UoM trounce MMU in American football varsity

Super Bowl Sunday saw the University of Manchester’s (UoM) own American Football team record a resounding victory in their BUCS match against Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). Going into the game, UoM were the firm favourites, having a perfect league championship so far with five wins from five. By contrast MMU were at the bottom of the league with only one win all season. UoM’s Tyrants dominated in defence, and made sure from the start that the MMU Eagles couldn’t get a foothold in the game.

The first quarter started poorly for MMU Eagles, with a botched kick-off giving Tyrants a good position from which to attack. Tyrants capitalised on this with a textbook touchdown, after a series of effectively played downs. This was shortly followed by Tyrants’ number 23 Lawrence Sarpong scoring an excellently executed 50 yard touchdown. Tyrants almost made it three from the quarter, but the direct pass to the end-zone was dropped by the attacking player.

The second quarter went much the same as the first, with the Tyrants scoring two more converted touchdowns. The dropped catch in the first quarter was expertly made up by a clean catch in the endzone by Manchester. This meant that Tyrants went into the dressing room with a 28-0 lead at half time.

The resumption of the match saw MMU’s Eagles have the lion’s share of possession but mostly within their own half, and failed to make any inroads into the strong UoM Tyrants defence. The quarter ended without either side scoring any points, but the retention of their 28-point lead. Tyrants went back on the offensive in the final quarter and were rewarded with another touchdown, taking the lead, and the final score, to 35-0.

Manchester Tyrants will be able to take in a lot of confidence from this game, especially from the perspective of the defence. MMU Eagles managed to have possession of the ball in Tyrants’ half for a grand total of one solitary down during the entire match, not even coming.

Close to getting a touchdown. Luke Hart, one of Manchester’s four captains, said after the game that the quality has been evident this year, that: “we’re lucky to have rich experience at defensive line and in the defensive backs.”

Hart was also keen to stress how well the squad are working together and that the offence and defence are part of a wider-planned programme. “The patience of the coaches teamed with some intense hard work from the committee has ensured that the Tyrants is about a franchise rather than individuals.” Adding that: “It’s a fantastic team feeling and that stems from an ethos that the coaches have created”.

The Tyrants will be looking towards a promotion now, with a healthy four-point buffer over nearest placed team, York; with two matches left in the regular season. Their remaining fixtures are away to Leeds and York and they are hoping to go into the promotion playoffs as their league’s invincibles.

BUCS Northern 2A (as of 12/02/2016)

Manchester      12pts

York                    8pts

Bradford            4pts

Leeds                  2pts

MMU                  2pts