Grangemouth Broncos are Division Champions

The Broncos knew before the start of Sunday’s matches that it was possible to take the division top spot, but only if the results went their way. That was going to be no mean feat considering they were playing one of the top three teams in Scotland.

The Broncos and Aberdeen Oilcats games are normally close, so when they got their noses in front, the Broncos’ confidence rose and left the opposition having to catch up. That meant the Oilcats having to take more chances and played into the Broncos’ hands.

By half time the Broncos were in the lead 26–13 and they maintained this form to win 32 points to 19. With three touchdown receptions Kevin Woods took plaudits on offence, with Liam Fleming and Callum Woods also adding to the score. Meanwhile on defence a real team effort was helped by interceptions from Liam Fleming and Andy Brown.

An interesting side note to this game was the competition between Ciaran and Calum Young, both Linlithgow boys, but Callum moved to Aberdeen and plays with the Oilcats while Ciaran plays with the Broncos.

In the day’s second fixture, the Chargers took on the Dragons. The Dragons took the game 27–24.

The Broncos then returned to the field. With a welcome win against the Oilcats already in the bag, the home team were brimming with confidence facing a depleted Carnegie Steelers team, and won comfortably 62–19, even with a significant amount of player rotation.

In the next game on the field, the Oilcats were looking to bounce back from their defeat and did it in style with a clear 62-13 win.

In their final game of the day the Broncos started well against the Dragons, but seemed to go off the boil in the middle of the game allowing the Dragons a glimmer of hope. However, the Broncos rallied to win the game with a reasonably comfortable 41-25 scoreline. McKenzie threw touchdowns and extra points to the Woods brothers and to Daniel Mcgill. Royce Lumsden and Kevin Woods both returned interceptions for touchdowns.

In the final game of the day the Chargers defeated the Steelers 33–20 and it was enough to hand the title to the Broncos.

On Saturday, veteran Broncos players David Mooney and Jimmy Thomson played in the “Wilson Bowl”. This was a charity event played indoors at Toryglen in Glasgow in aid of the Chest, Heart and Stroke, Scotland Charity in memory of Alan and Brenda Wilson who died late last year. They were both well known and well respected faces around the American football scene for many years.

David Mooney joined in with some friends from the past at the Strathclyde Sheriffs while Jimmy Thomson joined a development team from league rivals the Glasgow Hornets. Jimmy’s day went slightly the better as the Hornets went on to win the tournament with Jimmy belying his age and scoring a number of touchdowns at crucial times.