Glasgow Tigers 0      Newcastle Raiders 12

With perfection and a conference championship on the line, the Newcastle Raiders visited the Glasgow Tigers for the first time in years. Before the season even began, this game was earmarked as a decider, as the clash of the Border Conference. Last year, Glasgow wrangled victory away from the Raiders in Newcastle, as the fiercest rivalry in the conference went to triple overtime.

Welcoming their auld enemy back for seconds, Glasgow knew this was no ordinary contest. Averaging over 40 points a game, and possessing a stingy defence, the Raiders posed the greatest challenge to the Tigers to date. Beating Stirling in the fashion that they did gave Glasgow hope that when it came to elite offenses, they could handle themselves better than most.

To win this game however they would have to stunt the power of a double wing t offense, one that carved up the Glasgow defence for 40 points in the epic encounter last year. Not having the high powered offense that they used to possess, Glasgow knew that if Newcastle scored early and often, the game could get out of reach.

On an cold but mainly dry day except for the conditions underfoot on the fast Garscube pitch, the Raiders kicked off to the hosts and immediately forced a punt repelling rookie runners James Crymble and Michael Sinclair and pressurizing quarterback Andrew Armes into throwing an errant pass that was a diving catch away from being intercepted. Newcastle went straight to work utilizing their so far ultra-efficient double wing t set that places emphasis on an ugly yet extremely hard to slow down style of running football.

Starting on their 20 yard line, the Raiders advanced 16 yards in two plays. However their next two plays were not as successful, as the Tigers forced a third and five situation on Newcastle’s 41. Undaunted, the Raiders stuck to their game plan and converted the down by galloping all the way to within the Glasgow five yard line. Stunned, the Tigers were too dazed to stop the touchdown as Newcastle scored on their first drive. The Tigers recovered however to keep the score to just six as they successfully defended the two point conversion.

Safety Nick Halfpenny sparked Glasgow to life as his return set the Glasgow offense up in Raiders’ territory. Crymble could not get the ten yards needed to kick start Glasgow’s response, yet Newcastle’s ambitious defence was drawn into a false start gifting the Tigers a new set of downs. The result was the same however as after a failed Crymble run and an incomplete pass to wideout David Teenan, Armes was caught behind the line and sacked to force Glasgow’s second punt.

Newcastle, backed up at their 15, continued to pound the ball and gain yards and would have had another long run on third down, this time for a touchdown, if not for an excellent one-on-one tackle by Halfpenny. The Raiders then mixed it up with a pass off the run fake which allowed the receiver to get behind the Glasgow secondary and again potentially go unhindered to the endzone, but the pass was overthrown. Newcastle were stopped twice after that and on fourth down rookie Kenny McCulloch forced the turnover tackling the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage.

[Tigers 0–6 Raiders]

The good work done by the Tigers’ defence went unrewarded however as Newcastle immediately forced a three and out. The Raiders still couldn’t into any rhythm themselves as they only managed one first down before punting back to Glasgow. Pinned down on their own 32, Glasgow went to the air to find some yards but both their second and third down passes fell incomplete. Their punt however was muffed by Newcastle under pressure from the ever present Halfpenny, and guard Ali Ritchie gladly fell on it for the Tigers.

Buoyed by their turn of fortune, rookie Stu Donaldson was next to test the Raiders, and he made a first, before Glasgow were unsuccessful on two passing attempts, the first a near catch by Ewan Beesley, then a third down shot down the field to Teenan who seemed to be impeded on the play, yet no pass interference penalty was called.

Newcastle started their drive after the punt in an unfamiliar fashion. Two fumbles, on the snap and running back exchange, both of which were recovered by the visitors, ended the Raiders’ drive before it began, giving Glasgow the chance to score points before the end of the first half. Glasgow’s need to score created their most successful and fluent drive of the game so far, exciting the sideline as they marched. A wide receiver reverse by Matteo Crawford was followed by four consecutive pass completions to Sinclair, Tommy Gorman (who managed to maintain possession after a nasty hit), Beesley and Sinclair once more. Glasgow ran out time however in Newcastle’s territory but went into the break spirited by their excellent defensive performance.

[Tigers 0–6 Raiders]

Newcastle however came out swinging in the second half, ruthlessly advancing (after a great kick-off return) to the Glasgow five yard line where they found the endzone once again, deflating any momentum Glasgow had built up. Once again their two point attempt went unsuccessful, but only through the immense efforts of Halfpenny who again stepped up to win a one-on-one encounter close to the line.

Halfpenny continued to show the Raiders his talents as on the resulting kick off the safety shredded the cover unit and with one stationary defender left to beat, Halfpenny unluckily slipped on the wet pitch which cruelly wasted Glasgow’s best scoring opportunity. The Tigers started to become hungry again and set off on another deep drive. Starting just inside the Raiders’ half, Donaldson and Sinclair got the first down with a run and catch respectively. Newcastle then forced a fourth down after successfully defending Donaldson, but needing to stay in the game Glasgow gambled and on what seemed a broken play, Armes flipped the ball to running back Winston Ojei who forced his way past the first down marker. Ojei, who was already playing on both sides of the ball, had to try and convert another fourth down after the Tigers were only able to advance seven yards. His attempt forced the referees to call for a measurement, but the spot of the ball denied the Tigers a conversion.

With the ball at their 9 and after a series of flags thrown against both teams, the Raiders on their first play ran 35 yards yet again being deprived of a long touchdown run by Halfpenny. Newcastle managed one more first down before rookie Dave Ellen ended their drive on a fourth down attempt and ended the third quarter.

[Tigers 0-12 Raiders]

Needing to get points on the board and fast, Glasgow came up disappointedly flat as an incomplete pass to Crymble, an Ojei run and a Beesley reverse failed to make the first down. A stubborn Newcastle continued to take their chances as their offensive philosophy converted two first downs. However, the Raiders deviated from their game plan once more to try and throw the ball on the unsuspecting Tigers. Figuring they were a perfect pass away from another six points, the Raiders threw the ball on first down only for Halfpenny to break up the play and cornerback Connor McSharry to stab the ball out of the air. Suffice to say, Newcastle did not throw again.

Glasgow however were still struggling to regain their previous rhythm as three downs evaporated as the Raiders forced an incomplete pass to Gorman, a sack of Armes as he looked downfield to throw and on third down intercepted a pass intended for Teenan. On the return the referees let a vicious helmet to helmet hit on rookie receiver Robbie Huxtable go unpunished, an act that only infuriated Glasgow’s sideline.

Newcastle, with the ball just outside Glasgow’s half, preceded to systematically work their way down the field running over Tigers as they went. On a first down on Glasgow’s 29, the Raiders stormed to within the ten yard line only to be denied yet another touchdown by the imperial Nick Halfpenny. A flag on Glasgow gave the Raiders the ball on the 4, but then the referees let another ambiguous decision slide with lineman Jeff Pawlikowski apparently forcing a fumble in the pile but to no avail.

Glasgow were undeterred however and forced (with the help of a Newcastle penalty) the Raiders into a fourth down situation. With less than 30 seconds to go, the Raiders refused to run out the clock and strived to score a third touchdown. But on the fourth down attempt, a pass by the Newcastle quarterback was tipped by Ellen and recovered by Glasgow leading to a last gasp chance for the Tigers to end their touchdown drought.

Armes’ Hail Mary pass fell into Raider hands however which brought the enthralling game to a close. Newcastle’s offensive superiority proved to be the difference, if only for the first two drives of each half. Glasgow, unable to play spoiler to Newcastle’s perfect season, must take solace in the fact that they were able to slow down Britain’s third highest scoring offense. They have supplied the blueprint for the bigger teams down south on how to face the Raiders in the championship playoffs; a fact the Tigers will be able to take great pride in. Curing their fumbling problem from a week ago aided the Tigers’ cause in what was thought to be an inevitable outcome. And on “any given Sunday” it turned out the Newcastle Raiders were better than the Glasgow Tigers.

Just.

[Tigers 0-12 Raiders]

Glasgow win despite second half struggles against UWS

Glasgow Tigers 20      UWS Pyros 8

Mini Camp

To get back into the football swing of things, shake off the Christmas rust , and re-establish .

Saturday, 14 January 2012 @ Garscube Sports complex.

Time  10:00 until 17:00

Field – Fitness, Skills, Drills, and New play installs.

This is a must attend event, and is going to really set the tone for the upcoming second half of our campaign.  New players welcome !

Glasgow Tigers 20     Stirling Clansman 0

Back in March, the Stirling Clansmen hosted the 7-0 Glasgow Tigers, knowing that regardless of the result, the visitors had already won the Border Conference. Glasgow however, were in pursuit of a perfect season, with Stirling the only ones capable of stopping them. In the shadow of the Wallace monument, an over confident Tigers team were given a rude awakening, with Stirling ushering the Tigers into the 2010/2011 playoffs dejected, demoralised and defeated.

Fast forward to Sunday and the 2-1 Tigers were hoping to avoid any more mishaps in their play, in order to simply challenge the 3-0 Newcastle Raiders and the visiting 3-0 Stirling Clansmen. A comeback victory the preceding week against UWS had given Glasgow momentum and energised the players. Their momentum however was nothing compared to Stirling’s previous form.

Recording victories by 90, 55 and 21 points in their previous three games, while not surrendering any points had the Clansmen atop the Border Conference. Glasgow knew that slow starts and inefficient play would doom them against a team of such potency, while also coming to the realisation that this game would be their sternest test before the season ending visit from rivals Newcastle.

But focused on the game at hand however, Glasgow knew they had to score points on the Stirling D, and on a bitterly cold yet dry day went straight to work after the Clansmen kicked off to start the game. At their own 38 yard line the Tigers looked exclusively to the semi-healthy Lewis King, who took a swing pass on third down and took it 14yards for the first. Despite the aid of a Stirling penalty, the next set of Glasgow downs did not go as smoothly. On second down quarterback Andrew Armes fumbled and recovered his centre exchange, then on third down another swing pass to King was met by a swarm of Stirling defenders.

A punt on fourth down gave Stirling the ball at their 32 yard line. Their own drive started to go backwards before it went forwards with numerous false start penalties against the visitors. Stirling then proceeded to test the Glasgow secondary and completed a beautiful 32 yard pass and advanced into Tigers territory.

As Glasgow prepared to start afresh and try to end the menacing Clansmen drive, Stirling used just two plays; a four yard run and a 24 yard pass, to enter the Glasgow redzone. Stirling tried several times to run the ball on the Tigers, but while it was ineffective, their third completed pass took them to the 11 yard line, which ended up being the 6 yard line after a Glasgow penalty. The defence was on the verge of shattering as another completed pass on third down took the visitors to within inches of the endzone and the first points of the match. On fourth down however Stirling fumbled the ball in the running back exchange and Glasgow were able to deny them six points.

With the ball at their own 4 the Tigers needed some breathing space which was aptly provided by a four yard Phil Najemy run and another 14 yards by King to take Glasgow to the 22 to end the first quarter.

[Tigers 0-0 Clansmen]

Just as Glasgow were building momentum however, it went from bad to worse as QB Armes fumbled his exchange and on the next play threw a costly pick, gifting the ball to Stirling deep in Glasgow’s half. The Tigers defence were intent on stopping the visitors once again however and after two Stirling runs, that Glasgow were able to stop for negative yardage, the Clansmen’s third down effort was a pass towards the endzone that was dropped by the receiver. But Stirling were awarded a reprieve after a Glasgow penalty and went straight back to the air and completed a pass to the Glasgow 13 yard line, but a Stirling penalty negated the gain and now faced an arduous third and long.

The Clansmen were fortunate enough to punt after a third down pass interception was dropped by Nick Halfpenny. Glasgow, buoyed after a short Stirling punt, went to work and despite yet another fumble recovery by Armes, King and Najemy fought their way to the halfway line. On second down Glasgow marched into the Stirling half with a sublime Armes QB keeper that fooled most of the Clansmen defence and was downed at the Stirling 34 yard line.

King then took two runs 18 yards with Najemy adding a further ten yards with his powerful running, shedding a few tacklers along the way. Glasgow’s drive found them at the Stirling 6 yard line and it was King’s pleasure to run the last six yards to find pay dirt and do what no team has done to Stirling this year ;score. The two point conversion was successful and the Glasgow side-line that has had to endure inconsistent play from their team in 2011 suddenly found themselves rejuvenated.

The half ended with both teams going three and out and on Stirling’s final drive, despite excellent field position well within the Glasgow half, they were left wanting as the clock cruelly ran out.

[Tigers 8-0 Clansmen]

The Clansmen started the second half on their own 20 yard line after a touchback kick from Ewan Beesley. Their first play of the half was a 15 yard run for a first down. Their second play was a seven yard run that brought a second and three. The Glasgow defence then stiffened and resumed its excellent play forcing Stirling to punt only after a third down pass found its target but could not be caught by the receiver. The punt itself was only barely made, the snap flew over the punter but he recovered and managed to kick it away before he was engulfed by the Tigers.

The Tigers next possession was unremarkable featuring a fumble recovery and another Armes misdirection run that was routinely snuffed out by Stirling. Glasgow’s punt was good however and a short return resulted in the Clansmen starting at their own 7 yard line. The visitors had consecutive passes narrowly avoiding Tiger hands, with rookie David Brooks recording his second tipped pass, and Halfpenny his second near interception. Stirling couldn’t go anywhere on third down, but on fourth down their punt ricocheted off the back of one of their own players and found its way into the hands of Glasgow’s Thomas Mann who escorted the ball to the Stirling one yard line. It took King two tries to acquire his second touchdown, and even though the Tigers couldn’t convert the two point conversion, their lead was a comfortable 14 points.

Stirling couldn’t amass a response to Glasgow’s score and were forced into a three and out. The punt left the Tigers with great field position inside Stirling’s half and through terrific running from King and Najemy found themselves facing a fourth and goal at the five. Glasgow’s field goal attempt was blocked however, with the turnover giving Stirling the ball and denying Glasgow the chance to add to their lead.

[Tigers 14-0 Clansmen]

Stirling’s first drive of the final period was highlighted by a 20 yard pass on second down. The Clansmen’s aerial attack had found holes in the Tigers defence all day and if not for dropped passes Stirling might have had points on the board. As it was however the visitors continued to remain dedicated to a balanced offense but it was to no avail with the drive stalling after Stirling’s inability to move the down marker. Glasgow however felt the heat on their next drive and struggled to advance the chains and their lead with Stirling soon forcing a punt.

The Glasgow defence then forced a third and long on Stirling’s next drive. With the Clansmen looking to convert through the air, luck came to their aid when cornerback Kenny Barcley tipped the ball backwards in the air straight into the hands of the receiver who was then subsequently downed by a huge tackle by linebacker Rob Gilmore. Stirling had gained the first however, but on second down a completed pass was broken up by a monstrous hit from Halfpenny. Fourth down on the Glasgow 19 yard line beckoned for Stirling. Avoiding the rush effectively, the Stirling’s quarterback’s pass sliced through the secondary and fell in and out of the receiver’s hands which if caught, would have led to a touchdown.

A sigh of relief exuded from the Glasgow sideline as they knew time was running out on a Stirling comeback. But once again Stirling made life difficult and forced the Tigers to punt. On their own 20 yard line, Stirling were now forced to go through the air, but as their first throw fell incomplete, their second found its way into Beesley’s hands and he returned the ball over 30 yards for the score to ice the game for Glasgow. Beesley’s over exuberance at scoring didn’t go over well with the referees however and he was ejected from the game.

The score still stood however, and while Glasgow’s two point conversion failed, that had little impact on the celebrating Tigers. Signalling the end of the game, the referees blew the whistle on a stunning match that featured a majestic performance from the team. Defenders Halfpenny, Tom Lachendro and the ever present Gilmore led an outstanding defence that held the previously high scoring Clansmen offense to zero points. King, the crown jewel of the Tigers offense registered yet another productive game when they needed him most. While inexperienced, the improving Armes cut down the mistakes from the previous week and behind a tough and rugged offensive line was able to manage this crucial game well and lead Glasgow to score on the previously stingy Clansmen defence.

[Tigers 20-0 Clansmen]

After the game third year wideout David Teenan applauded his team saying “everyone played with full intensity. The defence was outstanding and we just didn’t make any mistakes, kept the ball on offence and forced them into negative plays.” His sentiments were echoed by team president Joseph Hunter who described the game as a “great performance against a good team, everyone played full on. A true display of Tiger football.”

After last weeks, disappointing and surprising loss to the Edinburgh Predators, The Tigers were looking to bounce big with a big, confidence boosting victory over a UWS Pyros side that had suffered two consecutive heavy defeats in their previous games.

Injuries to running backs Lewis King and Winston Ojei meant that rookie Stuart Donaldson got his first start of the season behind Quarter Back Andrew Armes who was in for the injured John Forbes. The offense started well, with Donaldson producing some solid yards on the ground. Wet conditions meant that the aerial game was limited and the good start couldn’t be converted into points. The Tigers defense continued its good form, shutting down the Pyros offense.

The game remained scoreless until midway through the second half, when, due to personal foul and pass interference penalties took the Pyros O to the red zone, from there, their QB ran the ball in for the score taking the Pyros to a 7-0 lead. The Tigers O came back looking to respond but in the difficult conditions, an Armes pass to a deep route was intercepted and returned for a touch down making it 14-0 to the Pyros going into half time.

The Tigers came in the second half desperately looking to overturn the deficit and, with Linebackers Rob Gilmore and James Crymble coming in at running back, managed to get themselves a quick score, with Crymble rushing the ball in on his first ever carry ever for a TD,  in the 3rd quarter making it 14-6

Rob Gilmore who is usually punishing running backs, put the shoe on the other foot and ran the ball very well , with Crymble now splitting time at FB and RB. The gutsy effort was reward with a second score. Gilmore running the ball in from 15 yards out.

The game was sealed on Pyro’s final drive, with an interception by who else… Rob Gilmore, exhausted from playing both ways, Rob only managed a 20 yard return that he almost broke for a pick 6.

Crippled by injuries on the both sides of the ball, the young Tiger team led by veteran leadership managed to claw back a win.

Special thank you as always to Digitalpict Photography for the photo’s
www.digitalpict.com

The Tigers were looking to win in style, after last weeks below par performance against Napier Knights,  against an ever improving Edinburgh team. However, the offense failed to find their rhythm and The Tigers slumped to a 14-2 loss to the Predators.

The offensive line struggled under heavy blitzing from the Predators defense resulting in neither the passing or running game working. It was a similar story for the Predators offense with the Tigers D keeping them under control for most of the game apart from 1 deep pass where bad coverage resulted in a touchdown for the away side.  The two point conversion was unsuccessful however, and left the score at 6-0 leading into half time.

The Tigers came out for the second half looking to put the first behind them but still struggled to make anything happen offensively and mid way through the 3rd quarter the Predators defense intercepted a pass for a touchdown leaving the score at 14-0 with the converted 2 point attempt.

Finally in the 4th quarter the Tigers O managed to gain some yards but, a fumble recovery for the Predators effectively sealed the game. Glasgows defensive came out strong again, in particular Tom Lachendro playing at DT, and caused a safety from an over thrown snap on a Punt Attempt. However the game was over at this  point and the Predators defense closed out the game preventing the Tigers O from registering a score on the day leaving it 14-2 final score.

It was a bitter pill to take for the Tigers, and they will be looking for a confidence boosting big win against UWS Pyros in their next game.

The Tiger season kicks off next sunday at the Jack Kane centre in Edinburgh as the Tigers take on the Napier Knights. Kick off at 230pm

With the first full scrimmage in the bag, We are looking forward to more.
Our excellent rookie class, and experienced veterans are progressing well this pre-season and all systems are go . We open up the season on the road to the Edinburgh Napier Knights, November 6th.