The Birmingham Lions have been crowned 2024 NWFL National Champions with victory over the London Warriors at Britbowl Weekend!
An 8-6 defensive showdown with the London Warriors closed Saturday night of the Britbowl Weekend as the Lions took top sport in British Women’s American football.
The Warriors took the lead at a rainy Butts Park Arena through ever-present wide receiver Siobhan Walker, delivering a punishing stiff-arm before waltzing into the end zone on a 39-yard run. A high snap meant failure to convert the extra point for London, giving them just a 6-0 lead to open the scoring.
Resilient rushing was the story of the day for the Birmingham Lions who, after winding runs from receiver Oli Davies and eventual MVP running back Ruth Matta, punched the ball in through a dive from quarterback Natalie Parker. Parker served up more of the same on the two-point conversion to give the Lions a slender lead at 8-6.
From then on, turnovers, tackles for loss and tormented offense told the story of the game. Birmingham’s defense led by Sydney Green, Ibernia Fraser and Victoria Ware prevented any kind of production for London with the ball, but the West Midlands side similarly struggled to find their own success. Hard-hitting tackles from London’s Susan Fagbohun and Sophie George kept the Warriors in with a chance, but once again their offense found themselves frustrated.
Eventually it took a simple first down from Birmingham’s Green, in at wildcat quarterback, to allow the Lions to setup victory formation and secure the NWFL National Championship.
Earlier in the day Butts Park Arena witnessed Colchester Gladiators being crowned Division Two Champions with a 14-0 victory over the Sandwell Steelers securing the national title. Sandwell will join Colchester in ascending to Division One for 2025 after victory in the semi finals.
