Valley offence. This opened up the floodgates for the Colts offence, with TE Sam Bloomfield finishing the drive with a 15-yard TD catch, capitalising on offensive captain Quigley’s superb running. The PAT was again successful, resulting in a 16-0 scoreline in favour of the Lancashire outfit.

 The Colts defence took matters into their own hands on the next Fusion drive, with rookie cornerback Ste Czarnecki picking off the ball at the halfway line and weaving his way to a touchdown, his second of the year. The PAT by Astley was drilled through the uprights, putting the Colts up 24-0. Forcing another punt, which was shanked by the Fusion punter and dropped on by the Colts, Lancashire moved quickly and scored on a single pass play to TE Seb Kerridge, who hauled in a 21 yard pass from QB Glover, his second passing TD on the day. Another PAT kick by Astley left the score at 32. Bananas and congratulations were passed around at half-time, but Head Coach Geoff Leigh again urged that the game wasn’t over yet and despite the good performance of the first half, the team must repeat it in the second or their season could very well be over.

The third quarter was a quick affair, a missed field goal by Astley aside, with neither team really mustering much, until an uncharacteristic error by the Colts late in the 3^rd resulted in the ball becoming the Fusion’s at the Lancashire 6. Despite a hard effort from the Colts defence, led by linebacker Jon Varney, a force on the day, the Fusion punched the ball in from 2 yards out to open up the 4^th quarter, with running back Craig Denham taking a sweep over the goal-line for the first points conceded by the Colts all season. The Colts, with Varney running the ball to the 50 in an attempt to gain 2 points, initially blocked the PAT, in vain, however, as DE Astley had been called offside. On the second PAT, the Fusion kicker improvised with a muffed snap, nearly throwing an interception to FS Phil Hooper.

The Colts offence immediately responded, with Christian Facchin and Alex Hodson carrying the load until the red zone, when Glover hit WR Joel Wilson for his 3^rd passing TD of the day in the driving rain. The PAT was successful for a 5^th time, capping an almost flawless show from kicker Chris Astley. Despite sustained offence by Forth Valley, the Colts defence forced them to turn the ball over on downs and essentially end the game, the score finishing 40-6 in favour of the Colts.

The MVPs on the day were: offensively the entire offensive line, who blocked dominantly for the Lancashire running backs and gave a clean pocket for the QB to work from; defensively Jon Varney, who was nearby, if not involved with, everything good that happened for the defence; and on special teams Alex Hodson for his multiple deep kick-offs in the game. The team’s MVP was Jonny Glover, who played a hand in all the offensive touchdowns on the day. The next game for the Colts is this coming Sunday, the 6^th of August, with the Gateshead Senators travelling to Blackburn, the winner of that game going on to play in the national final versus either the Farnham Knights or the London Warriors.

Playing their closest rival, the Bolton Bulldogs, the Lancashire Wolverine Colts looked to complete a historic regular season schedule, undefeated while conceding zero points, something never before achieved by a member team of the Lancashire Academy. Led by team captain Sam Bloomfield, the Colts won the opening coin toss and chose to receive the ball, giving their offence an opportunity to open their account for the day. This was not to be, however, with QB Jonny Glover lofting the ball to a Bolton cornerback who was tackled immediately by Colts receiver Joel Wilson. The Colts defence, as they have done all season, sprung into action and forced the Bolton offence into a punting situation, returning the ball to the offence.

 This would be the case for the first quarter, with each team proving strong defensively and giving their opposing offences very little to work with. It wasn’t until late in the second quarter that the Colts broke the deadlock, with running back Eden Quigley scoring his 6^th touchdown of the season from 26 yards out, showing his ability to slip effortlessly out of tackles. The PAT was unsuccessful, taking the score to 6-0. The Colt’s defence stood up again, not an uncommon theme, with FS Phil Hooper picking off the Bolton QB at the Lancashire 20 yard line. On the ensuing drive, Glover atoned for his previous mistake, tossing the ball to Wilson, who adjusted brilliantly and hauled in the pass for a 12-yard touchdown. A failed PAT attempt left the score at 12-0 heading in to the half-time break. Head Coach Geoff Leigh, unhappy at how the first half went, spoke of staying disciplined and challenged the Colts to up their game in the second half.

 The team took this to heart, with the opening kick-off going for a touchback from the boot of Chris Astley. The defence, led by the strong tackling of Kyle Martindale, Jon Varney and Stephen Donaldson-Ellison, forced the Bolton offence into a 3^rd and long situation. Sam Bloomfield appeared to have made the interception, but the ball squirted out and fell harmlessly incomplete, much to Bloomfield’s despair. Despite this, the Bolton punt rolled out of bounds at the 45-yard line, giving the offence a short field to attack. A promising drive took the ball inside the Bolton 10 but the drive stalled and the Colts offence turned the ball over inside of Bolton’s 5-yard line. The defence, seeing an opportunity to score, forced a safety when linebacker Stephen Donaldson-Ellison and defensive end Chris Astley pounced on the Bolton QB in the end zone and the Bolton QB threw the ball backwards in an attempt to salvage the play.

 A good return on the following punt by Eden Quigley gave the Lancashire offence a suitable field position to convert from. Several hard runs by Quigley and fullback James Littler drove the ball to within the Bolton red zone, where Quigley powered over from the 2 yard line for his second touchdown of the day. The PAT on this play was successful when receiver Joel Wilson made a spectacular one handed catch despite being interfered with by the Bolton cornerback. The following kick-off was stopped for a minimal gain and the Colts defence forced another punt, with Sam Bloomfield and Sam Johnson wreaking havoc in the Bolton backfield. The Colts offence then began their next possession with the ball at the 50-yard line, where a key catch in traffic by Rihan Malik and a personal foul on Bolton moved the ball to the 20-yard line. A QB scramble by Jonny Glover presented Quigley with a chance to add to his tally on the day and he did so in classic fashion, leaving Bolton players grasping at his heels as he used his speed and agility to scamper in from 9 yards. With a PAT catch by Rihan Malik, the score hit 30-0.  The following kick by Astley was returned for 10 yards when FS Phil Hooper flew in and forced a fumble on the returner, which was recovered by defensive captain Kyle Martindale, heralding the end of the 3^rdquarter.

The 4^th quarter opened with a pass interference call on Bolton when Glover tried to hit Bloomfield, now playing TE, who was knocked to the ground when attempting to gather the ball. On the next play, fullback James Littler carried the ball in from 19 yards, stiff-arming multiple Bulldogs on his way to pay dirt. An incomplete pass by Glover on the PAT resulted in a 36-0 score. Astley again kicked off, but slipped, forcing the ball to fall to the Bolton wedge. This was not a big issue as the coverage team got down quickly enough to stop the returner from gaining a significant amount of yardage. After some excellent tackling from Kyle Martindale and Sam Bloomfield, the Colts defence managed to stop an attempted 4^th down try by Bolton, giving the ball to the offence at the Bolton 40. Several runs by Quigley set up James Littler for his second touchdown of the game, an amazing 22 yard rush, exquisitely sidestepping a Bolton cornerback on the way to the end zone. An unsuccessful PAT attempt took the score to 42-0, the final score in the game.

 The MVPs on the day were James Littler for his two touchdowns and consistent blocking throughout the day and Kyle Martindale on the defence for his hard-hitting performance. Phil Hooper received a special teams MVP for his forced fumble and Jon Varney was awarded team MVP for his multiple tackles on defence and several key blocks on offence. Martindale, Varney and Stephen Donaldson-Ellison were awarded brick awards for their big hits throughout the day.

 A special mention has to go to the coaches of the team. Paul Day, the offensive co-ordinator, for directing the Lancashire offence to 196 points on the season, Simon Purcell, the defensive co-ordinator, for leading his defence to a historic 0 points conceded season and Head Coach Geoff Leigh for running the entire team, instilling a strong work-ethic and a sense of discipline.