The London Warriors became Britbowl XXXVI champions this past weekend 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.