World Footy News

It might not mean much in the greater scheme of things, but a forfeit, often considered a “no result”, can sometimes be the trigger for something else. For the Nottingham Scorpions their four points gained from last weekend’s forfeit by the Tyne Tees Tigers has given the Scorpions finals chances a kick start. Suddenly, the Scorpions are back in the race in fifth place, just a game and not a huge percentage behind the fourth-placed Bears.

Whilst the Scorpions luck occurred without a kick in anger, for the league leaders – Manchester and Sheffield – it was almost the opposite. In a pulsating affair, the Mozzies consolidated top spot after an arm wrestle with their nearest ladder rivals in the battle for minor premiership favouritism. The final score saw the Mozzies beat the Thunder 15 13 103 to 15 10 100. They are now a game clear on top, and have returned fire after going down to the Sheffield crew back in Round Six.
But the Thunder can take great heart from the result also if taking a longer term view. The Mozzies were playing in front of their home crowd on a field that know backwards. For the Thunder to get so close against those odds will fill them with confidence to challenge then Mozzies should they meet come finals time – likely they grand-final.

The Huddersfield Rams put themselves into a strong position in third place with a solid 49 point win over the Bears in Birmingham, in the process placing the Bears in a shaky position to hold their place in the four.

Next week’s matches will see Sheffield take on Birmingham and Wolverhampton meet Nottingham at the Wolverines home ground. The Tyne Tees Tigers will host the Huddersfield Rams, whilst the Manchester Mozzies enjoy a week off.

Round 11 Results:

Sheffield Thunder 15.10 (100) def. by Manchester Mosquitoes 15.13 (103) at Manchester
Nottingham Scorpions def. Tyne Tees Tigers by default (Tyne unable to field a team)
Birmingham Bears 6.16 (52) def. by Huddersfield Rams 15.11 (101) at Birmingham


Ladder:

Manchester 36, Sheffield 32, Huddersfield 20, Birmingham 16, Nottingham 12, Wolverhampton 12, Tyne Tees 4