Britball Week 2
After the relief of Britball opening weekend taking place last week, many had hopes for a clear runway into the meat of the season. On the middle weekend of Wimbledon, across the rest of England there have been some early plot twists as the Week 2 Britball schedule crashed onto the rocky shores of our British Summer.
With 14 games on the slate, 2 were canceled before the start of the weekend. Halton withdrew from their fixture with Manchester due to a lack of players – leaving the premiership powerhouse side missing a much needed scrimmage. The Cambridgeshire versus Colchester clash was postponed due to a positive Covid19 test. On Saturday the Worcestershire match against Hereford was postponed. Teams are struggling in a number of areas, not least of which is fielding a full complement of players in the midst of Covid difficulties.
Of the remaining 11 fixtures, Great British weather stepped into the mix to cause its own set of problems. Despite being an all weather game, vicious lightning storms forced a premature result at the Leicester Shropshire game. While the Sheffield versus Yorkshire match lodged a no result as the game was abandoned at half time: the Giants leading 20 – 6.
In the rest of the country, battle commenced with a somewhat predictable yet welcome zeal. Bristol (Aztecs) and Sandwell performed well in their lopsided match-ups both logging zero burgers for their Defences. The Vikings, Knights and Monarchs dominated their opponents in all phases with Cornwall moving to 2-0 and Rushmoor and Northumberland securing victories to open their 2021 Campaigns.
In more competitive games plucky Oxford lost their second straight match against Hertfordshire but their performances so far elude to wins down the road. Norwich opened their account decisively against the Bombers and Nottingham eased to 2-0 over the maligned Eagles.
Game of the week goes to Merseyside versus Chester who blew up the scoreboard despite also dealing with lightning delays. The rivals notched up 89 combined points in a thriller that saw the Nighthawks victorious. A great Britball showcase in Week 2.
Your complete Week 2 results:
Results
Halton V Manchester Canceled
Worcestershire V Hereford Postponed
Cambridgeshire V Colchester Postponed
Sheffield V Yorkshire Abandoned
Leicester 0 – 0 Shropshire
Merseyside 49 – 40 Chester
Oxford 6 – 19 Hertfordshire
Bournemouth 8 – Rushmoor 31
Bristol 61 – 0 Swindon
Cornwall 49 – 7 Torbay
Crewe 0 – 44 Sandwell
Gateshead 6 – 48 Northumberland
Lincolnshire 19 – 38 Nottingham
Norwich 27 – 6 Ouse Valley
Congratulations and applause to all those who made Week 2 work! Check back on Saturday for Week 3 schedules as there are some key match-ups and exciting clashes. Tamworth are back with a game against Staffordshire, the Apache clash with the Raptors and the Mustangs take on the Rams. It will be an extremely busy and exciting weekend as Wimbledon comes to a head and – all English cross limbs – our English Football team will be preparing for their biggest game since 1966 (?).
Are you attending Britball games? Do you have a favourite team? Do you have a camera – even if it’s just a point and shoot phone cam – and enjoy capturing unique moments? There is very little in the way of action shots and game-day documentation that is easily accessible to casual and new fans for our BAFA league. The best way to promote all the hard-work of the players, coaches and ancillary staff is to get them on camera! Upload your photos with the hashtag #BritballPics on your preferred Social media sites so new and old fans a like can enjoy the sights and scenes from around the country. Its super important to share the game if we wish to build support and more sponsorship.
Join me @CJEphgrave meantime on Twitter & Instagram.