TIGERS HANG ON FOR WIN

Glasgow Tigers 12
Shropshire Revolution 7

Glasgow Tigers managed to hang on by the skin of their teeth thanks to a tough stand off from their defense and get their season off to a winning start against Shropshire Revolution.

Reading their preseason build up on their web site, this was a Glasgow side that was fired up and determined to improve on last year’s BAFL Division 2 Semi Finals.

And everything went according to script when they were two touchdowns without reply by the end of the second quarter.

But the English visitors stepped up the ante in the second half reducing the deficit to 5 points and could have nicked the points at the death but were denied victory thanks to a touchdown saving challenge inches short of the goal line.

It was a perfect day for football, excellent weather, and picturesque Scottish scenery with fans able to take in the game whilst sipping the occasional beer on the veranda.

And they even had music before the game – although the jury was out on some of their play list.

With one win already under their belt, Shropshire had some momentum coming into the game and with a large squad having made the journey up north, it was expected that the Tigers would be facing a tough afternoon, even though they had home advantage.

But there was little evidence of that during the opening two quarters, with the Tigers dominating proceedings in terms of territory and possession.

After an exchange of possessions at the start of the game, the Tigers were soon threatening the Revolution goal line and opened their account when quarterback Ally Choat fired a neat lob to the far corner of the endzone with receiver Rory MacDonald pulling of a great diving catch for the opening touchdown.

Shropshire could not mount an effective reply and hand to punt away possession.    But minutes later a break down in discipline handed the advantage back to the Tigers when a taunting penalty brought the home side to the Shropshire 13 yard line.

Glasgow took full advantage when Choat fired a diagonal pass to Ryan McCluskey, who at full stretch managed to bring in the catch and just get himself inside the boundary for another touchdown.

Shropshire continued to struggle in mounting an effective attack, struggling to break down the rock solid Tigers defense, with no change in the scoring by the end of first quarter.

After getting the game off to the best possible start and with territorial advantage, everything was there for the Tigers to increase their lead and put the game beyond Shropshire.

But the game was turning into a tough defensive battle for both sides with both offenses not posing any real threat to their opponent’s endzone.

But with the minutes running down on the second quarter, the momentum appeared to be moving back to the Tigers with Kieran Phillips turning in a 20 yard run for a first down but could not finish the move off.

Whatever was said by the English coaches at half time appeared to have an effect, with Shropshire having a more positive start to the second half and were inside the Tigers redzone for the first time.

The Tigers appeared to be lacking the energy that was shown during the open two periods and were having to dig down deep and hold off the Shropshire attack.

But fourth down on the four yard line, the visitors did enough to edge closer toward the goal line and a new set of downs, 2 yards from home.

From that distance they were not going to go away empty handed, but it took them two attempts to do it, with Russ Lingwood breaking through a gap in a mass of bodies for a deserved touchdown, with Lee Kazeem nailing the extra point to make it 12-7.

That score gave the visitors the confidence boost that they so desperately needed, with the Tigers struggling to show the kind of energy that they had showed in attack during the first half, but their defense was still battling hard to keep their 5 point advantage.

But even though the English continued give the Tigers some respite with some needless penalties, they still manage to advance up the field looking for the decisive second touchdown and nick the points.

And inside the final minutes of the game, it looked as if the English had made the decisive breakthrough when Kazeem crossed the goal line from a few yards out, but their indiscipline came back to haunt them with the touchdown cancelled following a needless false star penalty.

Shropshire continued to pile on the pressure on the Tigers defense that was desperately hanging on to their slender lead.

However this was Tigers defense that was bending but did not break and that proved to be the decisive factor in this game.

Inside the two minute warning, three yards from the goal line, Kazeem made a last charge towards the endzone, but was denied thanks to a terrific challenge at the near corner, coming up inches short.