2007: The year in numbers

To finish off the year, I thought I’d take a look at how we did this year by looking at the stats we’ve been keeping. Obviously the biggest stat of all is the W next to our name in the championship game.

However, getting there meant some great individual and team performances along the way. You may not have noticed them when spread across many months but once you look at them collectively, you can what a good year we all had as a team.

We’ll start with some individual performances.

Individual stats

Games Played

Its not always easy getting a team together for each tournament so well done to the following players who took part in every game their teams played:

Sharks (max. 17 games):

17 Neil
17 Gary
17 Dayle
17 Lambo

Makos (max. 13 games)

13 Thierry
13 Luke
13 Sean
13 Rob
13 Billy
13 Ewan

QB

Where would we be without the arms…

• Neil scored 39 TDs in 17 games (2.3 per game) and only 7 Ints (0.4 per game) – that’s a 6:1 ratio. Neil also converted 49% of his PATs.

• Thierry scored 29 TDs in 13 games (2.2 per game) and only 5 Ints (0.4 per game) – and like Neil, that’s a 6:1 ratio. Thierry didn’t have so much luck with his PATs, converting 21%.

• Lambo had an inauspicious year throwing the ball – 1 attempt for 1 interception – and Neil still won’t let him forget it!

Top Receivers

And of course the hands…

1. Pete Steel (109 pts)
2. Ben Pulleyblank (97 pts)
3. James Lambert (91 pts)

The complete list:

Top Interceptors

And the momentum stealing ball hawks…

1. Dayle (8)
2. Thierry (3)
3. Lambo (3)
4. Sam Coakley (2)
5. Dave Lee (2)
6. Billy Bromley (1)
7. Sean Scutt (1)
8. Luke Ingham (1)
9. Andy Ifould (1)
10. Shaun Parker (1)
11. Ewan Sutherland (1)
12. Toby Chopra (1)

Defensive Scoring

We didn’t have a lot of defensive scoring this year, but the following made big impacts on their games:

1. Toby Chopra (1 TD)
2. Sam Coakley (1 TD)
3. Dayle Kirby (1 XP return)
4. Neil Henderson (1 XP return)
5. Ashley Grant (1 Safety)

Toby’s return even prompted a mythical endzone celebration 🙂

Top Sackers

Nothing frustrates an Offense more than going backwards on a drive…

1. Ashley Grant (5)
2. Billy Bromley (3)
3. Pete Steel (3)
4. Gary Robinson (1)
5. Steve Robinson (1)
6. Sean Scutt (1)

I’m particularly chuffed with my lone contribution for the year as it resulted in 4th and long on the last play of the Final. The fact that it was against Watson made it even sweeter!

Team Stats

Now most importantly, the team stats – what we achieved by playing as one.

Defensive

• The Sharks averaged 1 interception and half a sack per game

• The Makos averaged 0.5 interceptions and 0.3 sacks per game

Scoring

• The Sharks averaged 21 points scored and 19 conceded per game

• The Makos averaged 16 points scored and 24 conceded

Matchups

• The Sharks played the Leicester Eagles 3 times this year and won all three by a combined 74-32 score, an average of 25-11. This was the Sharks best match up, even more impressive considering the Eagles were a Final Four team.

• The Sharks met the Makos 3 times in competition, winning all 3 by an average of 20-11. Two of those contests were pretty close affairs though, one finishing 27-20 and the other 7-6.

• The Sharks hardest opponents were Mayhem and Voodoo, losing 2 out of 2 and 4 out of 5 respectively. The Voodoo were the Sharks’ most common opponent of 2007, accounting for 30% of our games. Ironically, we lost to them every time apart from when it really mattered in the final! I think that’s a good indication of being able to overcome superior talent if you have better teamwork, determination and a bigger heart.

• The Makos best matchup of the year was against the North Devon Dogs, finishing with 1 win and 1 tie from 2 games.

• Perhaps more impressive was the Makos performance against the Eagles this season. Winning 18-13 in one game and then narrowly losing 12-6.

All in all, not a bad year for the club. We had some difficult times on and off the pitch, but we fought on and secured a 2nd championship for the club.

Next year could be a big step forward for flag football in the UK, as we look to join the new BAFL league. Lets hope we can continue our success into 2008.