The Broncos travelled to Dunfermline on Sunday for this year’s Forth Bowl Flag Football Tournament. Along with 11 other teams from all over Scotland they arrived on a crisp autumn morning for a full day of flag games.
The twelve teams were split into two groups and would play a round robin of games in their group for a table placing. The final matches would be between the teams in the same position of each group for the final tournament positions.
While the Broncos had a reasonably large squad with them, the plan for the day had always been to reverse the depth chart, giving the back-up players the opportunity to get meaningful game time in competitive matches. This time the regular starters would be the supporting cast.
The Broncos had a fairly relaxed start playing against a Carnegie “Open” team.
With Andy Brown playing Quarterback it didn’t take him too long to find his range and scored with a TD pass to Steven Cliffe and
added the extra point passing to Jimmy Thomson. An interception by Scott McKenzie helped keep the Open team in check. The Broncos were ahead at the half 7 – 0.
After the break Broony helped press the advantage over the Carnegie team. Louise Donnelly scored her first Touchdown catch for the club. Mark Wallace, added another TD to give the Broncos a 19 – 0 win. Interceptions for Matty Ross and Steven Cliffe further helped limit the opposition.
Straight into their second game against the Carnegie Steelers, the Broncos got their noses in front with a TD pass to Kevin Woods who also grabbed the XP. The Broncos were in front 7 – 0. In the second half the Steelers got on the board through a Brandon Lamb TD but crucially they missed the XP.
The defences then took over (including an interception for Bronco Callum Woods) and the game ended with the Broncos sneaking a 7 – 6 win.
Into the next game against the Clyde Comets. This game had a strange start with three interceptions in the first three drives. Two of the interceptions went to Fraser Thomson. It was the Comets who scored first returning an interception for a TD, and it took the Broncos a while to respond. That response came from an option pass from Scott McKenzie to Jimmy Thomson. The game ended with a third interception by Fraser Thomson, but with a score of 6 – 6, a tie.
In game 4 the Broncos faced old foes, the Edinburgh Outlaws. After three low scoring games this one was a shoot-out. Edinburgh turned up with a new quarterback who impressed right fro
m the start. His long passes continually caught out the Broncos Defence. Each time the Outlaws scored though, the Broncos came back. The one hiccup for the Broncos was when they opted for a two point conversion on their third TD. That was missed, meaning that for their last drive, as the time was running out required them to score a TD and a 2 point conversion. The Outlaws tipped the pass into the end-zone but the ball fell to Fraser Thomson for the tie. Liam Fleming scored the first Bronco TD, and Callum Woods scored the other three, one of them a 45 yard run. Fraser Thomson scored the two completed XPS. 28 -28
In the final group game the Broncos faced the Dunbeth Dragons. The game started well for the Broncos with two sacks from Jimmy Thomson, but the Dragons scored first with a pass from Ally Aitken to Craig Murray.
An interception from Callum Woods set the Broncos up for a score for Matty Ross.
Aitken and Murray combined again to put the Dragons in front again, with French getting the extra point. This time the Broncos couldn’t manage a comeback, so the Dragons won 13 – 6.
That put the Broncos in fourth place in the group, so looked to play the Carnegie Chargers (A combined Carnegie Renegades and West Lothian Chargers team) in the final placing game.
When the Broncos got themselves into the lead with a Daniel McGill TD and Matty Ross XP, they seemed to be in control. A slip on defence just before the half let the Opposition back into the game.
Unfortunately, the coaches should have thought better than to put a rookie QB into a tied game with degree of pressure on the result. Three drives and three interceptions, the last of which was returned for a TD as time expired gave the Renegades/Chargers an unassailable lead, 13 – 7. At that point, with time expired, the game could have ended, QB John Guthrie decided to go for the extra point. He immediately regretted that decision as Fraser Thomson intercepted the attempt and, with a determined look on his face, returned it for 2 points. It didn’t affect the result, but was a positive point for the Broncos to finish their day on.
The day may felt a bit disappointing in that we only won two of the six games and came eighth. We have to remember that we came with a plan and we executed it. We didn’t bow to the pressure of winning for winning’s sake. Our players got the game time they deserved. We got to see players in competitive situations and how they coped. The coaches now have to look at the performance as we now build towards the new season and how we build two squads who will compete at their respective levels.
In that respect – Job Done
On an interesting note, if the Broncos had won their game against the Dragons they would have been top of their group and played for first place.
Designed By HowlThemes