The Glasgow Tigers have been hard at work in training over the last two weeks, following their last game at home to the East Kilbride Pirates.
But our rivals in the NFC1 North have all been in action – here’s a look at how they have fared, and how that might impact the rest of the Tigers’ 2019 season.
East Kilbride Pirates
The Tigers’ most recent opponents have continued their unbeaten run to start the season, with a 49-12 victory over the Gateshead Senators to push them to 4-0 on the year.
The Pirates showed off both sides of their game, with a mix of run and pass scores, as they put the Senators to the sword in front of their home crowd.
An interception before half-time allowed the Senators back into the game at 21-6, but the East Kilbride side were quick to extend a lead that eventually proved too much for Gateshead.
This weekend sees the top two teams clash for the first time, as the Pirates travel to Newcastle to take on their fellow undefeated side, the Northumberland Vikings.
Northumberland Vikings
The Vikings – who defeated the Tigers 22-14 in a close Week One match up – continue to set the pace alongside the Pirates, and defended their league lead with a 10-6 win over Yorkshire Academy Rams two weeks ago.
Despite a close game that proved a better account of the Rams than their early games this year, the Vikings were able to return to Tyneside with the win.
Both teams suffered self-inflicted wounds throughout, with a number of penalties breaking up the flow of the game and preventing either side from gathering the momentum.
After a week off, the 5-0 Vikings host the Pirates this weekend in the aforementioned top-of-the-table clash.
Aberdeen Roughnecks
The past few weeks have brought mixed results for the Roughnecks in the NFC1 North season following promotion last year.
Two weeks ago, the Roughnecks continued their impressive start to the year with a 36-6 victory over the Gateshead Senators. The Granite City gridiron side came into the game full of confidence after a narrow 7-3 defeat against the league leading Vikings, and made it count with their performance.
But last weekend proved a more difficult game, as the Roughnecks hosted the Rams in Aberdeen in the reverse of their Week Two clash.
And while the Roughnecks ran out surprise 42-0 winners in that first game, it was a whole different ballgame in the return fixture.
In a tough defensive game, the Rams managed to escape the north-east with a narrow 2-0 win to knock the Roughnecks down to 2-3 for the season.
The Roughnecks head to Nethercraigs this Sunday to take on the Tigers as we come off a two-week break.
Yorkshire Academy Rams
After a disappointing start to the season, the Rams have put together an impressive run to take their season to 2-4 on the year.
Despite starting with defeats against Aberdeen Roughnecks and the Glasgow Tigers, the side got things off and running back in May with a win over the Gateshead Senators.
A tough back-to-back against the league leading Vikings and Pirates halted their momentum, but the Rams got things going again in a big way – in spite of the scoreline.
As mentioned, they defeated Aberdeen Roughnecks 2-0 to split their series with Aberdeen but more importantly, keep themselves clear of the Gateshead Senators.
The Rams took only 20 players on a mammoth away trip, and impressive performances from all helped the team to upset the Roughnecks.
The Yorkshire side now face a two-week break of their own before they host East Kilbride Pirates on June 23rd.
Gateshead Senators
It’s been a tough start to the season for the Gateshead side. After opening 2019 with a defeat to local rivals Northumberland Vikings, the Senators have yet to find the spark that will get their season going.
After five game days on the bounce – including the Tigers’ visit to Tyneside last month – the Senators now have some well earned rest and will look to get revenge for some of the defeats in the first six games of the season as they move into the second half, and down the stretch.
Despite the scoreline, this last weekend’s clash with the East Kilbride Pirates saw the Senators put up the most points in a game on the season, and they will look to continue to build on that as they bid to avoid the drop to the NFC2 North.
All the action over the last few weeks have pushed the Tigers down to fourth in the table, with a .500 record (2-2). The East Kilbride Pirates are two games clear in second place, but a victory over the Roughnecks this weekend could push the Tigers back into third place.
Find out more about this weekend’s game, and let us know if you’ll be there to roar the Tigers on, on our Facebook event page.
