Hyde Park 5-on-5 Tournament - Game Report

The British Senior Flag played their first 5-on-5 tournament of the year this weekend, with a 4-team tournament in London. At a sun-drenched Hyde Park, the Leicester Eagles came out on top with 3 wins out of their 5 games played. All results from this tournament count towards the final BSFL 5-on-5 league table.

Bournemouth Raiders 8-14 Invicta Coyotes

In the opening game of the tournament, the Coyotes sneaked to a victory over their south coast rivals. QB Lewis Button fired a short range TD to Glenn Lindley for the opening score to put the Coyotes 8-0. Bournemouth came back into when Matt Heasman hit Roland Coutts on a quick out, who turned a small gain into a long range TD. The Coyotes winning TD was fortuitous as Button’s long pass was tipped by CB Ryan McKeon as he collided with fellow CB Vincent Gurrea into the arms of the waiting Coyotes WR Gaz Wright who ran in the score unchallenged. The Raiders offense stalled and the Coyotes took the game.

Invicta Coyotes 0-13 Leicester Eagles

Leicester produced a stunning display of offense and defense to shutout the Coyotes in game 2. The young Eagles offense started as they went on all day with numerous slick handoffs and fake handoffs to baffle the Coyotes defense on the opening drive, which resulted in a John Pimperton pass to James Pimperton. The Leicester defense held firm on successive drives to snuff out any threat from the Coyotes, and produced another long drive to go 13-0 up with another Pimperton to Pimperton hook up.

Bournemouth Raiders 6-9 Birmingham Raiders

Birmingham won the first ‘battle of the Raiders’ with a surprise win, especially after Bournemouth had gone 6-0 up on a crossing pattern with Brad Smith hitting Roland Coutts for a catch in traffic at the back of the endzone. Birmingham got back into the game with a Gary Griffiths pass to Andy Poodle, which was converted to give them the edge 7-6. Birmingham defense had the measure of Bournemouth’s offense in this game, and Bournemouth rarely threatened. To seal things, Birmingham earnt a safety to go 9-6 up, and then ran out the clock.

Birmingham Raiders 14-8 Invicta Coyotes

Birmingham proved that their opening game win over Bournemouth was no surprise, with their second successive win. QB Griffiths opened the scoring with a pass to WR Brian Dick who broke free was a long distance TD. Lewis Button tied the scores up with a pass to Mike Whitby of the Coyotes. The conversion was crucially scored to level things up at 8-8. The crucial passage of the game resulted in Birmingham stopping the Coyotes on a 4th and goal, and then marching down the other end to score on another Griffiths to Dick pass. Birmingham’s defense held firm as the clock ran out.

Bournemouth Raiders 15-12 Leicester Eagles

In this battle of great rivals, Bournemouth entered this game in resurgent form thanks to an offensive shuffle. QB Matt Heasman starting hitting his receiving corps of Coutts, O’Field, Jenkins and Houston underneath for short but effective yardage. The Raiders took the lead on a trick play where RB Brad Smith threw to Heasman who stepped inside the Eagles D to score. Heasman added the 2 PAT on a pass to Mark Houston to put the Raiders 8-0 up. Leicester hit straight back with a TD after just 2 plays. John Pimperton passed for a TD to his brother on in the corner of the endzone, following a 45 yard gain the play before. Richard Tollervey broke up the PAT to leave Bournemouth 8-6 up. Bournemouth offense was firing, and another long drive led to a Brad Smith running in for a TD, which was converted with Heasman finding Smith at the front of the endzone for the crucial extra point to put Bournemouth 15-6 up. With the Eagles needing to score twice, they got one score on John Pimperton’s second TD pass of the game (this time to James Hossack). The conversion again failed, and Heasman took a knee to run out the clock.

Birmingham Raiders 6-13 Leicester Eagles

The Eagles stopped Birmingham’s winning run with a tight 13-6 win, and improved their own record to 2-1 in the process. Chris Wild got the Eagles on the scoreboard first with a pass to Alan O’Sullivan, and the Eagles extended their lead to 13-0 when Jeff Brown ran in from distance. Gary Griffiths hauled the Raiders back into the game on a slant to Brian Dick, but it was too little too late for Birmingham and the Eagles took the victory.

Invicta Coyotes 12-12 Bournemouth Raiders

Bournemouth continued their impressive offense from the previous game, and scored early on with Brad Smith hitting Mark Houston on a streak from an option play. The Coyotes tied things up when QB Button found Lindley on a flare. The conversions on both TD’s failed and the score was tied at 6-6. Heasman put the Raiders back in front on a flag pattern, which Houston ran in. The Coyotes set up a thrilling finish when Button threw his second TD pass of the game to Dave Austin to tie things up at 12-12. Vincent Gurrea broke up Button’s pass to keep the scores level, and Smith’s last ditch pass was incomplete.

Bournemouth Raiders 12-7 Birmingham Raiders

Bournemouth gained revenge for their earlier defeat to Birmingham to reclaim the ‘Raiders’ crown with a 12-7 win. Heasman found Houston on a bomb early on to put the southerners up 6-0, but Birmingham hit back on Brian Dick’s run. The Dick’s TD converted the midlanders held the advantage 7-6. Bournemouth’s defense led by Mark Elliott effectively stopped the Birmingham O, with Jon Wells producing a sack and an interception. On the final drive of the match, when Bournemouth clinched victory on an inch perfect 4th down pass from Heasman to Houston in the corner of the endzone. Birmingham finished the tournament with a creditable 2-2 record.

Leicester Eagles 15-6 Invicta Coyotes

Leicester completed the double over the Coyotes with another convincing win. John Pimperton opened the scoring for the Eagles with a pass to Simon Murphy from close in. The PAT was converted to put the Eagles 7-0 up. Lewis Button threw his 6th TD of the day, this time to Mike Whitby, as the Coyotes closed to 7-6. Button was then picked off by the Eagles CB Jeff Brown for the PAT, and Brown returned it for 2 points to put the Eagles 9-6 ahead. John Pimperton sealed the win for the Eagles on the next drive with another pass to James Pimperton. The Coyotes finished the tournament with a 1-3-1 record, but they look forward to the resumption of the 9-on-9 league which they jointly lead next week.

Leicester Eagles 14-14 Bournemouth Raiders

Bournemouth so nearly clinched the tournament, but were undone by a last ditch drive from the Eagles. The Eagles went ahead very early on, when John Pimperton hit James Hossack underneath, and the youngster burnt off the Raiders defense for a long distance TD. Raiders QB Heasman hauled the Raiders back into it was a quick out to Roland Coutts who out jumped his man and then streaked into the endzone. The PAT failed and the Eagles led 7-6. The Raiders hit back, and Brad Smith found Coutts for his second TD of the game with a low pass into the corner of the endzone. Smith then found Heasman for the 2 PAT with a pass over the middle to give Bournemouth what looked a winning 14-7 lead, but they hadn’t counted on the Eagles QB John Pimperton, who marched his offense down the other end in double quick time, and then on 4th down and goal on the last play of the game he found James Pimperton who a slant pattern for the score which gave the Eagles the opportunity to tie/or win the game as that made the score 14-13. The Eagles opted to go for the tie with a 1 PAT which was converted to leave the score 14-14 as time expired.