Good Week / Bad Week – BAFA NL 2018 Week Seventeen

U19 finals, playoffs, forfeitures… not to mention the last round of Division One regular season games, this weekend had it all!

GOOD WEEK

Honourable mentions

• Manchester Titans U19 fought back to secure a Britbowl spot with victory over the Pirates.
• No such drama for London Blitz U19, who confidently saw off Hertfordshire 44-2.
• Apache Win! Apache Win! Bristol Apache grabbed the W at the tenth attempt, victorious over OVE in the regular season finale.

KENT EXILES

It was a solid weekend for the Exiles, with the U19 side winning the D2 Final, beating out Essex Spartans 22-10 in the semi-final before besting Black Country Vipers 18-2 in the finale. The adult side meanwhile may have lost to the Hornets, but still managed to hold on to the top spot in the SFC1 East, securing a home tie against Sussex Thunder.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

Eight games across the Division Two quarter-finals and all eight home sides progressed to the next round. Perhaps the most impressive of the victories was the demolition of Torbay by Portsmouth Dreadnoughts, though the 61-0 pumping given to Furness by Aberdeen Roughnecks should send a statement to the rest of the NFC2. The semi-finals look like this;

NFC2

#1 Aberdeen Roughnecks vs #4 Birmingham Bulls

#2 Chester Romans vs #3 Staffordshire Surge

SFC2

#1 South Wales Warriors vs #4 Portsmouth Dreadnoughts

#2 London Blitz B vs #3 Hertfordshire Cheetahs

NORTHUMBERLAND VIKINGS

Unofficially, it looked like BAFA would rule in favour of the Vikings over the cancelled game with Leeds. By beating Lancashire in a thrilling shootout yesterday, the Vikings made the ruling redundant, securing the top spot and a home tie against Sandwell Steelers. The Division One quarter-finals look like;

NFC

#1 Leicester Falcons (NFC1 South) vs #4 Lancashire Wolverines (NFC1 North)

#2 Northumberland Vikings (NFC1 North) vs #3 Sandwell Steelers (NFC1 South)

SFC

#1 Solent Thrashers (SFC1 Central) vs #4 London Hornets (SFC1 East)

#2 Kent Exiles (SFC1 East) vs #3 Sussex Thunder (SFC1 Central)