Okay, first up, yes this is a really late post – about 4 months late to be more precise. Let’s just say, it’s been busy, things got in the way.

Anyway, as we’re now getting into the preseason, we best wrap up last year.

Qualifying for the playoffs

It was a storyline for the ages.

Sat at a disappointing 2-4-1, following 3 straight losses whilst conceding 40+ points a game, the Sharks needed to pretty much win out the rest of the way to qualify for the playoffs.

5 straight wins? With 4 of the opponents also in playoff contention? Hmmm

The first step was taken with victories over Coventry Jets and Woodham Warriors in Coventry, in late July. Having been trounced by the Jets the month before, it was satisfying to see the intensity of the team in a reverse of the thumping, winning 46-12.

Buoyed by their success, the Sharks faced off against the Woodham Warriors in their 2nd game and finally pulled off a victory. After being on the wrong side of several close scorelines over the past few seasons, it was a jubilent Sharks team that finally got to celebrate a victory, following a 25-20 win.

So two down, three to go – and all at home as Chichester hosted Basingstoke, Leicester and South Wales.

The Sharks were clearly up for this one, despite facing a triple-header in the hot August sun. First up were the Basingstoke Zombie Horde, still in playoff contention. In the first encounter this season, the Horde put up 31 points on the Defense, but this time things were very different. With a full strength defense, with height in the secondary, the Sharks controlled the game from the get-go, allowing only 1 score to the potent Horde offense. Conversely, the Sharks O was clicking and the Sharks notched up their 3rd consecutive victory, comfortably winning 35-7. The loss knocked Basingstoke out of playoff contention.

The next game was always going to be difficult. The Sharks played one of their worse games of the season in Cardiff back in April, losing 48-25 to South Wales, and traditionally games against the Warriors have been close and exhilarating.

This game was just as intense, and got a little heated at times. It was the Sharks who gained an early momentum though, enabling them to build a strong lead, which the Warriors couldn’t match. The Sharks ran out comfortable winners, 33-7. The loss knocked the Warriors out of playoff contention.

Last up were the Leicester Eagles, who’d had a difficult season with a small and inexperienced squad, yet showed good spirit throughout. Still needing one last win to qualify, Chichester went for it. The pressure from the Sharks D was immense and the O sliced apart the Eagles D. The result was in no doubt by half time and the Sharks ran out 47-13 victors, booking a place in the playoffs.

They were joined their by the Woodham Warriors and London Rebels.

The Playoffs

This year’s playoff format was slightly different in that the Sharks got to play a Northern Conference qualifier in the first round. The Carluke Cobras have consistently been a strong team in Scotland over the past few seasons, so there was no chance of complacency.

It was a close 1st half as the two teams got the measure of each other. But it was the Sharks who managed to pull away in the 2nd half, running out 46-25 winners.

By way of ‘reward’, Chichester were matched up against the Kirkcaldy Bulls in the Semi-Final. The Bulls have not lost a game in about a squajillion years but our 6 straight wins and tight defense gave us optimism.

And we were in it for a while. We put up a good fight, but we weren’t quite on our A game that was need to go toe to toe with the Bulls. A few incomplete passes here, a few missed tackles there and we were soon in a hole we couldn’t escape from. The Bulls won the game 39-6 and booked their spot in the Final (which they won, beating Woodham Warriors).

In the 3rd/4th place playoff, we faced our old friends the London Rebels, last year’s Southern Finalist. In a lighthearted game, the Sharks seemed more up for finishing on a high note, as we cruised to a 33-14 victory.

3rd place in the UK is not a bad result, eh?

Stats, Records and Stuff

All in all, it was good season. Yet another top 3 finish in the Southern Conference, a good (but not quite good enough) showing in the Playoffs, and a lot of fun playing football along the way.

Flag football is clearly a team game, you win as a team and you lose as team. So this records stuff is just for fun, just pulling out some individual highlights. Every player knows that whatever their own personal stats, its all aided by the throws, routes, tackles, tips and pressures of his teammates around him.

Some of the following are records, some are just observations…

Luke Nash set a Sharks’ scoring record (Rushing/Receiving) with 119 points, just topping Simon Merton‘s previous record of 116 set in 2010. Luke scored 19 receving touchdowns and 5 extra points. The 19 TDs is also a record.

James Lambert‘s 88 points (13 TD, 8 1XP, 1 2XP) was the fourth highest scoring points total to date.

A new rushing TD record was set by Gary Robinson with 3 TDs.

Neil Henderson tied his previous record of 60 touchdown passes (set 2008), but fell short of his highest points total by just 4 points.

Justin Handley set a new interceptions record with 10 on the season, surpassing the 6 picks by Michael Thompson in 2009. 2 interceptions went back for scores, also a Sharks record.

Rob Love posted 11 sacks in just a three game span (the final 3 games in Chichester) this season, showing form that probably would’ve pushed the current record of 17. He also bagged 4 in the postseason.

The Sharks Defense‘s 24 interceptions in 2011 topped the previous best of 21 set in 2009.

The 64 passes TDs by Sharks QBs (Henderson, Handley) is a new team record, beating the 60 set in 2008).

Conversely the 16 interceptions thrown by Sharks QBs (Henderson, Handley) in 2011 is a new team record, beating 15 in 2010.

Justin Handley scored in all four categories – Passing, Rushing, Receiving and Defense – for a 2nd consecutive season.

Note: records are based on data collected since joining BAFL/BAFA. Sadly no information is available before then, though Pete Steel is acknowledged as the likely recipient of the all time TD scoring leader title, with Neil Henderson likely to have surpassed Nick Watson for passing scores.

Faced with a make or break scenario, the Chichester Sharks did not disappoint.

Needing two wins against two table-topping foes, the Sharks went toe-to-toe with one and romped over the other. With two wins under their belt, Chichester are now back in the playoff hunt.

Having collapsed in last month’s match-ups against Coventry Jets and London Rebels, it was imperative the Sharks rebounded to keep their hopes of a third successive playoff spot alive.

Chichester Sharks vs Woodham Warriors

With a full squad for the first time this season – bolstered by the return of former player/coach Dayle Kirby and receiver Simon Merton – the Sharks were finally able to break their duck against the Woodham Warriors.

Having been on the wrong end of 5 consecutive close losses against Woodham (including a 40-38 loss earlier this season), Chichester returned the favour with a 25-20 victory over the Warriors.

The win can be attributed in no small part to the stunning defensive performance of the Sharks. With great pressure upfront, and incredible play in the secondary, the D were able to halve the points total of Woodham from the first game. Crucially, they were able to force a 4 and out on the final drive to preserve the victory.

Chichester Sharks vs Coventry Jets

Having been uncharacteristically trounced by the resurgent Jets in June (behind the awesome play of Shad McCook), the Sharks were eager to make amends. It didn’t take long, as the Sharks O scored early and often, whilst the D picked off Jets passes to set up the short field. The game was effectively over by half time – the Sharks were on form, whilst the Jets sorely missed McCook. Chichester ran out 46-12 victors.

The two wins moves the Sharks (4-4-1) into 4th place ahead of the Jets (4-4). Chichester still trail London (6-2-1), Woodham (5-3) and Basingstoke (5-3).

The Sharks remaining fixtures are against Leicester (0-5), Basingstoke and South Wales Warriors (2-3) in Chichester on August 28th.

Notes:

Player stats are now available. Luke Nash (105) has passed the 100 points on the season mark. He needs just 12 points to break the Sharks BAFA/BAFL Receiving/Rushing record of 116 set by Simon Merton in 2010. Justin Handley has set a new Sharks Interception record with 10 on the season (including 2 for TDs), beating the previous best of 6 set by Mike Thompson in 2009.

For those interested in the numbers, the 2011 player statistics have been updated to reflect all four games of the season to date.

Neil has started strong with a 5/1 TD/INT ratio. Adding to the points, his extra point conversion precentage is at an all time high of 71% (previous best 61% in 2010).

Justin Handley is off to a great start in his quest to be the player with the greatest collection of stats, having joined Neil in the passing TD table, sitting at no.3 in receiving TDs, joint 1st in rushing TDs and leading the defense with 7 picks, including 1 for a score.

Top of the receiving table is Luke Nash with an impressive 9 TD catches, followed by Lambo with 5.

For the first time we have multiple players with rushing TDs – both Justin and Gary Robinson have two apiece.

Defensively, we have 14 interceptions already (7 from Justin), two of which have gone back for touchdowns (Justin and Neil). We’re a little slow off the mark on the sack front, recording only 1 to date (Gary).

Altogether a great start to the season, but ultimately its a team sports and happily, we’re off to a winning start with a 2-1-1 record.

The 350 mile round trip to Llanharan in Wales to play two top teams was never going to be easy. Nor was travelling with only 6 available players. Warming up in a gravel car park was a little unexpected too.

That said, the Sharks fought hard, beating the Basingstoke Zombie Horde 53 – 31 in the opening match, before succumbing to the South Wales Warriors 48 – 25. Given the calibre of teams, a 1-1 result on the day was a positive.

Interesting, the Horde also beat the Warriors by multiple scores to leave all three teams 1-1 on the day, which was fitting given the competitiveness but also odd as none of the score lines were close.

The results left the conference table as follows, with Chichester in a good position (pre-Easter weekend games):

Woodham 2-0
London 1-0-1
Chichester 2-1-1
Basingstoke 1-1
South Wales 1-1
Coventry 1-1
Leicester 0-2
Chiltern 0-2

It’s a brief report this week (hey, it’s the Easter weekend and its sunny outside!), but well done to all Sharks that competed this past weekend:

Neil Henderson

Gary Robinson

Justin Handley

James ‘Lambo’ Lambert

Toby Chopra

Luke Nash

Shortly I’ll be updating the league tables (to also reflect the Easter weekend upset of Coventry Jets beating Basingstoke 32-14), plus the player stats tables.

Enjoy the sunshine!

The 2011 BAFACL flag season started with a bang this weekend, with 4 of the 6 teams in action, racking up 45+ points in their opening matches.

Saturday saw the Chichester Sharks and London Rebels travel to new team, the Chiltern Fyrd. The rival Sharks and Rebels squared off first and set the tone for hopefully a competitive season.

The teams were even for most of the first half, before the Sharks were able to capitalise on late Rebel turnovers to forge a 13 point lead going into the break. Unfortunately, the Sharks intensity slipped after halftime and they allowed the Rebels to quickly claw back the two scores. Responding to the surge, the Sharks stepped up their game and exchanged TDs with the Rebels before a heartbreaking long touchdown throw put London ahead 40-33 with less than a minute to go.

Most teams consider the game over at this point, but the Sharks have a record of thriving in this scenario. Unfazed, Chichester nabbed a score in the dying seconds and converted the extra point to tie the game at 40-40.

An unusual occurrence, but the game and both teams were worthy of the tie.

The second game for the Sharks saw them up against the Chiltern Fyrd, a youthful, inexperienced, but well coached team. Unfortunately, opening weekend was a painful welcome for the squad, as they faced two of the most experienced and competitive teams in the league.

It was a points-fest for the Sharks, as the Offense and Defense racked up 10 touchdowns between them. The game was out of reach midway through the first half, but the Fyrd showed a great attitude and competitive spirit to the final whistle. The game ended 66 – 0. The Rebels also beat Fyrd 68 – 7.

With a couple of promising players on the team and a few more games under their belts, look for the Fyrd to make an impact as the season progresses.

Other results this weekend:

Coventry Jets 46 – 19 Leicester Eagles

Coventry Jets 27 – 46 Woodham Warriors

Woodham Warriors 81 – 6 Leicester Eagles

More details on individual player performances will be added later this week.

Please feel free to add your comments on the weekend’s football below…

BAFA has released the schedule for the 2011 Flag Football season and there are some tasty match ups for the Sharks.

Playing on 7 weekends between April and August, the schedule sees the Sharks making 3 trips to Coventry, once across the border into Cardiff, a day in London and a trip to new boys, Chiltern Fyrd in Luton.

As is becoming a tradition, the Sharks complete the season with the final fixture in Chichester (no doubt followed by a BBQ!).

For the full Sharks fixture list head over here

Justin attempting to claim the trophy

The 2011 season got off to a great start on Saturday, as the London Rebels hosted their 2nd annual March Madness preseason tournament.

As with last year, the event saw a mixture of BAFACL and non-league teams compete for the right to be crowned March Madness Champions.

The Chichester Sharks were the defending champions and we were keen to bring the trophy home for a 2nd time.

The format was 2 Groups, followed by semi-finals and Final. The Sharks were drawn against the Chelsea Battlin’ Bass, BCU Ligers and our BAFACL rivals, the South Wales Warriors.

The Warriors were up first, which meant we were assured a tough start to the event. We always have great games against South Wales, always full of drama. This game was no different as the lead kept changing hands, before Wales edged ahead as the clock ticked down.

Not for the first time with a Sharks/Warriors match up, there was just enough time for a quick drive for Chichester. And drive we did. On 4th and long, Neil Henderson heaved the ball deep to Luke Nash, who was surround by 3 defenders. Everyone went up for the ball but it was deflected down… straight into the welcoming arms of Sharks receiver Justin Handley for the go ahead, winning score!

The extra point closed out the game for a 21-19 victory.

The 2nd Sharks game came against Birmingham University’s Ligers, an inexperienced flag team, who struggled throughout the tournament. Whilst they played with enthusiam and good spirit, they provided little opposition to the Sharks, as we ran away with a 35-6 victory.

The Defense did a sterling job, dominating the Ligers, allowing only one significant drive which prevented the shutout.

On Offense, the ball was liberally spread around the receivers, but it was James ‘Lambo’ Lambert who led the scoring with 3 TDs, and 2 by Gary Robinson, the 2nd a rare rushing TD.

On a day of deflections, the strangest play of the game came on an extra point attempt. Henderson fired a bullet to Handley in the endzone, which ricocheted off the receiver’s shoulder, span wildly in the area before Robinson was able to run under it to convert the extra point.

The 3rd game of the Group saw the Sharks facing the Bass, with the victor taking the group and the no.1 seed. Unfortunately, we were a little outmatched and struggled to find a way to slow down the American QB, who had great accuracy and a lightning release.

Despite great effort all round, we couldn’t stop the Bass running away with a 32 – 19 victory. The Sharks still qualified for the semi-finals as the second seed and would face the London Warriors (Premier kitted team).

What became obvious during the group stages, was that the two best teams on the day were the Bass and the London Warriors. Unfortunately for us, we had both teams as our last two games.

Struggling with injuries and tired from four games, we were again outmatched in the semi-final. The Warriors were incredibly efficient and packed plenty of big play ability. They quickly racked up a lead that couldn’t be matched and ran out comfortable winners 32 – 6.

The Bass knocked off the Basingstoke Horde in the other semi-final, before finally succumbing to the London Warriors in the Final.

Well done to all Sharks who played on the day – Neil Henderson, Rob Love, Luke Nash, Ashley Grant, Dave Lee, James Lambert, Justin Handley, Toby Chopra and Gary Robinson. And thanks to Mike Thompson for his sideline support.

Next up – the 2011 season starts NEXT WEEKEND!!!

As is traditional this time of year, we have a chance to reflect on 2010. It was a challenging season for the Sharks, but a successful one.

Our player numbers were a little lower than in previous years and we had a tough playing schedule, but through it all we preserved and produced our eighth consecutive winning season.

Whilst there were many personal highlights for players – some mentioned below – 2010 was a season defined by teamwork. Some of our finest moments came in times of difficulty, whether it was winning with ironman football with 5 players against the Welsh or travelling away for 5 consecutive weekends for fixtures.

So without further waffle, let’s get to the numbers that made up the 2010 Flag Football season…

• The Chichester Sharks qualified for the 2010 BAFA Finals for the 2nd consecutive year, following a 2nd place finish in the BAFACL South Conference. In a 14 game season, we finished with a record of 9-5. Unfortunately, we lost in the first round in a close fought game with eventual finalists, the London Rebels. Despite the result, the day was a great experience.

• In the 3 year history of BAFA Flag, the Sharks overall record is now 31-11 (0.738%) – the most wins by any English flag football club during that period.

• In our 9 season history (BAFA, ESFL, BSFL), the Chichester Sharks have totalled 100 victories. With 161 regular season games played, that is an all-time winning percentage of 0.621%. A pretty impressive feat.

• The Sharks still have had only one losing season – the inaugural 2002 campaign, with a record of 2-5.

• 5 Sharks’ games were decided by a TD or less in 2010 (3 wins, 2 losses)

• The Sharks scored over 30 pts in 69% of games (and conceded over 30 pts in 31% of games)

• The Sharks won 0 games when scoring less than 27 points

• QB Neil Henderson’s 56 TDs in 2010 averaged out at 4.31 per game, his highest in 3 years of BAFA Flag (4.25 in 2009, 4.29 in 2008)

• Conversely, 2010 saw an increase in the number of interceptions per game by Neil – 1.15 in 2010, 1.00 in 2009 and 0.57 in 2008.

• In 2010, Simon Merton set 3 Sharks records – 1) most TDs scored in a season by a non-QB, 2) most receiving TDs in a season and 3) most total points scored in a season by a non-QB with 116 (92 Gary Robinson, 2009; 84 Tom Newberry, 2008; 80 Mike Thompson, 2010). His claim on a 4th record – ‘Highest number of seasons wearing the same pair of football cleats’ – unfortunately cannot be verified.

• Nine different receivers caught touchdowns in 2010 from 2 QBs. Okay, one QB and Justin Handley

• Gary Robinson set a new Sharks sack record with 17 on the season. He also set the single game record with 10 sacks against Woodham Warriors (White) in May. (5 Josh Amis, 2009; 3 Tom Newberry, 2008; 3 Pete Steel, 2008)

• 3 players scored defensive touchdowns in 2010 – Dave Lee, Mike Thompson and Justin Handley

• Mike Thompson led the team with interceptions for the 2nd consecutive year (4 in 2010, 6 in 2009)

• Interceptions by the team dropped from 21 in 2009 (12 games) to 14 in 2010 (13 games)

• The Sharks were kept out of the endzone for Safeties in 2010, following 4 in 2009 and 5 in 2008 (we were pretty damn close on a few occasions though!)

• In the regular season finale, needing a win, the Sharks had a recording setting day from Justin Handley. Scoring 4 TDs on the day, Justin did it in the hardest way possible – 1 TD passing, 1 TD receiving, 1 TD rushing and 1 TD on an interception return. The four scores contributed to a convincing 50-7 victory over the Coventry Jets and a place in the Finals.

So plenty of records, plenty of wins and plenty of fun. Hopefully, all three with be plentiful in 2011.

If you have any other good stats or stories from 2010, please feel free to share in the Comments below.

See you all on the playing field in 2011

Needing a win to qualify for the playoffs, the Chichester Sharks did it in emphatic style beating the Coventry Jets 50-7 in their final regular season game.

With Woodham Warriors (White) already qualified, four teams – Basingstoke, South Wales, London and Chichester – were fighting for the final two playoff places. After the Sharks’ last two shockingly poor home games, it was essential that they came out and made a statement. And that they did.

From the outset the Sharks controlled the game, playing aggressively on both sides of the ball. From the first through to the last score (8 TDs), the Sharks were dominant.

If we had such an award, the player of the game would have to go to Justin Handley, who managed to score 4 TDs in 4 different ways – 1 catch, 1 pass, 1 run and 1 interception return. The pick and run were both length of the field plays too (not bad for an old fella).

Justin didn’t have all the fun to himself as Simon Merton (3 TDs) and Mike Thompson (2 TDs) also joined the scoring party.

The Sharks defense played outstanding; snuffing out drive after drive and collecting 3 picks in the process. It could have been a shutout, but a miscommunication on the Sharks Offense led to a turnover and a 7 yard field for the Jets to drive for their only score.

The result put the Sharks into the playoffs and eliminated the Basingstoke Zombie Horde. The final spot is now between South Wales Warriors and the London Rebels. The Warriors currently occupy the final spot, but it will go to the London Rebels if they win 1 of their final 2 games (vs Leicester Eagles, Coventry Jets).

The finals are next Sunday in Worcester.

Sorry for the lateness of this post, it’s been a busy few weeks recently.

Which is a shame because I missed a write-up of one hell of a match. A game for the ages. More of which later.

So, as we near the end of July, how are the Sharks doing in the race for the 3 BAFA Flag South playoff spots? Pretty damn good actually.

As of today, we’re sitting in 2nd place, behind Woodham Warriors (White), who have secured the conference title and qualified for Finals Weekend. We have four games left to play and if we can continue with our form, have a good opportunity to join Woodham in the post-season.

Our four remaining games are against London Rebels, Basingstoke Zombie Horde, Leicester Eagles and Coventry Jets, all of which – bar the Jets – are contending for the two remaining playoff spots (along with South Wales Warriors). So this weekend’s games against the Eagles and Horde are of utmost importance.

Here is the conference table:

BAFA Flag South Conference 2010

In the BAFA Flag North conference, the Kirkcaldy Bulls have won the division for the third straight year with an unbeaten 10-0 record. This takes their current winning streak to 69 games (BAFA & SFFA). The Carluke Cobras – who knocked out the Sharks in the semi-finals last season – are sitting in 2nd place with a 5-1 record. The 3rd spot is up for grabs whilst no contender has emerged from the pack.

So, the Sharks are in a good position – what happened in the last two games you ask…

Well, to start with Chichester came out rather flat against Coventry. The bottom placed Jets put up a good fight in the first half, keeping the scoreline even. Despite several long ball opportunities, the Sharks didn’t seem to have their hands with them for the first 20 minutes.

All changed after the break as Chichester found their groove, pulling away from a Jets team who could muster no response. Simon Merton showed great soft hands with 2 TDs, but it was Mike Thompson who led the way with the scoring with 2 TD catches and an interception returned for a score. Final score Sharks 32, Jets 13.

So with the rust shaken off, the Sharks moved on to face South Wales – which is just as well, as the Warriors were yet again on fine form. Games against South Wales are always highly competitive and a lot of fun and this was no exception. The teams were evenly matched, both with efficient offenses and challenging defenses. The scores went back and forth until the Warriors started to pull ahead in the 2nd half.

Not ones to drop their heads in the face of defeat, the veteran Sharks  team dug deep and tied the game with 90 seconds to go. The jubilation was short lived however, as the Sharks D could not stop the Warriors from methodically marching down the field for a crushing score.

Faced with 17 seconds left in the game, QB Neil Henderson played the sidelines, hitting two quick passes to stop the clock at 10 seconds. On the next play a long pass downfield was pulled in for a score, but was called back for an ‘interesting’ Offensive Pass Interference penalty. With the penalty knocking us back into our own half and only 4 seconds left to play, Henderson had no choice but to heave a Hail Mary pass down into the endzone. After the game, Henderson commented that he had no idea who caught the ball as he had a Blitzer in his face. Thankfully, the trusty hands and leaping ability of Mike Thompson secured the ball amongst the throng of scrambling players, tying the game for the Sharks.

The extra point was converted and as the Welsh sunk dejected to the floor, the Sharks celebrated the unlikeliest of victories. Final score Sharks 33, Warriors 32.

And did I mention we only played with 5 men?