Match Preview: Sunderland Spartans vs York St John Jaguars

The Sunderland Spartans are back in action this weekend as they host varsity rivals York St John.

The Spartans are treating this game as Homecoming weekend with invites extended to alumni from years past as they look to get their first win of the season and first under head coach Misba Islam.

Sunderland will be looking for revenge as the Jaguars beat the Spartans 14-12 in the league last year and also picked up a flag football win during the Clash of the Minsters annual varsity tournament.

Both teams enter this game 0-1 after previously losing to Sheffield Sabres. The Spartans opened the season with a 48-13 home defeat to Sheffield who then travelled to York the weekend after to beat the Jaguars 50-0.

Last season ended with both teams occupying the bottom two spots in the division so Sunderland will see this as a great opportunity to get that first win under their belt. The game starts a run of three potentially season defining games in quick succession for the Spartans who will travel to the same opponents the weekend after followed by a final home game of the calendar year, hosting York Centurions.

Looking ahead to the game quarterback Aaron Wall said: “I’m excited, we have made a lot of improvements in the three weeks since we played Sheffield and I really believe we can make a statement in this game.

“York St John are a rival of sorts. Whilst there is no bad blood, the knowledge that we play them at Clash of the Minsters just puts that extra pressure on coming away on the right side of the result.”

“We’ve put the effort in and I believe this is a great chance to showcase what we are capable of”

Wall passed the ball for 127 yards with two touchdowns against Sheffield and intends to improve on those numbers in this game.

“They’re nice to look at and I would love to get more people the stats they deserve but there is only one statistic we care about and it is getting that first win for Coach Islam,” Wall said.