It looks like this season is going to shape up to be very competitive and wide open. That’s the verdict, after the Sharks suffered a disappointing double loss of the opening weekend of our season.

On a weekend that saw new team Basingstoke Zombie Horde beat recent title contenders, London Rebels and Coventry Jets, the Sharks fell to another new team Woodham Warriors (White), plus to longstanding rivals the Leicester Eagles.

Both games were extremely close and the result could have gone either way, which is encouraging in regards to our prospects this season. One or two plays in each game could have made a difference. Hopefully, as we get a few more players back (travelled with only 7) and get back into game-shape, we can turn this around quickly.

In the first game, the Sharks got behind early and found themselves in a hole, down 3 scores to 1. The speed and conditioning of the young Warriors team was proving the difference maker, as the Sharks repeatedly had to resort to multiple tacklers to corral the opposition.

However, the experience and resolution of the Sharks players shone through as we managed to claw our way back to tie it up right before time expired.

A new one for this season, we then had to play overtime. Which for flag means two drives each from halfway, followed by a further drive if the scores are still tied.

Whilst we matched them drive for drive for the first two, they managed to score on the third. Then our third drive led us to a 4th down on the half yard line but we were unable to complete the final pass, sealing the win for Woodham.

Unfortunately, we were up immediately again to play Leicester. The small squad was suffering, due to the long overtime game and the injuries began to mount up. Neil was playing with a popped thumb, I had cramps and Scott was struggling having been ill all week.

Despite that we managed to hold a 7-6 lead for much of the game. We had a couple of chances to put the game away but the drives stalled in the redzone. It looked like we were going to have to win this one with defense, but it was the Eagles defense that made the play of the game. Leicester’s Charlie made an outstanding interception, scooping the ball up off the tips of the grass before sprinting into the endzone.

With the two teams so evenly matched, we were unable to mount a final winning drive and the Eagles secured the 12-7 victory.

Whilst everyone was disappointed with the results, we should be encouraged by our play. Yes, we made some mistakes, and yes, some of us need a little more conditioning, but we made a lot of good plays and we will be competitive this year.

This coming Sunday, we have games against the Zombie Horde and the London Rebels in Basingstoke. We’re anticipating having more players available this time, so there won’t be such a need to play both ways, which should help.

Please make every effort to be available; we’ll be in touch with details during the week.

Please feel to add any comments about this weekend’s games below. Thanks

The Sharks travelled north on Saturday to take on the cream of British flag football in their first appearance at the BAFL Flag Finals Day.

Having finished second in the English conference during the regular season, the Sharks were drawn to meet defending British champions and Scottish conference winners Kirkcaldy Bulls in the semi finals, held at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium.

The Bulls proved formidable opponents, with a well-executed run option scheme and pin-point passing keeping the Sharks defence at bay, and the Scots notched up 3 TDs in the first half.

The Sharks were a fingertip away from a score themselves, when QB Martyn Emmens spotted Simon Merton wide open in the end zone, only for a Bulls defender to scramble back and tip his pass away with the faintest of touches.

Emmens and his receivers took the game to the Bulls in the second half, marching the ball down to the goal line on several occasions, but the stifling Bulls defence kept them out on each occasion.

The Sharks defence was tighter in the second period, but the Bulls converted several 4th downs with perfectly executed plays, and crossed into the end zone twice more. Final score: Sharks 0 - 32 Bulls.

In the second semi-final English conference winners Leicester Eagles defeated Scotland’s second team, the Carluke Cobras, to clinch a place in the grand final — and avenge their defeat by the Cobras at this stage last year.

With a shot at the title gone, the Sharks had to pick themselves up to contest the Third Place Playoff against the Cobras, and when the Scots scored twice early on, things didn’t look good.

But the Chichester squad showed the mental strength to put their earlier defeat behind them, and came out firing. The star of the show was Sharks safety Mike Thomson, who moved on to the other side of the ball, scoring three long-distance touchdowns on offence, shredding the Cobras defence. He also ran back an interception for six points to compound the damage.

The Sharks defence eventually got the measure of the Cobras, pressuring their quarterback and restricting them short yardage plays, and when Sharks receiver Scott Wilson capped a great rookie year with another touchdown catch, the Sharks led 31 – 26 with less than 2 minutes on the clock.

But with the game there for the taking, the Sharks faltered at the last. A vital missed tackle, followed by a penalty for roughing the quarterback gave the Cobras a first down in Sharks territory, and with time ticking away, the Scots’ QB picked out a receiver in the corner of the end zone with a great pass, clinching a 32-31 victory.

In the final, the Kirkcaldy Bulls defeated the Leicester Eagles by 32-14 to clinch their second successive British title, going undefeated all year once again.

For the Sharks, it was case of what might have been, but having tasted the Finals Day once, they will be determined to be back next year.

Match report written by Toby Chopra

A great season by the Sharks was rewarded with a place in the Semi-Finals yesterday, as the Rebels lost their final game against the Eagles and fell out of contention.

London’s lost meant that both they and the Sharks finished with 11-3 records on the season. However, with the head-to-head tiebreaker even at 1-1, the Sharks took the final place by merit of a 44-40 aggregate scoreline over the two fixtures this year.

Chichester now join the first place Leicester Eagles as the English representatives at the BAFL Flag Finals Day in Doncaster next Saturday (5th Sept.). The two Scottish representatives are Kirkcaldy Bulls and the Carluke Cobras. Sharks will play the Bulls in the semi-final.

We need the best squad available for the trip so please do everything you can to be there this weekend. Travel plans will be confirmed shortly.

It was unorthodox but the conditions meant the 'carrier bag catch' technique was a necessity

Well done to everyone that played in our two league matches this weekend in Wales.

To say that the conditions were not ideal would be an understatement. Despite frequent heavy rain throughout both matches, everyone played hard and focused. I think I speak for everyone when I say we were disappointed with the result against Leicester, but we should all be proud of how we played.

For anyone reading this who was not there, we narrowly lost 31-25 to the Eagles, with their final score coming right near the end of the game. We had taken the lead part way through the 2nd half but were unable to stop the methodical but impressive Eagles Offense. Leicester are looking on top form this season and we pushed them all the way and we should be pleased with how we played.

It probably had something to do with the disappointment we felt at losing the first game but we came out flat against the young Warriors team in our next game. Before we knew it we were 13-0 down part way through the 1st half. Crucially we continued to play our game and not panic in the face of the deficit. Both the D and O started to click and first we drew even, before dominating the second half of the game, finishing the game 32-13 victors.  Full credit to the Defense, the Warriors did not score another point after their 13 point lead.

I’m sure there will be some other recollections from those that played, but the over riding impression I took from the day was the total team effort that went into both games. Every single person made plays.

One of the most spectacular plays, has to be said, came from Pete Steel who made a stunning TD catch that was a perfect display of how to drag your toes to stay in bounds.

On defense, Dayle was a bit of a demon, flying all over the field, batting passes down left, right and centre. There was some speculation that he just wanted to get muddy, a feat he achieved in warm ups alone.

Oddest play was probably Martyn’s pin point catch-and-sit-down right on the half way line to pick up an important first down!

Anyone else have any highlights to share? From a personal perspective, I really enjoyed the two games and was pleased I was able to make some plays – I’m still smiling about that last score – our first rushing TD in over a year!

Stats from the day:

Eagles 31 vs Sharks 25

Offense:

Neil 4 x TD pass, 1 x 1pt XP thrown, 2 x INT thrown
Pete 2 x TD rec
Gary 2 x TD rec
Scott 1 x 1pt XP catch

Sharks 32 vs Warriors 13

Offense:

Neil 4 x TD pass, 2 x 1 pt XP
Scott 2 x TD rec
Pete 1 x TD rec
Gary 1 x TD run, 1 x TD rec, 1 x 1pt XP catch
Bruno 1 x 1pt XP catch

Defense:

Dayle 1 x INT

Complete individual statistics can be found on the Player Stats

photo credit: Tony the Misfit

(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.

The much awaited and much delayed 2009 season finally kicks off this weekend as the Chichester Sharks host the Leicester Eagles and London Rebels in a 3 way fixture.

The 3 matches will be played at a new venue this weekend – Bourne Community Leisure Centre in Southbourne (map)- with kickoff scheduled for 12 noon.

This will be the first competitive league match the Sharks have played since the heartbreaking lost to the Eagles last August, which eliminated them from the BAFL Flag Championship playoffs. The Eagles are expected to again play to their usual high standard, whilst new boys the Rebels bring their high scoring attack to the league.

Sharks players are to arrive for warm ups and a light scrimmage at 11 a.m. All players must wear gum shields for the games and wear shorts with no pockets. Sharks players not in possession of a team shirt as yet should wear a white tshirt or football jersey.

I’d also suggest plenty of water and sun screen as it’s going to be a hot one!

News just in….

The Kirkcaldy Bulls have won the inaugural BAFL Flag championship title,  beating the Carluke Cobras 48-13 in the finals. This is also the 6th year in a row they have won their Scottish league/Conference. Quite a remarkable feat.

Carluke and Kirkcaldy made the final by merit of beating the English teams, Coventry and Leicester in the semi-finals. The final results are:

Semi-Finals

Coventry Jets 30-38 Kirkcaldy Bulls

Carluke Cobras 19-13 Leicester Eagles

3rd/4th Place Playoff
Leicester Eagles v Coventry Jets

National Championship Game

Kirkcaldy Bulls 48 v 13 Carluke Cobras

It’s a shame we didn’t make it to the finals this year, as I would have loved to see how we would match up with the top Scottish teams, but alas, it was not to be.

There is always next year…

Yesterday the Leicester Eagles defeated the North Devon Dogs in a close fought game in Devon. The final score was 32-29 to the Eagles.

It’s an interesting result, as Leicester have historically been one of our more challenging opponents. Judging by yesterday’s performance, they’re going to be in the thick of it again this year.

The biggest loss for the Dogs yesterday, might not have been the game, but the loss of Johnny Stevenson to injury. Apparently Johnny was involved in an accidental collision that left him with a double nose bleed, a perforated ear drum and a dislocated shoulder. There is no word on how long he will be out, but there is a chance his season – and potentially his playing career – is over.

We wish Johnny all the best and hope he heals quickly. He has been the centre piece of the Dogs game for years now and it would be great to see him back on the field soon.