Outlaws Midseason Review

As the end of the year approaches, we look back at the 2011-12 season so far.

After a successful pre-season camp at Greenwich, and a controlled scrimmage with MAC rivals Warwick Wolves, the Outlaws went into their opening game against LJMU Fury full of confidence.  Despite being heavily favoured for the win, penalties and turnovers continually halted the Outlaws and lead to a scoreless first half, before a punt return touchdown from Richard Wilson and a 19-yard touchdown pass from Henri Dinger to Andre Mathers gave them a 13-8 win.

Loughborough Aces were the next team to visit Grove Farm, but any hopes of an upset were crushed by the punishing running of 2010/11 BUAFL MVP Adam Hope, who notched three touchdowns on the way to a 34-0 victory for the Cardinal and Gold.

The Outlaws schedule didn’t get any easier two weeks later with a trip to the formidable Birmingham Lions.  After an impressive opening drive was halted by an interception, the Outlaws offence struggled to consistently move the ball on the tough Lions defence and were shut-out for the second successive game.  A bright spark came in the form of an interception return for a touchdown by Joel Jones that briefly put Nottingham within two scores of Birmingham, but the Lions pulled away to secure a comfortable 59-8 victory.

Those results meant that a victory over rivals Derby Braves would be essential to the Outlaws aspirations for the season.  The game started well, with QB Dinger finding his receivers with ease throughout the first half – including another touchdown pass to Mathers.  After a missed extra point followed by a Derby touchdown, kicker Ben Collis found his range for a field goal that restored the Outlaws lead going into half time.

The second half began with both teams recording three-and-outs, but was stopped after a head and neck injury to linebacker Jonny Bower.  With the absence of an ambulance following a one hour break, the officials called the coaches of both teams together before formally abandoning the game, leading to a 9-7 victory to the Outlaws.

A 2-2 record heading into the New Year means that the Outlaws are well placed to push for a post-season berth, with the Varsity clash against Nottingham Trent in February set to be key in the seasons of both teams.

Tom Snee