Ipswich Cardinals - 52 @ Hampshire Thrashers - 26

It was an idyllic setting on Fathers Day in Winchester. The sun shone down as the babbling river meandered past the Willow edged home field of the Hampshire Thrashers American football club.

Supporters of both the hosts and the visiting Suffolk side, along with families strolling by and curious onlookers had no idea of the excitement that lay ahead.

Having beaten the Thrashers at Northgate a fortnight ago by the healthy scoreline 38-13, the Ipswich Cardinals were favourites to repeat that performance, despite the arduous bus trip and early start.

The Hampshire men had other ideas however and twice gained an advantage in the opening half. An Ipswich penalty for roughing the passer pushed the hosts forward on their opening drive, and on a fourth and 15 play, their quarterback Nick Watson connected with an open receiver for the first score of the day.

Later in the first quarter the Cardinals were successful on a 4th down of their own as QB Oz Gardners dash around the Thrashers defenders set up Chris Bishop with his first score of the day. 7-7.

The Cardinals defense was coping pretty well with the Thrashers out and out passing attack, as both rookie Nick Pyke and veteran Matt Nicoll, the Ipswich cornerbacks dealt extremely well with heavy workloads.

Into the second quarter another roughing penalty kept the Thrashers offense on the field, and again, they capitalised with another scoring pass from Watson.

The Cardinals hit straight back with Gardner taking an option run deep into Hampshire territory, before Paul Borstel blasted into the endzone from short yardage. 14-14.

On the next series, the Thrashers were forced to punt. A good, deep kick was fielded by Damico Perry who returned the ball with interest all the way to the Thrashers 18 yard line. Steven Baines, the Cardinal kicker that enjoyed a 100% success rate in the teams last meeting, kept up that record with a short field goal attempt and the visitors got their noses in front for the first time.

With time running out in the half however, the Thrashers inched their way into field goal range and Dom Williams converted from 37 yards out to tie the game at the half.
This entertaining match really was up for grabs with honours even at the interval, but things were about to change in a huge way!

As play got underway in the third quarter some choice words from Ipswich QB Gardner were misinterpreted by the referees and he was ejected from the game! This astonishing development altered things tremendously for Ipswich Head Coach and Offensive co-ordinator Ian Girling, as Gardners back-up is James Branton, a first year player whose only service until now had been on the final drive of the game a fortnight ago!

The nervous 20 year old trainee construction manager from Martlesham took the field and threw his first pass completion to Mike Bell. Coming up shy of the first down marker however, the Cardinals were forced to punt. The Hampshire return man took his eye off the ball as he motioned to catch the incoming ball and it bobbled to the ground. A huge pile of bodies swarmed around him and it was Nicoll that came up with the pigskin.

Branton took to the field again where, realising the pressure situation he was in, the rest of the offense stepped up a gear. The blocking up front from the big linemen of the Cardinals became that much more aggressive, the rushing from Borstel, Bishop and Bell looked more decisive, and from that fumble recovery the fresh faced young quarterback led a scoring drive for a lead his side would not relinquish. It was Borstel that capped the drive from close range.
Defensive co-ordinator Sandy Francis had warned his Ipswich defenders that they would also need to step things up to aid the offensive unit, and they duly held firm on the next Hampshire possession, conceding just another Williams field goal effort and three points. 20-24 to Ipswich.

Momentum really swung the visitors way on the next possession. Calling conservative plays to help his young QB, Girling signalled in a short pass play that was executed perfectly. Branton threw to Mike Royster, the hugely talented and exciting US receiver who took a 4 yard pass and turned it into a 53 yard touchdown!

As the fourth quarter began, things really started to go crazy. Hampshire were forced to punt and the Cardinals took just 4 plays to score again as Bishop high kneed into the endzone for his second TD run. On the next possession it took just 1 play as Bishop burst through to go 42 yards untouched and chalk up his hattrick. With the score now at 20-45 this amazing game had been turned upside down and shaken every which way!

Watson, entirely let down by his sides defending, pressed on manfully and was rewarded for his efforts when he connected with receiver Kyle Latore for his third TD pass of the day but it was the Suffolk side that would have the final say when Borstel also claimed a hattrick of scores, after rookie Tight End AJ Taylor took a reverse play deep into Hampshire territory, bouncing tacklers off him along the way.
Baines ended the scoring, and another 100% day with the final PAT (point after touchdown) kick, and time ran out for the weary and well beaten hosts with the scoreboard reading 26-52 in Ipswichs favour.

It really was an extraordinary performance from the Cardinals, fighting through adversity and grouping together to overpower the Hampshire side. Three wins on the trot moves the Suffolk side up into second place in the division now, with a tough trip to Crawley next weekend to play the Sussex Thunder.