The Titans moved to 4-0 for the season with another strong display in the first game at our new venue, the National Speedway Stadium. Notching up 10 touchdowns on Offense and Special Teams and another multiple turnover day on Defense, the Titans position atop the NFC1 North was cemented.
Eight offensive touchdowns and two special teams scores saw the Titans send the Titans to 4-0 on the season in front of their new home crowd at The National Speedway Stadium in Belle Vue.
The Titans got on the board quickly and often, needing just three plays for running back Joe Nicholson to burn through the Mustangs defense for a 10-yard touchdown.
After the defense held Mustangs on fourth down, the Offense went deep into their playbook, as Sam Bloomfield rolled out to throw a backwards pass to left tackle and Doncaster native Cory Deere, who rumbled home to give the Titans a 13-6 lead.
Jonatan Pan Gago’s strong rushing set up another razzle-dazzle touchdown to start the second quarter. Pan Gago gave WR Luc Kinder the ball on a reverse who duly found Bloomfield wide open in the end zone for the third Titans score of the day.
Doncaster kept pounding at the Titans door, however, until David McInally picked off the Mustangs close to his own goal line. The offense picked up where McInally left off, as Bloomfield found Nicholson, who ran through a defense untouched thanks to blocking from James Newnes and Adam Bamber, for Mean Joe’s second touchdown of the game.
Roared on from the stands, the offense kept hitting its stride and only needed four plays to go 68 yards for their next score. After big plays by Pan Gago and Nicholson, Bloomfield hit Bamber for a 32-yard touchdown to extend the score to 34-14.
As the two-minute warning struck, Manchester’s defense once again gave the offense the ball in great field position. An errant snap led to Mike Ripley and U19’s graduate Khaleel Begg converging to stop the Doncaster offense in their backfield on a key fourth down.
The offense punched it in just three plays later, with Bloomfield hitting another U19s graduate, James Newnes, for the 15-yard touchdown, the sixth Manchester score of the half.
Coming out of the break, the Titans special teams took over. Ryan Newton took the opening kickoff of the second half straight back for a touchdown pushing the score to 48-14.
Special Teams again showed they were the only thing that could slow down the Titans offense, who didn’t see the field in the third quarter. After Doncaster scored, they decided to kick to Newton again, who returned the ball the distance once again for his truly ridiculous fourth non-offensive touchdown in two games.
The Titans defense still smelt blood, with safety Dave Barnett picking off the Mustangs offense. The Titans offense showed no rust when they finally saw the field, as quarterback Alan Mead fired deep down the right sideline to cap off George Slade’s excellent performance on the day.
To cap off the performance, a jubilant Pan Gago caught a pass from Mead and fought his way through multiple tackles to reach pay dirt, giving the Titans a perfect 10 touchdowns on the day in an all round outstanding 67-20 win.
The Titans enter their bye week sitting atop of the NFC1 North with a perfect 4-0 record with three wins and one forfeit victory. The team also stand alone as the #1 scoring team in British American Football, averaging 54.6 points in each of the three times they’ve taken the field.
Manchester will travel to Doncaster in two weeks before a quick turnaround for their second home game of the season against the Yorkshire Rams on 11th June.