Juniors
Dundee Thunder @ Grangemouth Broncos
27th June 2004

Inchrya Park, Grangemouth

Sunny with a Slight Breeze

QB David Ewing
Josh Keir, Kevin Simpson, Scott Halbert, Chris McKerral and Craig Finlay.

Full Time ... 55-48 to the Broncos (H/T 21-36)

Kevin Simpson 4 TDs, 1 x 2pt Conversion and 4 x 1pt Conversions,
Scott Halbert 2 TDs, Chris McKerral 1 TD and a 1pt Conversion and Josh Keir 1 TD.

The Juniors started the defense of their Scottish title at the weekend with their first SFFA League game of the year. The game saw the Broncos hosting the Dundee Thunder for the first ever time in a league match and as two of the oldest established clubs in Scotland it promised to be a great match.
The Broncos have a relatively new Squad at Juniors with many of last years players now too old to continue in this age band. This lack of experience was compounded by a recent change in the coaching set up at the club with Matt McAllister taking on the role of Coach to the team.
The team has a dreadful start to the game and drawing towards the end of the first half they were 28-7 behind. The Dundee offense had scored consistently on their drives and their defense had intercepted the Broncos twice. Coach McAllister called a time out, steadied his players and sent them back out to complete a scoring drive. Dundee then had the final drive before half-time and it was the turn of the Broncos defense to intercept a pass and run it back for a TD. 14 points clawed back and the deficit was 15 at the half.
Coach McAllister's talk during the Time Out had worked perfectly.
The Broncos started with the ball in the second half and fine play from QB David Ewing and WR Josh Keir saw the ball in the End Zone for a TD and the gap was down to 8. The remainder of the second half saw the Broncos start to take control of the game defensively with Craig Finlay stepping up to hold the Dundee running attack, whilst the Offense started to move the ball steadily and score.
As the game drew to a close ...
the Broncos finally regained the lead, only to see Dundee level the scores at 48-48 ...
with just under 2 minutes on the clock.
The Broncos took possession and again drove steadily up the park with Scott Halbert scoring a fine running TD to take the score to 55-48 Broncos with only 8 seconds left on the clock.
Dundee tried valiantly to level the score and take the game to overtime but the clock was against them and a decisive tackle from Chris McKerral finished them off and gave the Broncos the win.
It was a tremendous 'come-back' victory for the team after such a dreadful start. All the players had performed well but everyone who watched the game (players , coaches and officials alike) all agreed that the MVP of the game was the teams Centre Kevin Simpson. Kevin played both offense and defense ... scoring a number of TDs on offense , and whilst on defense intercepting for a TD just before the half ... the turning point of the game.
Club Head Coach Ewing said afterwards ... That was great. It showed the determination of the players to come from so far behind, and it showed the skill of their New Coach to keep them focused and motivated. A superb team well worthy of their win.

Special mentions go to the whole team ... who found themselves down 28-7 mid-way through the first half and not only did the Broncos claw their way back into the game ... they took a 48-36 with less than four minutes left on the clock. Although Dundee pulled it level at 48-48 the Broncos still managed to find the extra energy to edge back in front with seconds remaining.
Also congratulations to Rookie Coach Matt McAllister ... who won his first ever game in charge of a Grangemouth Broncos team.
Well Done Guys !

Kevin Simpson