Playing for a chance to represent the North in the Britbowl, the Lancashire Wolverine Colts and Gateshead Senators clashed in a battle of unbeaten teams: only one team was going to remain undefeated. With Gateshead winning the toss and electing to receive, the Colts defence primed themselves to attempt to shutdown the Gateshead offence. However, disaster struck for Gateshead on the opening kick-off and a fumble forced by Lancashire linebacker Jon Varney was recovered by team captain Sam Bloomfield at the Gateshead 22. This gave the potent Colts offence excellent field position. Led by the rushing of offensive captain Eden Quigley, the Lancashire offence reached the 2 yard line when they attempted a QB sneak and quarterback Jonny Glover was controversially ruled to have fumbled the ball; the fumble was recovered by Gateshead and returned to the Lancashire 15. This meant the Lancashire defence, having only given up 6 points in 6 games, were tasked with shutting down the Gateshead Double Wing, a simple offence based on flawless execution. This task, as with many others presented to this defence, was completed with apparent ease, forcing the Gateshead offence into a 4 and out and giving the Colts offence another shot at scoring on a short field. Starting from the Gateshead 25, two incomplete passes by Glover led to a 4^th down and an attempted field-goal by kicker Chris Astley. A muffed snap by Glover was turned into a 27 yard play when he calmly tossed the ball to Bloomfield who turned and ran the ball down to the 1 yard line. Now, the ball was taken by rookie RB Alex Hodson who drove the pile over the goal-line for the first score of the day. A kick missed wide left by Astley left the score at 6-0 to Lancashire with time left in the first quarter.

 A kickoff gave Gateshead the ball at the 25 yard line and the Colts defence continued their good work, giving up a first down in the process of ending the Gateshead drive prematurely and giving the Colts offence the ball at the Gateshead 40. The Colts offence then moved the ball to the 20 yard line, but unfortunately Astley missed the field goal wide left again and the Colts defence came out again. However, a 3 and out and a punt not fielded by the Colts resulted in the Wolverines offence starting a drive in their own half for the first time in the game. Effective rushing by Quigley and a key completion by Glover to wide receiver Rihan Malik took the ball to the Gateshead red-zone. However, Quigley couldn’t convert a 4^th down try so the Gateshead offence took the ball back with the intention of marching down the field. Lancashire DL Christian Facchin had other ideas, however, as he forced and recovered a fumble on the Gateshead running-back, giving the Colts offence the ball at the Gateshead 5. When Quigley had appeared to score, a flag for holding on the Colts resulted in celebrations being ceased, at least momentarily, but on the next play, fullback James Littler showed remarkable feet for a full-back, side-stepping multiple tacklers en-route to a 15 yard touchdown. A kick missed by Alex Hodson left the score at 12-0 to Lancashire, with the half-time interval speedily approaching. Gateshead’s return of the kick was again stopped suddenly when the returner hit one of his own men and fumbled the ball, with LB/DL Bradley Callaghan falling on it. The ensuing Colts drive ended the first half with the score 12-0. After a call by head coach Geoff Leigh to keep applying pressure and not take their foot off the proverbial pedal, the Colts took the field for the second half, the words of Leigh echoing in their ears.

An unsuccessful opening drive by the Lancashire offence resulted in a punt by Astley. The Colts defence forced a 3 and out and a punt by Gateshead on the ensuing drive and this situation repeated itself almost identically, giving Lancashire the ball on their own 21. A long rush by Littler and key 3^rd down catches by Quigley and Bloomfield moved the ball to the Gateshead 3 when Bloomfield made a spectacular, 1 handed, bobbling catch in the end zone for the third Lancashire touchdown of the day. Another missed PAT resulted in an 18-0 scoreline and that would be how the game would finish up.

 The MVPs on the day were offensively the entire O-line, who created many holes for the running backs on the day, defensively the entire defence was considered to the be the MVP, with every member doing exactly what was asked of them in defensive coordinator Simon Purcell’s gameplan and the special teams MVP was every member of the opening kickoff, who started the game off with a huge play. The team MVP was team captain Sam Bloomfield, who laid his body on the line for the team, as he has done all season.

 The Colts now move onto the Britbowl being held in Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster where they will face the Farnham Fastlane Knights, who narrowly defeated the London Warriors in the southern final. The youth final promises to be a dramatic affair with the highest offensive scorers in the league colliding with the defence that has given up the least points this season. The Britbowl opens at 11 AM with the junior kitted finals; featuring another Lancashire academy team, the Chorley Buccaneers and the youth final is at 3pm. Admission is 10 pounds on the door.

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.