BULLS CROWNED BRITISH CHAMPIONS
Pics and Report C/O Kirkcaldy Bulls

Kirkcaldy Bulls American Football Club have made history by being crowned the first ever official British American Flag Football Champions following an amazing day of competition in Doncaster. 16 teams from across Britain competed in four age categories.

The Bulls were the only Scottish team to leave Doncaster victorious as English teams claimed the Cadet, Junior and Youth championships.

This was the inaugural season for the new British American Football League (BAFL) Flag League and the accolade of becoming the first ever official British Champion was the prize everyone was aiming for.

The Bulls qualified for the BAFL Finals Day after completing the regular season with a staggering 18 games undefeated. The Carluke Cobras qualified in second place in the Scottish conference with a 15 and 3 season.

The Bulls semi-final was against the Coventry Cassidy Jets. The Jets squad was made up of players from their kitted team who are the current British Champions.

With several Americans and Canadians including their Quarterback also in the Jets squad it was the Bulls who seemed to be the underdogs for this clash.

It was the Kirkcaldy outfit though that took control of the game with Neil Arnold opening the scoring with an excellent running touchdown, this was followed by two touchdowns from American Dave Pasnik and one from local boy Bob Wylie.

The Bulls were playing some of their best defense of the season and twice Neil Arnold intercepted the Jets QB following some excellent pressure from Jay Todd, and by half-time the Bulls led by 14 points.

The Jets rallied in the second half, however an impressive full length of the park TD from Welshman Andrew Jones, supplemented by a superb catch in the end-zone for a TD from youngster Gavin Dickson ensured that the Bulls finished the game ahead, winning 38-30.

The other semi-final saw the Carluke Cobras intercept the Leicester Eagles and return it for the game winning touchdown with only 20 seconds left in the game to set up an all Scottish final.

The Bulls dominated the final from start to finish with Stevie Bramwell in superb form with 4 touchdowns and 2 extra points from only 10 receptions.

It was the defense who again stepped up and thoroughly dominated the opposition with John Guthrie playing some of the best football of his career with 4 tackles and pressuring the opposition receivers into dropping numerous catches.

The Bulls finished the game off in style and with only 10 seconds remaining veteran Sean MacKenzie managed to stay on his feet in the end-zone for a spectacular game finishing TD. The Bulls played out the remaining seconds on defense to complete a very comprehensive 48-13 victory.

Bulls Headcoach Neil Arnold commented "Everything clicked today, defensively we were outstanding, our coverage was great and our team pursuit for tackling was probably the best I've seen it this year"

Bulls assistant coach Stevie Bramwell added "It was tricky conditions out there today, there has been a lot of rain and it made it more difficult throwing the ball.

Neil put in great performances at QB today completing 46 out of 60 attempts with no interceptions. We only failed to complete 14 passes all day which not only shows how accurate Neil's passes were, but also how well all of our receivers played today.

It can be difficult catching if the ball is wet and it's a great testament to the catching ability of our squad."

The success on the field this year has been matched off the field in the form of sponsorship from smm7.com.

Bulls Chairman Bob Wylie commented 'Yosof has put a lot of faith in our abilities this year and his sponsorship allowed us to concentrate on playing the game without the financial worries that go with running a successful club like ourselves.

"We are extremely grateful to Yosof for his support and we hope that he will be as proud as we are on winning the British title.

For further information contact Neil Arnold on 01592 569871, email enquiries@kirkcaldybulls.com or visit www.kirkcaldybulls.com