Sunderland Spartans 14 – 14 York Centurions: 80-yard touchdown flipped opener on its head as Spartans ensure well fought draw

A flag filled opening game and a failed go-ahead field goal by York left both teams evenly matched. 

The Spartans came out the dressing room bouncing and louder than the York side, hoping to show it on the field. Sunderland quarterback Aaron Wall threw a dime of a pass to wide receiver Timi Haastrup, resulting in an 80-yard touchdown however just before the half the quarterback threw an interception. 

During the match both team’s touchdowns occurred at opposite ends of the game as spectators were treated to an exciting finish. A failed last minute field goal was missed by York offering Sunderland a chance to march up the field and score a winner.  

York kicked off the game and Sunderland’s first possession amounted to nothing, and their punt ended up in their own half. 

York’s first hand on the ball resulted in a touchdown as Sunderland, just, didn’t have enough to stop them on the 3rd down. The away side failed a 2-point conversion meaning the score was 6-0.  

Two medical timeouts occurred before the Spartans bounced back through a great pass by Aaron Wall to Timi Haastrup who ran down the field to complete an 80-yard touchdown.  

Before the half was over, Sunderland received a punt at their 25-yard line and progressed up the field through good running by Timi Haastrup getting to York’s 40-yard line and quarterback Aaron Wall to end up at the 35. However, an interception undone the hard work, fortunately though for the Spartans it was too late in the half for York to make anything of it.  

Late in the game, York were able to score a touchdown and converted the 2-point attempt leaving it all to do for Sunderland.  

With a few minutes left on the clock the Spartans managed to sneak a touchdown and converted the 2-pointer leaving the score at 14-14.  

There was under a minute left in the game, and York could have won it as they had a field goal deep in Sunderland’s half, however they shockingly missed it.  

With little time left, the Spartans dreamed big as they marched down the field with intent but when they got to the halfway line there was no time left for a winner.  

The two sides will meet once again in York on the 16th of November. With the draw at Druids Park, Sunderland sit second in the North Eastern Tier 2 league and will be hoping to win away from home to go top. Injuries for Sunderland mean they could be a few players down for the travel down south.