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Signs of life for brave Saints
Leicester Falcons 23 - 6 Oxford Saints
The Oxford Saints showed a measure of their grit and determination when they Rolled into Leicester to face one of the division one title favourites Sunday, but came away empty handed as the Falcons proved just too strong.
Missing several key performers once again most pundits anticipated a big win for the Falcons but it was the oxford defence that set the tone for a gutsy performance by shutting down one of the divisions most highly rated offences stone cold on the opening drive.
The Oxford offence showed some signs of life as they began moving the ball but old habits are hard to shake. 2 quick interceptions of Oxford QB Scott Gallen, the first returned into Saints territory from where Stuart Franklin threw a strike down the left sideline and the second returned all the way to paydirt, put Leicester 13 points up before the first quarter was out.
Sensing a rout the Falcons looked to consolidate their advantage and threw everything at the Saints defence. The Oxford pain gang though were in no mood to capitulate and some big hitting, notably from veteran linebacker Troy Smith and his rookie sidekick Ilias Alexeas saw the potent Falcons attack rendered somewhat impotent. A field goal was all the conference leaders had to show for the remainder of a half in which they dominated the time of possession.
It was a similar story throughout the third quarter as the Oxford O struggled to gain any momentum and the defence, with Dover and Fitzpatrick excelling in the secondary, refusing to give up when a lesser team would have accepted their fate.
As the fourth quarter started the Saints offence, spurred on by the heroics of their defensive counterparts began to gain some success on the ground. Given the ball 27 yards out by a tremendous defensive stand, the seemingly indestructible running back Brian Myers took four consecutive handoffs, the last of which saw him reel off the last 7 yards and into the endzone standing up.
Suddenly the Falcons looked like they might wobble, but the long hot day began to take its toll on the small Saints squad and Leicester, who had abandoned the idea of blooding their rookies for the fourth quarter and kept their starters on the field, were in no mood to let the visitors back in. Comfortably controlling the clock with a series of first downs Leicester star running back Timi Dada ripped off a terrific 42 yard run through some tired tackles to ice the game.
The loss drops the Saints to 2-5.
Published: 26-06-2011 by nw