Photo: Duncolm Sports Photography
As Week 9 of the BAFA Adult Contact season approaches, fans can look forward to a series of captivating matchups that promise to deliver intense gridiron action. Divisions 1 and 2 are heating up nicely with some season-defining games coming up with some teams running out of games far quicker than they would like. All eyes will be on the Scottish rivalry game between East Kilbride and Edinburgh in a game which is always intense and close. With teams fighting for playoff spots, this weekend’s fixtures are set to captivate us all. Here is the preview of all the Adult Contact fixtures this coming weekend.
All games kick off at 2 pm unless otherwise stated.
Premiership
North
Merseyside Nighthawks (0-5) vs Manchester Titans (4-0) – 2:30 pm
East Kilbride Pirates (1-3) vs Edinburgh Wolves (2-2) – 4 pm
Tamworth Phoenix (2-2) vs Newcastle Vikings (4-1) – 4 pm
Look away now Nighthawks fans, the Titans are coming to town following a 76-0 victory at their place only two weeks ago. Merseyside are conceding an average of 47 points per game and Manchester is scoring an average of 46 points per game.
Rivalry weekend continues just as the game in Merseyside finishes, the battle of Scotland supremacy kicks off. Last season Edinburgh took the series 2-0 with this fixture finishing 37-7 to the Wolves. Rarely are these two sides separated by more than two touchdowns and this season it seems both are still trying to find their form and gather some momentum so expect nothing less.
Phoenix and Vikings take to the gridiron in 2024 having never met before. The Premiership stalwarts versus the new kids on the block. Times have changed in both programmes and although Newcastle will go into this fixture as favourites as they look to sure up their playoff place, eyes still look at Tamworth waiting for the results to come as they always used to.
South
London Warriors (4-0) vs Cambridgeshire Cats (3-1)
Hertfordshire Cheetahs (2-2) vs Bristol Aztecs (2-1) – 2:30 pm
Currently the top two in the division both teams have met expectations so far this season. London Warriors are dominating everyone not named the Bristol Aztecs and this is Cambridgeshire’s biggest test yet. The Cats are only conceding an average of 17 points per game whereas the Warriors are scoring an average of 42 points per game. This is an interesting matchup.
So far, Hertfordshire have proven they belong in the division, but have a long way to go to compete with the teams at the top of the division. They now face one of the BritBowl pre-season favourites and are likely to face a similar test to the Warriors. Bristol doesn’t concede that many points and Hertfordshire haven’t scored very many either. This is the first time these two teams have ever met.
Division 1
NFC 1 – Scottish
Clyde Valley Blackhawks (1-4) vs Inverclyde Goliaths (4-0) – 12 pm
The Blackhawks are on a 4-game losing streak and the Goliaths are on a 4-game winning streak. These two shared a close encounter in Week 6 where Inverclyde came out 10-0 victors. Clyde Valley will be chasing a turnaround in fortunes to overtake Highland Stags and move off the bottom of the table. In their previous six encounters both teams have shared 3 wins each, Inverclyde is likely the favourites this week but expect a close encounter.
NFC 1 – North
Humber Warhawks (1-3) vs Scunthorpe Alphas (2-2)
Yorkshire Rams (2-1) vs Chester Romans (3-2)
On the Inside Britball Podcast, we have joked that this division should be known as NFC 1 – Random and at this point in the season the results are playing out that way. Four teams are in contention for playoff places and three of them are in action this weekend.
Humber Warhawks are going to have to go on a four-game win streak, as well as getting the postponed game scheduled, to be in with a chance of the playoffs and this week they face the Alphas who will be disappointed with last week’s result. Losing to Chester with a second-half comeback will sting and no doubt they’ll be determined to bounce back with the trip to Humber.
Yorkshire have had an up-and-down season so far with no real momentum gained and Week 9 brings only their fourth game. They’ll be very keen to take their 20-0 victory over Sheffield Giants last week to find a run of form, especially in a fixture that will no doubt have head-to-head implications at the end of the season. Chester’s defence will have something to say about it for sure. Only conceding an average of 10 points per game, it will no doubt be the performance of their offence which will decide whether Chester come away with a victory from their trip to Leeds. This is Chester’s sixth game of the season so they’re very much in the business end of their season with little room for mistakes. A big game and rightly so one of the Games of the Week.
NFC 1 – Midlands
Leicester Panthers (0-4) vs Northants Knights (2-3)
Shropshire Revolution (4-2) vs Birmingham Bulls (2-3)
Another interesting division. Yes, the Caesars are running away with it, but what about second place for that playoff spot? Shropshire, Northants and now Birmingham are all in contention.
Unfortunately, Leicester’s difficult start to the season continued last week with a convincing loss to Shropshire and now they face a team that doesn’t concede many points in the Northants Knights. Leicester are averaging around two touchdowns a game whereas the Knights are only conceding 11 points per game. Northants will be desperate to do a U-turn on their 3-game losing streak and get back to what looked like a playoff team earlier in the season.
Well, Shropshire belongs in Division 1 don’t they? 6 games in and they’ve beaten everyone except Nottingham. The thorn in their playoff hopes is that they didn’t quite secure the head-to-head with Northants who take that series by just 7 points. However, following the Knights’ loss to Birmingham last week, their playoff hopes are in their hands. They face a resurgent Birmingham side who have gone from 0-3 to now 2-3 and shocked many with that win last week. This is going to be a tasty game with playoff implications!
SFC 1 – East
East Kent Mavericks (4-0) vs Norwich Devils (0-6)
London Olympians (2-1) vs Kent Exiles (2-2)
Norwich have had a tough season, and they have two games left to get some results to finish on a high, the problem for them is, that they’re both against East Kent Mavericks who are performing efficiently and taking Division 1 by storm following their promotion last season. The Mavericks now go on a 3-game streak before the BAFCA convention bye week. A trip to London Olympians sandwiched between two games against Norwich. They’ll need to take care of business this week without looking too much towards a crucial game next week against the Olympians.
If you look at the Exiles’ social media, they’ve been signing several players, and it’ll be interesting to see what impact that has on their end of the season. They have a tough test this week in the London Olympians who they have already lost to earlier this season. In recent history, these two teams have faced each other 7 times and the Olympians have won four of them. A must-win game for both if they wish to make the playoffs.
SFC 1 – Central
Portsmouth Dreadnoughts (2-3) vs Oxford Saints (0-3)
Both Portsmouth and Oxford are on losing streaks which they’ll be looking to rectify. The issue for Oxford is that they’ve already met Portsmouth this season and they lost 50-0. These two teams have met five times in recent history and Oxford currently hold the advantage with three wins, but they’ve struggled on offence this season so it’s likely their objectives are to improve in key areas to set themselves up for clashes against the London Hornets. Before Portsmouth faced Wembley and Rushmoor they were dominant, so expectations are a Portsmouth dominant win this week.
Division 2
NFC 2 – East
Darlington Steam (4-0) vs Wakefield District Raiders (1-2-1)
Darlington are on a roll and there isn’t a lot to suggest this will change, but, they do come up against a buoyant Raiders team who secured their first victory of the season last week against the Lincolnshire Bombers. The last time these two teams met was in 2022 when Darlington beat the then Knottingley Raiders, 48-6. Darlington are scoring an average of 43 points per game and will be favourites going into this game.
NFC 2 – West
Leigh Miners (0-3-1) vs Staffordshire Surge (3-0)
This will be the eighth game between these two teams with the current record standing at 6-0-1 to the Surge and along with the great form of Staffordshire, this is likely to be a difficult matchup for Leigh who have now got 3 games back-to-back. We saw this fixture earlier in the season when the Surge beat Leigh at home 32-8. Leigh will be looking for improvements on offence to make life difficult for the Surge.
SFC 2 – East
Essex Tridents (3-1) vs Ouse Valley Eagles (3-2)
Essex will have been delighted with the convincing away victory last week to Ouse Valley who meet again this week. The division is shaping up to be between Colchester and Essex who are currently separated by one point. Ouse Valley will need to travel to Essex and overturn the 35-point loss last week to have a chance of a playoff spot. Essex have got a good defence only conceding 20 points so far this season so it’ll be a tough ask.
SFC 2 – West
Swindon Storm (2-3) vs Berkshire Renegades (2-2)
Another game which is a tasty one this week with major playoff indications. Recent history all points toward a Berkshire win who are seemingly Swindon’s bogey team winning 3 of the last 3 meetings between the two. The two sides were separated by 7 points earlier in the season with a 21-14 victory for the Renegades at home. Swindon will need to improve on offence to have a chance of taking the victory and overtaking Berkshire in the division.