Eurobowl reaching tense climax
Christopher Mann
Posted on: 19 May 2008 - 09:42
American Football
Austrian teams continue to dominate this year’s Eurobowl competition with three sides from the country progressing through to the semi-finals. The Triol Raiders, Vienna Vikings and Graz Giants all saw off their opposition to secure places in the last four where they will be joined by Finland’s Seinajoki Crocodiles.
The final British side left in the competition, the Coventry Cassidy Jets, were eliminated at the quarter-final stage last Saturday by a convincing Triol Raiders team, losing out 49-20. Gerry McManus’ side were put to the sword by Raiders’ wide receiver Florian Grein who scored a hat-trick of touchdowns for the Austrian domestic league leaders. On a disappointing day for the Jets, one positive note was the form of receiver Mark Cohen. Cohen scored 2 touchdowns and took 8 receptions for 99 yards over the course of the game. Now out of European competition, the Jets will focus their attention on the British Football League. They start their campaign on May 18th at home against the Birmingham Bulls.
Of the other Eurobowl quarter-final ties, the fixture involving reigning champions Vienna Vikings and the Bergamo Lions of northern Italy proved to be the most explosive encounter. In a high-scoring encounter the Vikings eventually ran out winners by 51 points to 32. The Vikings who currently sit at the top of the European rankings dispatched an injury-hit Lions side, racking up an impressive 35 points by half time, Jamaican running back Clinton Graham scoring 4 touchdowns. However, the Lions made things more difficult for the European champions in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Anthony Stallings starred for the Italian side after the break, he was used as the go-to man on offence and managed to score 2 touchdowns in a spirited comeback. However it was a case of too little too late for Bergamo who finished 19 points short of their opponents.
The other two quarter-final results saw the Seinajoki Crocodiles defeat the Eidsvoll 1814s by 22 points to 16 and the Graz Giants beat the Stuttgart Scorpions 24-9 in Germany. Perhaps unsurprisingly the four teams left in the competition mirror the top four in the recently released EFL rankings table. The Coventry Jets appear in ninth place in list which was published on Tuesday.
The semi-finals of the Eurobowl are drawn so that the highest ranked side left in the tournament plays the lowest and the second-placed team plays the third-placed. This structure sees the hotly-tipped Vienna Vikings host the Seinajoki Crocodiles at the Stadium Hohe Warte, and the Graz Giants travel to the Alpenstadium Wattens to face the Tirol Raiders in an all-Austrian clash.
The Vikings are widely expected to progress to the Eurobowl final showpiece, but the Crocodiles will no doubt have been given hope by the defensive frailties exhibited by the Vienna side in their second half display against Bergamo. Both semi-finals are to be played on Saturday 31st May and should provide great entertainment for the capacity crowds expected in Vienna and Triol.