The Rams had a heartbreaker in a thrilling game in Sunday’s Division Two National Final, having the game taken from them in the last couple of minutes.
Unfortunately, nerves seemed to get the better of Yorkshire in the opening minutes of the game conceding four penalties on their opening two drives. The Devils made them pay by scoring in the sixth minute when Darren Bailey threw to Matt Scott for a five yard touchdown pass, Micky Howling was successful with the PAT to put the Devils in front 7 - 0. The Rams could not get anything going on offence and had to punt the ball away for Norwich to start to drive down the field again. A good pass by Bailey got the ball on the Rams 4 yard line and looked good for another TD, but Yorkshire’s defence rallied and held off the attack forcing Norwich into kicking the field goal. Howling booted the ball over from 22 yards and the Devils were 10 up with just nine minutes gone in the game. This was the wake up call that Yorkshire needed. Even though the Rams’ offence still stuttered the defence started to do their stuff finishing the first quarter with a sack by Andy Hill on Bailey and the Devils having to punt.
Midway through the second period and following another sack on Bailey, this time by Lloyd Olpherts, Yorkshire received the ball off the Devil’s punt and started a good drive of their own. Good running by Jay Alexander led to two consecutive first downs . Another first down by quarterback Simon Dewdney fetched the ball up on Norwich’s 29 yard marker and the Rams sniffing for the score. A pass by Dewdney was picked off at the six yard line by Chris McIver and returned to his own 18 yard spot to end Yorkshire’s drive and start another for Norwich. A pass from Bailey to Steve Playford and runs by Scott got the Devils into Rams’ territory but again Yorkshire’s defence stopped Norwich advancing. Olpherts regained possession for the Rams when he floored Bailey for a sack on fourth down. Fine runs by Alexander and Justin Lester moved Yorkshire upfield but time ran out on them before they could take advantage.
The opening of the second half saw Norwich trying to advance the ball once more but the Ram’s ‘D’ would not let anything past and they had to punt. After the next exchange of possession Scott very nearly broke away for his second touchdown. Going 18 yards down the right it was only a superb open field tackle by Steve Goulden that stopped the score. The Rams defence held the attack again and Bailey tried a pass on fourth down but the tackle by Tim Adams on the receiver stopped him short of getting the new set of downs. As it turned out, this was a crucial play for Yorkshire as it led to a scoring drive of their own. Lester started the ball rolling with a 26 yard run to get to the Devils’ 40 yard marker followed by Alexander bulldozing up the middle for a few more yards. Norwich then held Yorkshire’s offence for three downs but a good call on fourth got the ball to Lester who went 5 yards round the end to gain first down at the Devil’s 30. Alexander battered his way through for three yards on the first play and Lester finished the drive off when he weaved his way through a packed Norwich defence to go 27 yards for the points. Dewdney split the sticks and Yorkshire were back in the game at 10 - 7 with five minutes remaining in the quarter. The period closed with Steve Newton laying a hit on the Norwich ball carrier forcing the fumble which Andy Hill recovered for the Rams. Dewdney went for first down on fourth and short and was successful in gaining enough yards to go into the final quarter with Yorkshire still in control.
With the momentum in the Ram’s favour they began their second scoring drive of the game. Hytham Hamad gained the first yardage followed by a 12 yard run from Lester to get to the Devil’s 38 yard marker. Hamad was handed the ball again and looked as though he was on his way down the right sideline for a score but was pushed out of bounds after 18 yards. Yorkshire thought Lester, who finished the day with a creditable 128 yards off 23 attempts, had claimed his second touchdown after bouncing through the middle for a 13 yard gain but the ball was spotted on the 1 yard line. Alexander stepped in to blast his way through but a hardy Devil’s defence was ready and pushed him back to the 3. Not to be outdone of a chance to score he lined up to take the ball again but this time slanted to the right to get his touchdown with five minutes gone in the period. Dewdney added the point to put Yorkshire in front 14 - 10. The last 5 minutes gave the spectators what they came to see, an exciting finish. As the game entered the closing stages Bailey fired a pass which would have certainly led to a score but the ball was batted away by Rupert Bolingbroke at the last second. Norwich were then on fourth down and 13 with Bailey lobbing another pass, again Bolingbroke was the saviour has he grabbed the interception and returned the ball to his 36 yard line to stop the Norwich drive. With just over three minutes left in the game the Ram’s offence faltered with just a yard to go for a first down and they decided to punt. The ball went out of bounds at the Devil’s 40 for them to start another drive. Things looked good for Yorkshire when Olpherts got his third sack of the day on Bailey downing him on his 34 yard line with just over two minutes left on the clock, but the Gods of football were not smiling on Yorkshire. Passes by Bailey, who was awarded the MVP, got Norwich to the Rams 23 yard line with under two minutes left. Scott broke through and headed for Yorkshire’s endzone down the left but was brought down at the 1 yard line by Rob O’Reilly. The next play broke the hearts of the Ram’s players and supporters when Bailey went in from the I followed by Howling’s PAT to put Norwich back in front 17 - 14 with a minute and forty seconds left in the game. Yorkshire did not lie down though and tried a spirited comeback which failed on fourth down with 7 yards to go deep in the Devil’s half when Dewdney was knocked out of bounds a foot short of a first down with six ticks on the clock.
Norwich rode out the remaining seconds and took the Division Two Trophy to end a great example of an American Football final played out by two good teams.
Watch the highlights from the game on the Norwich Devils’ YouTube channel: