Sunday the 24th August 2014 will go down as a memorable day in the history of the Ouse Valley Eagles. It was a day that seen a team reach its goals, and strive to go further, only to be quashed in literally, the last few minutes.

The Solent Thrashers were deserving victors in an exciting game, which was a credit to British American Football, and was played the way the game was meant to be played.

With both sides clearly nervous at the start of the game, it was the referees who set the tone for the afternoon, by throwing a flag on the very first play of game. It would not be their last.

After starting on their 20 yard line, the Thrashers were pushed back through various penalties and some stout defense from the Eagles, before they threw an errant pass straight into the arms of Eagles CB Paul Green, who managed to get the ball back to the Solent 5 yard line.

With an extremely short field, it took the Eagles just 3 plays to break through the Solent defense and secure the 1st points of the game, with #31 Yomi Okuboyejo scoring the Eagles first ever post-season points, running in for the touchdown, with Vasco Dias adding the PAT giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

The Thrashers returned the ensuing kickoff back to the Eagles 35 yard line, and scored a few plays later through a strong running game.

The first and second quarter generally flew past with neither offense really taking a hold, or getting much of a chance to due to the referees need to throw flags.

Finally the game kicked back into life with around 4 minutes left in the half, the Thrashers broke through again, after a long run from #18. That score was converted to give the Thrashers a 7 point lead.

The Eagles came out strong after that, with QB Stuart Franklin working well with Offensive Co-ordinator Neale McMaster to orchestrate the offense all the way down to the Thrashers 8 yard line. With the Eagles having no timeouts and needing the ball to be spotted to spike it and stop the clock, the half was blown dead with the official walking over to the spot with the ball in his hand. The Thrashers led 14-7 going into the half.

A stern half time team talk from the Eagles HC Will White seemed to work its magic, as the Eagles came out firing from the break, with the Eagles once again working their way all the way down to the Solent 1 yard line, before an errant pass from QB Franklin saw the ball picked off and downed in the End zone.

After several punts were exchanged, it was the Thrashers who were next to break through, with #4, playing offense, defense and special teams for the 60 strong Solent Roster, taking it 55 yards to the house, making the score 21-7.

The following kickoff was received by return specialist Chris Parr, who took the ball back to the Solent 37 yard line.

It took the Eagles only one play to get the score, with #48 Kalaba ‘Kase’ Chibwe speeding in on a draw play. The PAT attempt was good, and the score was 21-14 going into the fourth quarter.

The first quarter started brightly for the Eagles with Safety Danny Lipner intercepting a long pass, giving the Eagles the ball back on their own 15 yard line.

The old connection of Franklin o Dawes was once again in full swing, as they connected on a long fade pattern down the left sideline, taking the ball to the Thrashers 25 yard line.

A quick 7 yard gain from Chibwe set up the touchdown pass, with Franklin connecting with Dawes at the back of the endzone, again on the fade route. The PAT was blocked and the Eagles closed the gap to 21-20.

The ensuing drive saw Solent put together a strong drive, taking the ball down to the Eagles 5 yard line. The drive looked as if it was stalling when 3 downs went for little gain, before on 4th down, in came #4 for the Thrashers who duly walked the ball into the endzone, taking the score line to 28-20.

The Eagles was buoyed by their performance in the 2nd half so far, but an off-target throw was intercepted on the second play of the drive. This seemed to deflate the entire team, and was easily the turning point for the game.

Solent failed to capitalise on the mistake, but a punt from Solent, was matched by a quick 4 and out from the Eagles, before Solent put the dagger in the heart of the Eagles, running in a score after the two minute warning to kill any spirit the Eagles had left.

Knowing their fate, the Eagles battled through, but eventually turned over on downs, allowing Solent to kneel out the game.

Solent, who were 21 point favourites in this game, were well deserving of their victory, but were gracious enough to concede that was easily the hardest game they have played, and will feel relieved they came out of the game with a win.

An underrated Eagles side should feel proud of their accomplishments. There are no other first year teams in the league to have made the playoffs, and despite not being a rookie team, a great deal of hard work has went in to merging the two clubs, and getting the Eagles to compete as a team.

After the game, Head Coach Will White said “We knew it would be a challenge against a very tough team, and it proved to be just that. Myself and my OC Neale McMaster had good game plans, but it was a great chess game between great coaches on both teams.

“In the end, it boiled down to Solent being the better team by taking advantage of some key mistakes. Our hats off to them, they are a great team.”

The Eagles will now enjoy a few weeks break before announcing our rookie days tour locations and dates, and organising off-season events.

In a game that was largely downplayed by the media leading up to it, the Ouse Valley Eagles walked away from the biggest game of the season against Kent Exiles with a win, and have all but confirmed their spot in the playoffs, pushing Kent out of contention.

The Eagles arrived at a searing hot Beaverwood Club in Kent, knowing that only a victory would do. The team was relaxed, and enjoyed the youth game going on before it (where Kent were crowned as division winners, congratulations boys!), but when they came out for warm-ups, they were extremely focused.

The Eagles offense started with the ball and some strong running from Yomi Okuboyejo, behind Full-backs Rick Price and Michael Wilson Sr, set the tempo for the day, the Eagles were going to come out physical, and stick to their game plan.

After a couple of possessions each, it was the Eagles who made the breakthrough first, with QB Stuart Franklin hit WR Chris Cowley running free down the seam for the first touchdown of the day, taking the score to 6-0 after the missed PAT.

The Kent offense run game was keeping them in the game with some strong running from #12 Daniel Exell keeping the Eagles defense on their toes. Indeed it was Exell who got the next score, running to his left, and following some stellar blocking from his WR’s.

The Burden fell back onto the Eagles offense who went back to their game plan and came up with the score, #8 Franklin connecting with #12 Dale Hawes on the slant for the score. An excellent call on the PAT attempt led to #31 Okuboyejo running in the 2Pt conversation on the fake PAT, taking the score to 14-7.

With halftime approaching, the Eagles defense got a quick turnover on downs and set the offense up for a shot at the end zone with 4 seconds left on the clock. Franklin connected with #16 Jack Davis-Fletcher, however, “Sticks” was called down at just the 4 yard line. Instead of being disappointed with the failed attempt, the team went into the half upbeat, knowing a big second half performance would see them out.

At the start of the second half however, it was the Exiles special teams that came out firing, with a great kickoff return taking the ball all the way down the Eagles 9 yard line. The Eagles defense then came up huge, forcing a a 5-yard loss on a 1st down run, then an incomplete pass on 2nd down before Andy Larwill sacked the Exiles QB for a huge loss, leaving them with a 4th and goal on the Eagles 22.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Eagles defense managed to give the Offense the ball back on their own 39 yard line, pushing the Exiles offense back 30 yards in 4 plays. This defensive show buoyed the offense, who skilfully drove the ball down the field, including a 4th and short play to get the first down, before Franklin connected with a wide open Hawes in the endzone for his 2nd touchdown of the day. Hawes kicked the extra point, taking the score line to 21-7.

Later in the 3rd quarter, the Eagles got the ball back on their own 4 yard line, and a well timed blitz by the Exiles Defense forced QB Stuart Franklin to let the ball go earlier than he would have liked, and the Exiles duly walked it into the end zone for the touchdown, the converted PAT took the score line to 21-14.
The 3rd quarter provided the only sour point to an otherwise superb afternoon’s work for the Eagles with team captain Yomi Okuboyejo getting sent off for throwing a punch at an opponent after being choked on the ground after a run. The Eagles have not appealed this decision and Okuboyejo will miss the Eagles next game against the Bury Saints.

The Eagles defense rallied, giving the offense the ball back in the 4th quarter, with nearly 9 minutes left on the clock, and the offense duly delivered, with Franklin hitting #87 Chris Cowley (not Amanda Casey, as the Exiles commentator called, much to the delight of the rest of the Eagles) on a 40 yard pass to the back corner of the end zone. The PAT attempt failed, leaving the score at 27-14.

The Exiles strangely didn’t seem in a big rush to score and continued to huddle and wind seconds off the clock. The Eagles defense forced a 4th down situation with just over 2 minutes left on the clock, and the Exiles decided to punt the ball away, putting it out of bounds at the Eagles 5 yard line. This confusing decision, being 2 scores down, put the Eagles offense back on the field, and the strong running of the evergreen Michael Wilson Sr, interspersed with Exiles timeouts, got the first down, and allowed the Eagles to kneel out the game and take the important win.

Offensive Co-ordinator Neale McMaster said after the game “I’m absolutely delighted, this was a win for the whole organisation. We finessed a win on offense through our passing attack, and our running game set the tone for that, grinding out tough yards all day against a pretty tough defense. Our defense was outstanding once again, and is hands down the best in the league, having only conceded something like 29 points all season, the rest of our PA have came on Special Teams and Interceptions.

I’m really pleased with how our running game has come on over the course of the season, and I think that’s in large part to the progress of our 2 fullbacks. Both Mike and Rick have some fantastic physical skills, and we are utilising them more and more, as you seen today. Rick got an absolutely vital 4th down conversion that led to a score, and Mike finished the game off by running out the clock and getting that vital first down.

We have another game next weekend against a tough Bury Saints outfit, but if we can walk away with a win there, our place in the playoffs is guaranteed, so all our focus is now on getting prepared for Bury and securing our place in the playoffs.”

The next game against Bury will either secure the Eagles playoff chances or destroy them. At this point it’s ‘Win and get in’ for the Eagles, and they will be striving to do just that.