UEL Phoenix find their first win of the season after beating Canterbury University 24-8 at home on Sunday.
The home side picked up their first points of the season after previously losing the opening two games.
Strong Start
Phoenix took a comfortable lead going into half-time after scoring early touchdowns to give them a lead of 12-0.
Canterbury started well after the break and scored their first points four minutes into the third quarter.
Making Plays
The game was finished when, American-born running back turned quarterback, Jerrell Taylor, pulled off the play of the game when he ran 60 yards and scored a touchdown.
Taylor spoke after the game and gave us his thoughts going into the next game and he feels the confidence within the team is growing.
He said: “We can build off this. Hopefully we can get another win next week and try to continue with this momentum for the rest of our season.”
Winning Mentality
Taylor then continued to talk about the frustrations of losing the first two games and what needed to be done to improve.
“I personally don’t like losing and I know the team doesn’t like losing, so we want to build from this and get some more guys for next week and capitalise on our big plays.
“We basically just need more confidence in our abilities and we were a bit behind with our schedule in knowing our playbook.”
Taylor had been playing in the running back position prior to this game, and mentioned his switch to quarterback and how it helped the team perform better.
“We had to make some adjustments. I started off at running back and then moved to quarterback and once we got the guys in the right positions, we were able to click”, he said.
Tougher Challenges Ahead
Coach Greg Ivison felt optimistic after the game and takes many positives ahead of their next game away to ARU next week.
Ivison said: “I think the opponents we played today weren’t as tough as our previous opponents, but that’s not anything to take away from them. The plays that we were using against their defence worked really well.”
Coach Ivison then went on to talk about the upcoming away fixture in Cambridge, which will be their first game outside of the capital this season.
“Next week we have ARU in Cambridge, our first away game. That brings its own set of challenges making sure we have enough players to travel.
“They are really solid in how they play football and a very well disciplined team, so we will be looking to continue where we left off today”, he said.
Win At All Costs
Quarterback Taylor will be looking to continue his good form this week as they play first away game of the season on Sunday.
Taylor said “I just want to win. Whatever I need to do for us to win. If that means I need to run the ball 30 times, or pass the ball 30 times, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
