The Cardiff Cobras American Football team have been praised for a “phenomenal” first ever win over their English rivals.
They secured the bragging rights for the first time as they just edged a tense Severnside derby clash over South Gloucestershire and Stroud College Pride.
Oliver Luck emerged as the Cobras hero with a crucial touchdown before he secured the decisive extra point when he kicked the extra point to cap a stunning comeback.
They headed back over the Prince of Wales Bridge celebrating a landmark victory following seven previous defeats at the hands of Bristol-based SGS Pride.
In a much anticipated ‘Friday night-lights game’, the University of Cardiff side rose to the occasion in style to leave a stunned SGS in the shadows.
Cardiff Cobras head coach Shaun Vaughan was quick to sing his players praises after the momentous win.
“I’m immensely proud of the mental resilience my players showed, not allowing our heads to drop against a great team like SGS Pride,” Vaughan said.
“To get a result against a team like this means a great deal to me, it justifies all the hard work we’ve put into building this team!”
“Our defence and special teams units played phenomenally well all game winning the field position battle and holding a tricky SGS offence to six points including a stop at the goal line for the two-point play which inevitably made the difference in the game.
“We kept telling our offence all we needed was one play and late in the fourth that turned out to be true in what I think was a perfectly-executed move that saw Oliver Luck deliver on a pass from Sam Harvey for a 50-plus yard score to seal a phenomenal win.”
The first half started out with lots of aggression and change in possession, going from Pride having offence pushed to Cardiff pushing for a touchdown with both teams pushing themselves to the limit to give their team the upper hand in a tight battle.
Despite plenty of endeavour the first half concluded it was a 0-0 deadlock, proving how evenly matched the teams were going into this dusk-based duel.
Pride defensive end Denzel Boye had a standout performance, applying constant pressure to Cardiff’s offence pushes and providing numerous tackles to pivot the game into the hands of SGS.
After the half-time break, the contest intensified after numerous pushes and changes of possession, Pride was presented with another chance to attempt a much-needed touchdown.
The ball started with quarterback Ash Bailey who threw a whistler to Josh Wilson who made the run to the endzone and got the first points of the game for the Gloucestershire side.
In an attempt to build up more points, Pride went for a safety push to try to net another two points. Bailey once again had the ball and threw a lovely ball to William Freire who almost made the play but was denied the touchdown after a tackle on the edge of the endzone and that proved crucial.
Cardiff wouldn’t go down quietly, keeping up with Pride plays and winning possession once again. Luck would squeeze past the SGS defence and even the score with a wonderful touchdown. It would be the Cobra’s kicker who would ultimately give Cardiff the upper hand by scoring their field kick taking the lead with mere minutes left on the clock.
Pride gave everything they could but sadly weren’t able to equal the score, leaving the Cobras victorious at the Stoke Gifford campus.
Pride head coach Ben Herod was clearly disappointed by the result but still gave the team much-needed praise despite the cloud of defeat hanging over them.
“It was a tough loss, and the first time we have ever lost to Cardiff,” Herod said. “Up until the one mistake on defence allowed the score, I felt very comfortable about the score. The offense had been doing well moving the ball but our drives stalled in the redzone.”
“I really feel we beat ourselves here, having plenty of opportunities to put the game away. We left it a one score game for far too long, then their ability to convert their score compared to us ended up being the difference.”
“We finish second in the division now regardless of what happens, and this does secure us a home quarterfinal against Northumbria. It would be great to get a rematch further down the line with Cardiff”.
Report and photos by Eddie Koszler
