The London Warriors became Britbowl XXXVI champions on Sunday evening as they beat the Bristol Aztecs 31-10 in the Adult Contact Premiership Final at Butts Park Arena.
The highly-anticipated battle between the UK’s top two contact sides kicked off under a setting sun in Coventry, with more than 500 spectators cheering on from the stands.
Three tense quarters of football had London and Bristol separated by just six points before the team from the capital pulled away under the floodlights with touchdowns from Joe Thompson and Uriah Higgins adding to two from running back Andy Owusu
Owusu would claim the Britbowl XXXVI MVP crown, powered by EP Sports, after his dominant rushing performance behind a Warriors offensive line loaded with national programme talent.
The Warriors wasted no time at Butts Park Arena as quarterback Dee Williams quickly found receiver Joe Hamilton on a deep pass to get into Aztecs territory. Running back Owusu capped off the early drive with a score, powering through tackles for a 35-yard rushing touchdown to put London up 6-0.
With Bristol’s offense stalling, Williams again made the Aztecs defense pay as he found tight end Eden Thiede-Palmer on an acrobatic grab at the opposition’s five yard line, before pitching it on the following play to Owusu once more who strolled into the end zone. This time Warriors kicker Reiss Ormonde-Cunningham made no mistake, converting the extra point to go up 13-0.
Bristol’s offense kicked into gear in the second quarter with Aztecs quarterbacks KK Brooks and Louis Benzey firing through the air to receivers David Asamoah and AJ Carr. Bristol running back TJ Jones got his side on the board with a short rushing touchdown, with the extra point converted by kicker Spencer Cutlan.
London gifted Bristol a chance to level the game when a fumbled punt led to a turnover on downs, but it was Warriors defensive lineman Sammy Robertson who appeared out of nowhere to snag himself an interception in his own red zone. London and Bristol traded field goals to close out the first half at 16-10 in the Warriors’ favour.
Defenses dominated the third quarter of action at Butts Park Arena, as the Warriors held firm on an attempted Bristol sneak on fourth down, while the Aztecs defensive line found their way to the London quarterback in the backfield.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the tide turned in favour of the Warriors. London linebacker Rob Warren delivered what may have been the true momentum-swinging moment of Britbowl XXXVI as he aggressively picked off a pass from Brooks to provide his offense with possession once again.
London halfback Higgins stormed through the Aztecs defense to extend the Warriors lead, with Thompson adding two points on a quarterback scramble. Owusu then returned to the field in style with a 58-yard run, brought down at the Aztecs 1 yard line before Thompson crossed the plane himself on a dive up the middle. Ormonde-Cunningham again converted his extra point to bring the score line to 31-10 to the Warriors.
Any hope of a miraculous Bristol comeback was quashed by an interception from London’s #21 Imran Jonasson Yunusa, leaving it to Higgins and quarterback Sam Fenton to run out the clock and return silverware to the English capital.
