Photo: Mike Dean Shropshire Revolution fell to their second defeat of the season with a hard fought 20-17 defeat away at Manchester Ti...
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| Photo: Mike Dean |
Shropshire Revolution fell to their second defeat of the season with a hard fought 20-17 defeat away at Manchester Titans.
In stark contrast to the first meeting between this sides in May which saw 8 offensive touchdowns recorded, both defensive units sought to redress the balance by greatly reducing offensive output on the day to a combined 3 touchdowns, however late Specials Teams and Defensive touchdowns allowed the Titans to edge out a key win in the race for the post season.
Playing beneath the shadow of Salford City Stadium both offenses were frustrated early on, the home side had the first opportunity to break the deadlock in a scoreless first period but were denied by Revolution Defensive End Simon Dunkerley Field Goal Block. The visitors also had cause for frustration after settling for an Adam Harris Field Goal and a 3-0 Lead despite driving the ball inside the Titan 1 yard line. Manchester when presented with a similar opportunity were not as wasteful and just before the half opened their account through a Jonathan Pan Gago short yard plunge to take a 6-3 lead into Half Time.
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| Photo: Mike Dean |
The Revolution answered back shortly after the break when a key forced fumble and recovery from Defensive Tackle Simon Juniper coupled with a stunning Alasdair Jarvis interception, allowed a Warren Thomas sneak and an Alex Wake to Sean Austin short range Touchdown reception respectively to twice regain the lead in the third Quarter.
Manchester responded in kind between the away sides two scores when a blocked punt was returned for a crucial score by Alex Reilly, whilst the play of the game came at the death with the Revolution holding a 17-12 lead and in possession of the ball had a 3rd down pass attempt picked off by Cornerback Ryan Newton who produced an inspired and determined return all the way back for what would be the winning touchdown after the home side successfully preserved their advantage up to the final whistle.
Shropshire Revolution head coach Dave Reid pointed to his team’s poor execution and lack of composure as driving forces behind the defeat: “We had a lot of chances to win this game but made too many basic and untimely mistakes, in the end we didn't deserve to take anything from the game because we hadn't learned from the first encounter which could easily have ended up in the same way.”
Shropshire now must prepare for a rescheduled clash away at the Crewe Railroaders on July 14th which kick-starts a congested end to the season with 5 games in 7 weeks.
David Butler
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