On Sunday 23rd August, the Bucs Junior Kitted Team travelled down to the Coventry Jets for two games against them and a chance to secure a spot in the National Finals for the second year running.

In the first game the Bucs started on Defence and with some great coverage and tackling from Cornerbacks Jonny Frayne and James McGovern along with the constant pressure that Jake Hodgkinson put the Jets QB under, soon had the Jets go 4 and out and have to turn the ball the over on downs. Strong running from Backs Joe Bentley and Jake Hodgkinson soon found the Bucs Offence in the no run zone and a 2 yards pass from Rach Hull to Center Ryan Morton saw the Bucs go 6 - 0 as the PAT was no good. On the Jets second Offensive drive more pressure from Hodgkinson saw J. Frayne make an Interception but get tackled straight away by Jets receiver A. Cohen.

The Bucs Offence could not take advantage of this though and soon turned the ball over on downs, this appeared to be the case for both Offenses for the next couple of drives. It was the Jets that drew blood next though with LB #20 Intercepting the ball and returning it back 5 yards for a touchdown, the PAT was no good taking the score to 6 - 6.As the first Half was closing in, a 10 yard carry from Bentley followed by a 6 yard carry from Hodgkinson saw the clock wind down but just before the half Bentley then ran for 30 yards and break several tackles for a score, once again the PAT was no good and the score was 12 -6.

At the start of the second half, Hull passed to Morton for 4 Yards and then running back Michael Frayne run the ball for 18 yards saw the Bucs Offence inside the Jets half, a couple more carries advanced them closer to the end zone before Hodgkinson ran over Jets defenders for 6 yards and a touchdown. Hull then passed to Morton for the 1 point to take the score to 19 - 6. The Bucs defence relentless as ever shut down the Jets offence once again to turn the ball over on downs, however this helped the Jets as an errant pass from Hull to running back M. Frayne was deemed to go backwards and a Jets defender picked the ball up at the 1 to walk over the goal-line for the score, the PAT was no good taking the score to 19 - 12.

As the Bucs went four and out again the Defence retook the field and soon forced the Jets to 4th down, pressure from Hodgkinson saw the Jets QB panic and toss it quickly to his Center, as the Center turned up field he was quickly met by J. Frayne who put in a tackle that some players will only ever dream of, however Frayne had tackled the Jets Center so hard that he gave himself a concussion and was done for the day. The drive was stopped and the Bucs Offense took the field, fired up from Frayne’s hit, and with some strong running from all three backs, Bentley ran into the end zone for a second time on the day to make it 25 - 12, Hull then passed to Bentley for the extra point taking it to 26 - 12. Again the Jets offence struggled to move the ball and on the final drive of the game the Bucs moved downfield quickly with Hull connecting with Morton 3 more times the third one being for a 4 yard touchdown, the PAT was no good leaving the score at 32 - 12 to the Bucs and the Defence getting a shutout.

Bentley ran for 110 yards, Hodgkinson run for 57 yards, and M. Frayne run for 37 yards. A special mention has to go out to receivers Mark Balcombe, Lee Blundell, Jack Ginger, and Jonny Gordon who although did not get any passes thrown their way, did outstanding blocking all day to enable the backs to get some many yards. The MVPs were J. Bentley for Offence and J. Frayne for Defence.

The second game was a lot shorter a game and seemed to fly by. Rookie running back Alex Williams showed some great potential and had 3 carries for 18 yards, Hull then passed to her favourite receiver on the day Morton for a 10 yard gain and then finished off the drive when she passed to Receiver James McGovern for a 3 yard touchdown. The PAT was no good and the score was 6 - 0.

The Jets Offence again couldn't move the ball much and followed by the constant pressure from Mark Balcombe the Jets turned the ball over on downs but the Bucs could make anything of this chance and gave the ball back to the Jets. Great blitzing from Bentley saw Hodgkinson Intercept a pass and run it back 8 yards for a touchdown, but again the PAT was no good so the score was 12 - 0 at the half.

The Second half saw the Jets score early on to make it 12 - 6 and that would be it for the scoring in that game but none the less great running from Williams and more connected passes from Hull to Morton so the Bucs stay in control.The MVPs were A. Williams for Offence and J. Bentley for Defence.

The Chorley Buccaneers American Football club have continued their excellent year, with the junior kitted team (age 14-16) qualifying for the National Finals with two wins against the Coventry Jets on Sunday. The finals will take place in Doncaster on the 26th of September, and the Buccaneers will face the London Warriors, Clyde Valley Falcons and the Glasgow Tigers.

Both games on the day were won by the Buccaneers, with the first game resulting in a 32-12 win, inspired by running back Joe Bentley. The second game was a closer affair, with the score ending 12-6 to the Chorley side, with rookie running back Alex Williams standing out for the Buccaneers.

After the game, Head Coach and Chorley Buccaneers Club Manager Ian Nicolson said:

“I’m very proud of the team today. Every single player has worked hard since January, and reaching the finals is certainly deserved. This is only the start of our journey though, and we’ll be working even harder over the next few weeks to make sure we are as prepared as possible for the tough challenge ahead.”

The Junior Kitted team are the second in the club to make the National Finals, with the Cadet Flag (age 7-11 non-contact) team already having qualified for the flag finals also held in Doncaster on the 5th September.

If you are interested in joining the Buccaneers, you can find more information at www.chorleybuccaneers.com or contact club manager at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

On Sunday 9th August the Buccaneers Junior Flag team travelled down to Coventry for the last league tournament before the National Finals. The Bucs were schedule to play London and Coventry but London unfortunately had to pull out last minute due to players falling ill, so it was just down to the two teams to battle it out. The conditions were extremely hot and the Bucs only had 5 players meaning that would be able to get any rest on the sideline and have to play on both Offence and Defence for both games.

This didn't deter the Bucs though and after the warm ups the team got ready for the first game against the Coventry Bears. The Bucs lost the coin toss and were on Defence first led by Captain Jonny Tickle, with some great coverage and tackling the Bears found themselves going 4 and out and Defence themselves whilst the Bucs Offence took the field. Led by captain Arron Taylor the Bucs took to the air on the first play and Taylor found Tickle on a short pass who then dodged several tackles to run it all the way for a Touchdown, Taylor then found Mattie Holt for the one point conversion to make the score the 7 - 0 to the Bucs.

The Bears took the field on Offence but once again the Bucs Defence shut out the Bears and got the ball back. Taylor once again tried to find Tickle but threw the pass short right to Bears Defender Millie Barrett who caught it and ran it back for the Touchdown. The Bears couldn't convert the one point conversion though making the score 7 - 6 to the Bucs. As the game went on the ball change possession a few times Until the Bucs found themselves on Offense driving the ball when Taylor passed to Will Powley who ran it in for the score but the Bucs could not get the PAT making the score 13 - 6 to the Bucs. The Bears were quick to react though and Quarterback Andy Mepstead found Tom Clancy who made a great one handed reception to get the first down. Mepstead then complete another pass to his Center who dodged a few tackles and found the endzone for the score making it 13 - 12 to the Bucs. As the end of the first half approached the Bucs Offence got the ball down to inside the no run zone and Taylor threw the ball to the corner which looked like it was going to be Intercepted by the Bears Tom Clancy, when the Bucs Derry Holt snatched the ball out of nowhere to make an outstanding catch for the score, the Conversion was no good leaving the score 19 - 12 to the Bucs at halftime.

The Second half saw some good football on display but no scoring until late into the half when the Bears found their way into the endzone to make the score 19 - 18 to the Bucs. This made the Bucs wake up and realise that the game was not theirs yet and Bucs QB Taylor found Mattie Holt deep over the middle who ran the rest of the way for the score, Taylor then found Holt again only this time younger brother Derry taking the score to 27 - 18 to the Bucs. Some great pressure and coverage by the Bucs defence ensured that the Bears didn't advance on their next drive and then just ran the clock out to seal the victory.

The Second Game proved to be a close encounter with the both the Bucs and the Bears stepping up their games and making the first half a real contest, the Bears were the first to put points on the board with a superbly executed fake double reverse by Hannah Russell-Yarde who turned up the pace an ran all the way for a score. The Bucs knew they were in for a tough rematch, but focus on the task ahead and Taylor started to rack up the passing yards with completions to all four of his team mates, and along the way finding Will Powley for a score to make it 6 - 6. The Bears found themselves struggling though until blown coverage found Millie Barrett wide open who caught the ball and ran it in for a score, the conversion was good to take it to 6 - 13 to the Bears, the Bucs knew halftime was closing in and managed to put together a quick drive into the endzone but could not convert taking the score to 12 - 13 to the Bears at halftime.

The an uplifting team talk from Head Coach Lawrence Quinn the Bucs came out a different team and on the first play QB Taylor passed it for 15 yards over the Safety to Mattie Holt who turned up field and sped off to the endzone, the conversion was good to Tickle to make it 19 - 13 to the Bucs and give them the lead for the first time in the game. It was then the turn for the Defence to show that they were more fired up as well, and they did just that putting the Bears QB under constant pressure and stopping anything that came at them, the Offence took advantage of this and racked up the points with Tickle racking up the yards with passes from Taylor including a superb one handed catch to make a first down. It was not only Tickle that was getting in on the action though as both Powley and D. Holt started getting more receptions, along with Mattie Holt fighting for every high ball that came his way, and the points seemed to be racing up for the Bucs. The Defence started to add the final blows to a now disheartened Bears Offence and D. Holt got the teams first interception of the day at the Bears own 7 yard line which the Bucs Offence took advantage of adding another score and conversion. The last drive of the game saw the Bears throw the ball deep but this time M. Holt picked the ball out of the air at his own 5 yard line to run it back all the way for a score in which Taylor threw once again to Tickle for the extra point ended the game at 45 - 13 to the Bucs and making them the tournament champions for the full 5 points.

This put the Bucs Junior Flag team in joint second place in the standings along with the Woodham Warriors but due to the head to head games between the two teams the Warriors will proceed through to the finals instead. This is still a great achievement for the Bucs though who is mainly made up of rookie players this year and also has the two young Rookie Junior Flag coaches in Lawrence Quinn and Steven Czarnecki and they should all be proud of themselves.

It leaves me which just a big thank you to Cadet Head Coach Lee Taylor and club supporter and parent Mark Holt for driving down to the tournament enabling the players to participate and put on such a great display of 'Buccaneers Football'.  

American Football has strong roots in Chorley, with the Buccaneers being established since 2000. The Buccaneers compete in national leagues at four levels, cadet flag (age 7-11), junior flag (11-14), youth flag (14-18) and junior kitted (14-16). In 2008 the junior kitted side reached the national final, narrowly missing out to Manchester for the title of best side in England.

The tournament on Saturday involved teams at the three levels of flag (non-contact football). With all sides playing each other throughout the day, the supporters down to watch were treated to a feast of football. Although the day was primarily intended to prepare the teams for the season ahead, competitive games were held with all teams demonstrating their potential. At the cadet flag level the Chorley side led by Lee Taylor emerged victorious. At the junior level, the Buccaneers narrowly missed out to the Burnley Crusaders. The junior side were coached by former stand-out Buccaneers player Lawrence Quinn, from Chorley, who captained the junior kitted side to the national finals last year.

At the youth flag level club manager and principal head coach Ian Nicolson led the team to victory, with an outstanding display from the team. Coach Nicolson also plays for the Academy at the senior level, and has been involved in the Buccaneers for many years.

After the tournament, Coach Nicolson said:

“Today was a fantastic day to be involved with American Football in Lancashire. As someone involved in the sport for a long time, I’ve never known a time where the structure has been so solid in the county. We have a clear progression path for players to follow from age 7 upwards, and we are competing at a high level in all disciplines. Seeing the fun had by all of our players today made me very proud to be involved in the Buccaneers.”

If you are interested in getting involved with the Buccaneers, please contact Ian Nicolson via the website at http://www.wolverineden.com/