BAFA Adult Contact Week 11 Preview

Photo: SL Sports Photos

As we head into the BAFA Adult Contact Week 11 of the 2024 season all eyes are on who makes the playoffs and who will heading to a lower division in 2025. With already one division champion confirmed, the East Kent Mavericks, last week we estimate there could be at least one more confirmed this weekend and a playoff spot secured by five others if results go their way and relegation for others. Intrigue up and down the division this week and we are here for it! Our preview of each fixture is below.

All games kick off at 2 pm unless otherwise stated.

Premiership

North

East Kilbride Pirates (2-3) vs Tamworth Phoenix (3-3)

Edinburgh Wolves (2-3) vs Merseyside Nighthawks (0-7)

EKP and Tamworth meet for the first time this season. The Pirates beat their Scottish rivals two weeks ago coming off a 3-game losing streak and Tamworth have put in two promising performances in the last two weeks, beating Newcastle and running Manchester close and being the first team to keep the Titans below 20 points. Tamworth won both games last season but the travel up to Scotland makes this more of a coin toss game.

Edinburgh and the Nighthawks faced each other in Week 2 where the Wolves came out 53-7 victors. Of the last 7 meetings, Edinburgh have won 5 of them. Edinburgh will be disappointed with their loss to EKP but will want to take a win into the two-week hiatus coming up for Prem teams. At this point the Nighthawks are probably looking forward to the end of the season, they’re conceding an average of 49 points per game and struggling to score. A loss this week and an EKP win will seal the Nighthawks’ fate into Division 1.

South

Bristol Aztecs (3-2) vs Cambridgeshire Cats (4-2)

Hertfordshire Cheetahs (2-4) vs Solent Thrashers (0-6) – 2:30 pm

London Blitz (2-3) vs London Warriors (6-0) – 4 pm

Bristol will be disappointed with last week’s result against the London Warriors which likely concedes the number one spot, but they still have a job to do to secure a playoff spot and that starts this week against fellow contenders the Cambridgeshire Cats. These two met in Week 2 and Bristol came out 35-17 victors. A lot on the line in this matchup!

The Cheetahs and Thrashers met in Week 1 and ended up 20-10 to Hertfordshire. Since then, the Cheetahs have shown they belong in the Prem and now host the Thrashers. Last week they travelled to the Cats and almost pulled off a great comeback but came up short and lost 34-21, surely, they’ll take confidence from their second-half performance. Solent are still fighting for their Premiership survival and you have to think this is one of their last chances to get a victory.

A matchup that in years past was a survival of the fittest but this season is likely to be a different experience. The Warriors’ victory over Bristol last week points towards a dominant team who are getting better as the season goes on and that’s bad news for the Blitz who have only managed two victories so far this season. But they’ll be keen to put on a good performance against their bitter rivals.

Division 1

NFC 1 – Scottish

Highland Stags (1-4) vs Glasgow Tigers (2-2)

Both Highland and Glasgow are coming off losses from last week, but both are still in the playoff race, however, Highland need to win this to stay in the race. These two met in Week 8 in Glasgow where the Tigers were dominant with a 52-7 win. However, they travel up to Highland this time around and Highland have shown to perform better at home than on the road.

NFC 1 – North

Yorkshire Rams (3-1) vs Sheffield Giants (3-3)

An important matchup for both sides in this division with playoff places currently available for each team. Should Yorkshire win this one they stay on track for the division title and will hold the head-to-head against Sheffield. Having lost 0-20 last time around against Yorkshire, Sheffield requires a 20-point turnaround to secure the head-to-head which they may need in the hopes for playoff qualification, should they lose it almost eliminates them from playoff contention.

NFC 1 – Midlands

Leicester Panthers (0-5) vs Birmingham Bulls (2-4)

With playoff spots confirmed the Bulls will now be looking to finish the season on a high. Leicester is fighting for their division 1 survival and considering they still have to face the undefeated Caesars next week this game and their game against Northants are must win, and by 18 points to secure the head-to-head tiebreaker. Last time they met in Week 7 Bulls won 41-23.

SFC 1 – East

London Blitz B (2-3) vs London Olympians (4-2) – 12 pm

Norwich Devils (0-7) vs East Kent Mavericks (6-0)

The London Olympians finish out the season with two games against the London Blitz B. With a victory this week, they can confirm a playoff spot due to their head-to-head against Kent Exiles. Last season the series between these two sides was shared 1-1 with the away team winning each game. This game last season finished 21-7 to the London Olympians.

Two weeks ago, Norwich was not able to field a side against the Eat Kent Mavericks so we hope they can this week to finish off their season. Unfortunately, that forfeit sealed their fate to Division 2 next season. On the other hand, the Division Champions, the Mavericks will be hoping to take to the field to maintain momentum into the playoffs which they secured last week with a victory over the Olympians away from home. They’ve seen two of their best player head abroad so hopefully they have the depth to continue their impressive form.

SFC 1 – Central

Oxford Saints (0-5) vs London Hornets (0-5)

This matchup probably has the greatest implications this week. Both teams sit at the bottom of the division so whoever comes out of the top will put one foot in Division 1 for the 2025 season. The Hornets have shown they have a good defence conceding an average of 18 points per game, compared to Oxford who are conceding over 50 points per game. Both have struggled to score points this season (less than a touchdown a game) so expect a low-scoring affair.

SFC 1 – West

Bristol Apache (6-0) vs South Wales Warriors (4-2) – 12 pm

Somerset Wyverns (2-3) vs Hereford Stampede (0-6)

Having secured their place in the playoff last week Bristol will now be in search of the number one seed in the Division 1 seedings. They currently hold the spot due to having a better average of points conceded. A win this week will crown them SFC 1 – West champions. South Wales Warriors are also chasing a playoff spot and a victory this week will go a long way to doing that. When these two met in Week 5 they were separated by one point in a 7-6 victory to Bristol.

Somerset and Hereford met in Week 3 and Somerset secured a 42-12 victory. Hereford has gone on to struggle to find a victory this season and unfortunately needs a win this week to avoid confirmation of their relegation to Division 2. Somerset is still in with a shout for the playoffs, but they’ll need to win out including this week.

Division 2

NFC 2 – East

Lincolnshire Bombers (1-4) vs Gateshead Senators (4-1)

Wakefield District Raiders (1-3-1) vs Darlington Steam (5-0)

Last week Lincolnshire secured their first victory of the season with a 16-14 win against Doncaster. They now face Gateshead at home who they played earlier in the season in a close one-score game. Suppose the Bombers are to stand a chance they’ll need to make improvements on offence. They are scoring an average of 12 points per game compared to Gateshead’s 36 points per game. Gateshead have also the added drive to win and in for this game and they keep up with Darlington setting up a tasty showdown in Week 14 against the division leaders.

Wakefield and Darlington’s last game was the reverse of this fixture where Darlington came out on top 26-13, but they would have been surprised with how close the game was. Wakefield knows how to scrap in these types of games but they’ll to make improvements on offence to cause an upset. They’re scoring 17 points per game on average but that pales into significance when compared to the Steam’s 40 points per game average.

NFC 2 – West

Lancashire Wolverines (0-3-1) vs Leigh Miners (0-5-1) – 11 am

These two teams tied way back in Week 5 in Leigh but since then not much has gone right for both teams. Can Leigh take some momentum from their surprising offensive performance last week and bring that to this game? Although mathematically the Wolverines can still make the playoffs, form suggests that both teams are playing for local pride and to ensure they finish the season off the bottom of the division.

SFC 2 – Inter-divisional

Sussex Thunder (3-2) vs Essex Tridents (4-1)

Based on current projections this could be a dress rehearsal of the newly announced Division 2 Quarter Finals. They’ve already met each other in Essex’s first-ever game where it finished 9-7 to Essex. Now that Sussex play hosts can they overcome the 2-point margin in the head-to-head? Both have very good defences conceding no more than 8 points per game on average, but Essex has the better offence scoring double what Sussex has.