Triple Away Game Weekend: Double Victory over Pirates and Fifth Northern Crown
Titans U19s go 4-1 and the Adult Contact Team are crowned Premiership North Champions for the 5th year in succession.
By Timothy Foster
On Saturday 18th July our Titans Women travelled south to Greenwich to take on the London Warriors in their final game of the 2026 NWFL season. Interrupting the Warriors’ end of season party, a diminished Titans squad arrived for a 4pm kick off in the blazing sun and left with a 55-0 loss, ending their season 0-6. Titans Women will not progress to the playoffs this season but after having successfully navigated a difficult re-build year their focus is now on preparing for 2027.
RB and DB Emily Rodrigues at Avery Hill Campus, 18 July 2026 (Photo by Hannah McManus)
Mind-blowingly, the next morning a number of Titans Women’s players, coaches and team management (some rotating functions) arrived 440 miles north to take on the East Kilbride Pirates for an U19 and Adult Contact double header at the Pirates’ home ground.
Going into the game EKP’s U19s were unbeaten (5-0) and the Titans U19s were on a three-match winning streak in Division 1 Scotland & North, so a tough battle was expected. Titans Adult Contact always expect a tough challenge from a combative EKP outfit, so a strong yet slightly reduced roster knew they were in for a battle too in the BAFA Premiership North.
A 5:45 start for a 12:00 kick-off was not an easy task but Titans U19s took a 1st Quarter lead when stand-in QB Bailey Cross (#21) scrambled for a touchdown after a turnover by Fin Norton (DB, #1). However, EKP hit back and multiple missed tackles allowed a TD run-in to make the score level at 6-6 (both extra point conversions missed). The EKP QB (#12) showed the power of his arm on multiple occasions, but the Titans secondary were up to the challenge, and the sides went into the half on level terms.
Bailey Cross (QB, #21) with the run-in to score the opening touchdown at GHA RFC, 19 July 2026. Photo by Adam McCulloch.
EKP took the lead in the 3rd Quarter with a “tush push” but in an attempt to stretch the lead they failed on their two-point conversion. Great defensive play by the Titans kept them in the game and QB Cross found Darrion Banton (WR, #9) with a pass down the middle for a fantastic touchdown. Titans held their nerve and completed the only extra point conversion of the game to go one point clear. Heroic defence in the closing moments of the game got them a well-earned victory. Titans U19 are now 4-1 on the season with one regular season game left - Lancashire Buccaneers at home on Sunday 26 July.
Alex Lenkowski (K, #17) booting the rock through the uprights. Photo by Katie Stepek.
Stoic defence was the name of the game for the Adult Contact team too, as the EKP QB (#10) dominated field position for most parts of the 1st Quarter. However, the arm of Josh Mills (QB, #3) prevailed and on two occasions he found Brad Temple (WR, #1) and Sam Wilson (WR, #88) who had burned their defensive coverage. One extra point conversion put the Titans 0-13 up (with the ball boys scrambling in the bushes looking for the ball, likely cursing Alex Lenkowski’s name (K, #17)). EKP hit back as a result of good field position with a safety and a run-in TD for an 8-13 scoreline at the end of the 1st Quarter.
BK Ndlovu (WR, #23) at GHA RFC, 19 July 2026. Photo by Katie Stepek.
A pick-six and two-point conversion put EKP in the lead 16-13, but Hafeez Bisiriyu (RB, #34) cut an arching run into the corner and the extra-point conversion was good putting the score at half time at 16-20. Titans then stepped up in the 3rd Quarter with a couple of great catches downfield by Brad Temple and Matt Wilson (WR, #81) set up perfect field position for Josh Mills to keep a speed option with the OL creating the perfect gap for him. Josh then found Connor Greenhalgh (WR, #11) with a pass down the middle and he powered away from his chasers.
The 3rd Quarter score of 16-32 was to be the final score, but not before some lung-busting defensive stands and turnovers on downs. Scott Tomlinson (OL, #56) and Conor Hewitt (OL, #71) put a shift in on DL towards the end of the game but “having done it before relied on muscle memory”. Shout-outs to DC James Dean, Lewis Potts’ “D-Line Dogs” and Allan Murdoch’s Defensive Backs for withstanding the onslaught that EKP threw at them, with some great interceptions by Derrick Florence (DB, #40 - his first pick leading to the Titans’ first TD of the day) and Dan Ward (DB, #6). But most of all to the coaches, staff, and players for completing 5 consecutive Premiership North Championships.
Fancy footwork from Herm Manga (RB, #80). Photo by Katie Stepek.
The shared coach journey home turned into karaoke, and the author’s imagination has Tyler Browne (WR, #29) giving a rendition of Mambo No. 5, and wondering whether Coach Foster’s Caroline was Sweet?
[The editorial team can confirm Tyler Browne sang Snooze by SZA and Coach Foster performed Eminem’s Lose Yourself. However, the author will be glad to know the entire coach was singing Sweet Caroline as they pulled into Gretna Green services.]
With the Titans now at 6-0 on the season with two more regular season games to play, they have secured the top seed in the North which grants them a home semi-final. At the time of writing, the Premiership South is as yet undecided on who it will send up north to Manchester for their playoff game. The likely candidate will be London Blitz, but there could still be some more surprises down South!
Your five-time Northern Champions! Photo by Katie Stepek.
Manchester Titans play at home next against the Merseyside Nighthawks on Saturday 1 August, then host the Nottingham Caesars on Saturday 8 August. Get your tickets now!