The story since xpLosION
Since a cold and tense affair against Loughborough back on 7th November, the Birmingham Lions have gone from strength to strength. They have gone 8-0 to complete a third consecutive, undefeated regular season under the leadership of head coach Tony Athersmith. This season saw a much more challenging regular season schedule for the Lions, with rival clashes occurring with UWE, Herts and obviously Loughborough. Other regular season matchups included Warwick, Oxford, BNU, Reading and Worcester.
The Lions have been working with a large rookie contingent this year, due to many of the senior team members finishing university. These key leavers include 4-year linebacker and team captain Tim Mobbs and last years Vice president of sport Mark ‘Sparky’ Smith. Tristan Varney had returned this year though, as a second year quarterback, on the back of the BUAFL offensive league MVP trophy.
The first game following xpLosION was at home to Oxford and saw a disjointed performance from the Lions who were still finding their feet; Birmingham eventually won 26-6. The next game was a trip down the M40 to face a physical Reading team. This matchup proved a very one-sided affair, with Birmingham coming out 55-8 victors – building up precious momentum and confidence within the team. The Lions then beat a rookie Worcester team 83-0 to finish the first term at university. Post Christmas Birmingham saw off rivals UWE and Herts 54-18 and 44-12 respectively before putting 62 points on Warwick away from home. The BNU game got called off due to the snow and then got awarded to Birmingham when a date couldn’t be found for the matchup.
The Lions won their first playoff game against Bristol Barracuda on Sunday 14th March – by the margin of 52-6. This leaves three playoff games left to win for a second 12-0 perfect season. The next challenge for the Birmingham Lions is a home fixture against UWE Bullets on Sunday 28th March at 1pm at the Metchely playing fields. Please show up and offer your support.
(article submitted and adapted by the Redbrick)
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