York Centurions disappointedly lose 18-6 to their Lancaster counterparts on the opening day.
Last year, the York Centurions and the Lancaster Bombers contested over a dead rubber match as Lancaster had secured enough points already to lift the Carter-James trophy. It was to be different this year as Sam Asfahani’s men were scheduled to play in one of the tournament first matches, meaning a lot more than pride was on the line.
The Centurions got the worst possible start straight from the kick off as a Lancaster flyer made the 70 yard dash to the line. Clever blocking and an abundance of pace shown by the running back earned the Bombers an early 6-0 lead.
However, York came back strongly into the first quarter making steady 10 metre gains, quarterback Blades was unlucky on one occasion as he failed to reach his wide receiver by millimetres.
Against the run of play, Lancaster got their second breakaway touchdown an adventurous throw was snatched by their speedy runner and he ran clear despite the best efforts of the York defence. A nightmare first quarter came to an end, 12-0 the score. General Manager Pops felt his team were a little ‘rusty’ from the Easter break and in this quarter it was punished.
York Centurions reasserted themselves in the second quarter. Strong running from Walter and Evans coupled by the hard hitting of notably Arthur Pitt and the allowed the Centurions to enjoy most of the better play but to no avail.
However, the good work was to be undone again as another hopeful throw from Lancaster’s Quarterback was picked out by his wide receiver who had the easy job of running to the line.
The unflattering score-line 0-18, triggered a quick response from the Centurions who finally secured their first points with a well-worked touchdown. A good field position was achieved by Gareth Dowse brave catch. From this, quarterback Blades decided to take a chance on working the left where they had failed to have any success all day. The cunning bluff and excellent throw was well caught by Marks who fought his way through 3 tackles to make the touch down.
It was to be too little too late and as the rain provided an apt pathetic fallacy. Sam Asfahani, York Sport President will hope for sunnier times over the course of the week, as he “hoped we’ll make up for it elsewhere.”