Photo: Mike Dean Shropshire Running Back Leigh French turned in what proved to be a matching winning second half performance with a pa...
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| Photo: Mike Dean |
Shropshire Running Back Leigh French turned in what proved to be a matching winning second half performance with a pair of long distance touchdown runs as the Revolution edged out a 21-14 victory away at title chasing Merseyside Nighthawks, the result hands Chester Romans a crucial advantage in the race for first place in the division whilst the Revolution keep their slim mathematical hopes of post season qualification alive.
Making the short trip north the visiting Revolution were eager to erase a one sided 7-39 score line inflicted upon them by their hosts earlier in the season. A similar result looked to be on the cards however when the explosive Nighthawks Offense sliced their way down the field for an opening drive score via Quarterback Chris Lingard’s keeper near the Goal line and a 7-0 lead. Neither side threatened the endzone for much of the remainder of the half until the Revolution offense became the beneficiary of a muffed Punt which allowed Quarterback Richard Mantle to take full advantage when he found Adam Harris in the endzone for the second straight game to level the score 7-7. On the stroke of half time Revolution Defensive Tackle David Trevor produced a stunning 4th down stop to deny Lingard another visit to the endzone as Trevor on his own 1 yard line drilled a sneaking Lingard behind the line ensuring parity going into the break.
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| Photo: Mike Dean |
Seemingly inspired by the defensive heroics of their colleagues the Revolution Offense would make the decisive contribution to the game spearheaded by French who twice broke through the wall like Nighthawk defensive front for runaway scores of 50 And 55 yards respectively on consecutive possessions to give his side a surprise 7-21 lead in the third period. Merseyside would hit back with a trademark big play of their own almost immediately QB#8 would connect with Ben Barker on a short pass and Great Brtiain Receiver would make tacklers miss and find the endzone from 65 Yards. With the Score at 14-21 heading into to the 4th quarter Leigh French’s almost found himself the villain as his fumble set the Nighthawks up in scoring range as the hosts who spent most of the final period camped in their opponents half of the field but could not find the endzone to level the score allowing the men in purple to run out the clock for the victory.
Shropshire Revolution Head Coach heaped praise on his teams spirit at pulling off the upset victory “ I was really impressed with our resolve today, we turned up with one recognised tail back, had guys playing hurt and guys playing out of position and we managed to hang around, not beat ourselves and come away with the win despite being second best for stretches of the game”
Shropshire travel to Leicester Falcons for their final away trip of the season on Sunday August the 11th.
Dave Reid
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