Needing to win both games to stay in the playoff hunt, the Sharks answered the bell last Sunday with victories over the Hampshire Thrashers and Coventry Jets.

Due to the loss to the London Rebels the previous weekend, it was essential Chichester win out all their remaining games to have a chance to compete in Doncaster in early September.

Aware of the need to start fast, the Sharks came out blazing against the Thrashers on both sides of the ball. While QB Neil Henderson was busy throwing EIGHT TDs, the defense was relentless in their pursuit of the Thrashers’ QB, forcing 6 interceptions. The main recipient of an aggressive blitz was defensive back Mike Thompson, who snared 4 errant passes, running back 1 for a touchdown. Not content with scoring 6 points, the Defense racked up another two as seventh string linebacker, Gary Robinson, sacked the Thrashers QB in the endzone for a safety.

On Offense, receivers Scott Wilson and Gary Robinson grabbed 2 TDs apiece in their race for the top slot of the scoring table, but were out done on the day by Josh Amis, who racked up 4 TDs with a stunning display of receiving and running after the catch.

Notable in this game, was Bruno Bergamaschi achieving a stat in each of the three categories – passing, receiving and defending – with an extra point catch, an interception and a 1 pt conversion pass as a quarterback – a first for this season.

The second game was always going to be a tougher matchup. The Jets are a good team and were returning a number of players who were not available in the Sharks victory the previous weekend.

With both teams playing good defense, the scoring was destined to be low. True to form, both offences struggled in the first half, until a gimpy Simon Merton was able to break the deadlock with a long TD from Henderson. There was to be no blow out with this one though as the Sharks were unable to stretch out any comfortable lead. A nice TD grab in the back of the endzone by Dayle Kirby took the score to 12-6 to Chichester, followed shortly after by a score from Gary Robinson to give the Sharks a precious advantage late in the 2nd half. Despite a consolation score by the Jets, the Sharks were able to run out the clock, 18-12 winners.

Next up, on Sunday 23rd August we have our final home games of the season against the St. Alban Kings and (hopefully) the Kent Exiles. The games are due to start at 11 a.m. and will be played at Oaklands Park in Chichester.

The Sharks need to win these remaining games and hope that the London Rebels slip up in one of their remaining games, including one against the unbeaten Leicester Eagles. If that were to happen the Sharks would make the playoffs.

BAFL Flag '09 - English Conference

Just 7 days after a very wet encounter with the Warriors on their home field, the Sharks swept the series against the Welsh with an emphatic 46-13 victory in Winchester this past Sunday.

Having quickly fallen behind by 2 scores last week, we were again on our heels early on as the Warriors used their speed and elusiveness to break tackles and score on a quick slant that went the distance. Confidence in our ability to come back – as proven last week – meant a calm Sharks O went to work, and quickly started racking up the scores.

With a few Offense regulars unavailable for the fixture, new faces stepped up and made their mark. Most notable was James Taylor, who used his his most extensive time on O this season to haul in 3 TDs and 1 XP. In his 3rd match of the season, Pete Steel jumped up the scoring leader board, with 2 TDs (1 XP), to make it 3 on the season. QB Neil Henderson had a good day directing the Offense, throwing 6 TDs and 0 picks.

With Chichester’s lead stretching as the game wore on the Warriors began taking more risks to close the gap. The Sharks D took full advantage, picking off two errant passes (Mike Thompson, Neil Henderson) and sacking the QB twice (Taylor, Steel).

To cap off the game, C/WR Gary Robinson ran in his 2nd rushing TD in the space of  a week, to end the game 46-13. As uncommon as rushing scores are in Flag that may well just be a Sharks record!

That was the only Sharks game that counted towards the league standings on Sunday, as the Kent Exiles had pulled out earlier in the week due to lack of players (which is a bit lame when your kitted team has the week off).

Instead the Sharks played a friendly against the Hampshire Thrashers. Martyn Emmens took the QB slot and directed the Sharks to an enjoyable (32-13 Neil?) win. All 3 QBs (inc. Bruno Bergamaschi who led a scoring drive in the Thrashers game) played very well on the day, which bodes well with the imminent arrival of Henderson Jnr.!

The Sharks victory over the Warriors jumps them up to 2nd in the English Conference.

Please add your comments about Sunday below.

Next up London Rebels and Coventry Jets this weekend – 01/08/09 (NOTE: this is a SATURDAY game)

(First off, apologies for lack of updating on the website recently: moving house and work have kept me very busy)

Last Sunday saw the Chichester Sharks travel to St. Albans to face the home town Kings and league new boys Hampshire Thrashers.

The Sharks, coming off a disappointing loss to the Eagles the previous fortnight, were eager to get back on track for their run at the playoffs. Reassuringly, the team were back on form as they notched up two very encouraging victories.

On a very warm, sunny day, the Sharks played their two matches back to back having refereed the Thrashers victory over the Kings in the first game.

In what became a pattern on the day, the Sharks and Thrashers were pretty even for the first half of the game. The turning point came when the Sharks showed their experience with a quick snap that caught the unsuspecting Thrashers off guard. With the Hampshire players discussing the next play in the middle of the field,  Sharks QB took the snap and fired the ball to an uncovered Scott Wilson, who took the ball the length of the pitch for the game breaking score.

From that point, Chichester were in control and the game ended 27-12 to the Sharks.

Chichester are unbeaten against the Kings, but a strong showing from a larger St. Albans squad in a pre-season friendly earlier this year gave the team good reason to be cautious going into the game.  That wariness was well founded as the Kings came out confident and aggressive, resulting in a 2 scores apiece tied ballgame at the half.

The Sharks looked the stronger team in that half however, as the Kings scores came from a short field and a couple of missed tackles. Those mistakes weren’t repeated in the 2nd half as Chichester dominated the rest of the game. The final score was 41-13.

Well done to all the Sharks players who traveled to St. Albans – it was a very impressive team effort, with everyone contributing. All three matches were played in good spirits, with our opponents making it an enjoyable and friendly day.

The results of those two matches take the Sharks to 3-1 and 2nd in the league table behind the 3-0 Leicester Eagles.

Season results so far:

Chichester Sharks 31 – 14 London Rebels

Chichester Sharks 13 – 42 Leicester Eagles

Chichester Sharks 27 – 12 Hampshire Thrashers

Chichester Sharks 41 – 13 Kings

Hopefully I’ll be able to update the player stats from these four games shortly.

Well done again everyone – please feel free to add comments about the matches.

With the 2009 BAFL Flag season running from April to September the football is about to get serious again!

It seems like an age since we last played a competitive game that meant something (7 months if you’re counting at home) and I know many of you are eager to get going again.

There are several new faces on the Sharks this year – Rob, Mike, Alex, Ben and Bob to name just a handful – the result of a good off season of recruitment. We have a good squad size now, hopefully we can start getting everyone to turn up on the same day now!

There are also some new teams in our conference this year, with the London Rebels, Hampshire Thrashers and South Wales Warriors joining the fight. The trip to the Warriors might be a bit of a long one, but we got lucky with two new ‘local’ teams.

As we head into the final few weeks before the season kicks off, lets try to make every effort to make it to training, so we have a full squad to practice with. If you can’t make a session, please let us know, otherwise we’ll see you all on Sunday.