28/04/2013
Sunday April 28 Match report:
On a beautiful sunday afternoon, the Laterals faced their mortal nemesis from last year, the Amsterdam Crusaders. Last season, Amsterdam beat the Laterals by 1 point in a dreadful yet exciting game. This year it was time for payback. With a team of only 5 and no subs, it was bound to be a tiring game against the 10 crusader which are potential candidates for a playoff spot.
Nonetheless, with a attitude of "lets have fun" the game began rather tense. After two conversions of the Crusaders the score was 13:0. The offense of the Laterals just wasn't producing any points but defense was stable. In the second quarter the turning point of the UC Laterals occurred as Max Kraan, a fresh Lateral, sacked the QB on the last down and prevented a TD. Immediately after the sack, on a pass by Martin, Max managed to tip the ball over the Amsterdam defender and Mohammad was there to pick the ball in mid air and race off to the end zone. Unfortunately, his flag detached just before the end zone so the Laterals were stopped just prior to the end zone line. NO worries as the TD was immediately converted by a run from Martin through a trick play. The defense held firm and forced a turnover on the Crusaders which immediately was converted by Gael on a full field run. THe half ended with a 13:13 tiebreaker.
With a few changes in defense and offense, the Laterals started their half with a vicious offense when Max converted for a TD and broke the tie. After another wonderful solid defense Mohammad by zigzagging through a few players got to the opposition end zone to increase the gap. The Amsterdam managed to convert one more TD in the third quarter to get closer to the men in red. The Crusaders started feeling the time pressure and started making riskier passes. The Lateral defense was right on spot when Martin intercepted a pass on crusaders which lead to another TD for the Laterals. Hessel, became of upmost importance for the laterals as the running back since the Laterals could not risk passing plays in the last few minutes of the game, not to mention the defensive pass block on the last hope of Amsterdam. The game was sealed when Martin caught a long ball interception and through speed and agility dodged 3 Amsterdam defenders in his path.
Overall, a slow start but a solid defense kept the Laterals in the game for the first half and the offensive tank that rolled over the Amsterdam Crusaders in the second half resulted in a 44:20 win! This moves the Laterals into 5th place and marks their second victory of the season! Congrats boys!
Final stats:
Martin Klima: 3 TDs + passed for 3 TDs
Gael v.d. Bossche: 2 TDs + 1 EP
Mohammad Akbar: 1 TD + 1 EP + passed for 3 TD
Max Kraan: 1 TD
Final Score:
UCU Laterals 44-20 Amsterdam Crusaders