With the Manchester Titans coming off back to back losses, the Adult Contact Team bounced back to form with 47-6 victory over the West Coast Trojans.
Early in the day, the U19s team set the tone with a comprehensive 40-0 win over the Merseyside Nighthawks.
The Adult Contact Team started well with the Defence holding West Coast on 4th down and the Offense driving down the field to score on TE Ste Kimmins 5 yard run. Former U19s player, Ben Nuttall kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The Defense repeated on the next series with DB James Dean knocking down a 4th down pass to gift the Titans superb field position on the WC 18 yard line. From there RB Luke Campbell scampered in for his 1st TD of the season. Nuttall again added the conversion for a 14-0 scoreline.
Both teams were forced to punt on their next possession as the 1st Quarter ended.
A sack by LB Adam Newton gave Manchester the ball on their 39 yard line and they were moving the ball well before QB Alan Mead threw an interception in the endzone to end a promising drive.
With Veteran Titans LB Rob Bainbridge leading the charge, the Trojans were again forced to punt. Campbell rushed for 47 yards on 4 carries on the next drive which again ended with an interception by West Coast.
The Trojans offense now started moving more effectively and drove from their 20 yard line all the way to the Titans 4. But with a goal-line stand reminiscent of the 1st game against Yorkshire, Manchester’s Defense did not break and forced a turnover on downs.
Neither team could trouble the scoreboard for the rest of the quarter and the half-time score remained 14-0.
The Titans offense were forced to punt on their first possession and West Coast took advantage with a quick slant taken 55 yards to paydirt. The 2 point attempt was no good and the score was 14-6.
But Manchester hit straight back, driving 54 yards in 7 plays, highlighted by 2 catches for 39 yards by WR George Slade, before Campbell added his 2nd TD from 1 yard out. Nuttall’s kick was good making the score 21-6.
On West Coast’s next possession, Dean stepped in front of a Trojans pass and returned it 26 yards to the WCT 9 yard line. From there, Campbell made it a hat-trick of TDs, with another successful kick making the score 28-6.
Dean repeated the trick on the next drive with another interception, this time returning it 21 yards to the West Coast 24. 3 plays later, Mead found WR Ryan Newton down the right sideline for a 19 yard TD pass. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score 34-6.
The Trojans turned the ball over on the downs on their next series to end the 3rd quarter.
From the West Coast 31, it took the Titans only 3 plays before Mead found Newton again, this time with a short pass, which he made several defenders miss and scored his 2nd TD from 20 yards out, Nuttall added his 5 conversion to make the score 41-6. The 35 point lead meant we saw a rolling clock introduced.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Trojans returner failed to pick up the live ball, leaving Campbell to recover. 4 plays later, Newton looked like he was going to be held short of the endzone but smartly lateraled the ball to RB Garry Maybanks who ran in from 3 yards out to score. The blocked extra point left the score 47-6.
Neither team added to the score and the final result was 47-6 to the 5-2 Manchester Titans, who now have beaten every team in the division except Edinburgh who they face at Burnage Rugby Club on Sunday 26th June.