2004 National Championship

Bath Cardinals came from behind to defeat the North Lanarkshire Rams 18–14 in BYAFA Bowl XVI at Rams Stadium, Dewsbury, on Sunday 5 September 2004. Bath scored first, trailed 14–12 at half-time and regained the lead through Chris Taylor’s second touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Match Details

Event	BYAFA Bowl XVI / 2004 National Championship
Teams	Bath Cardinals vs North Lanarkshire Rams
Final Score	Bath Cardinals 18–14 North Lanarkshire Rams
Date	Sunday 5 September 2004
Venue	Rams Stadium, Dewsbury
Kick-off	3:00pm
Competition	BYAFA Youth Kitted
Head Coaches	Bob Turner (Bath Cardinals); Darryn Trainor (North Lanarkshire Rams)
Officials	Les Connor; Chris Craig; Mike Cavanagh; Henry Richardson; Richard Samples

Road to the Final

Neither finalist had won its conference. Bath finished 5–1, level with Southern Conference champion Bristol Aztecs, while North Lanarkshire finished 4–2 behind Northern Conference champion Clyde Valley Hawks. In the championship semi-finals the Rams beat Clyde Valley 22–8 and Bath shut out Bristol 26–0. The programme described both finalists as third-year teams making their first national championship appearance.

Semi-final	Result
Northern Conference	North Lanarkshire Rams 22–8 Clyde Valley Hawks
Southern Conference	Bath Cardinals 26–0 Bristol Aztecs

Game Summary

North Lanarkshire received the opening kick-off and advanced before fumbling at their own 32-yard line, where Bath’s Simon Drake recovered. On Bath’s first play from scrimmage, quarterback Henry Allen ran an option to the right and got the ball to Steve Onditi, who scored untouched. Chris Hunt’s kick was unsuccessful, leaving Bath 6–0 ahead inside the first five minutes.

The Rams responded through Adam Donaldson. A 43-yard run was erased by holding, but Donaldson later scored from one yard and Kyle Matheson kicked the two-point conversion for an 8–6 lead. Another long Donaldson run, reported as 78 yards in the BYAFA account, was also called back.

Early in the second quarter Matt Jenkins made a touchdown-saving tackle for Bath. Onditi then recovered another Rams fumble, although Sean Murphy’s sack of Allen helped North Lanarkshire prevent Bath from capitalising. The Cardinals eventually put together a sustained drive and Chris Taylor ran nine yards up the middle. He fumbled across the goal line but recovered the ball in the end zone for the touchdown. Hunt’s kick was blocked, giving Bath a 12–8 advantage.

Before half-time Donaldson broke off right tackle for a 26-yard touchdown, restoring North Lanarkshire’s lead at 14–12. The third quarter was scoreless. Donaldson left the game with a knee injury, Hunt missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt wide left, and a 23-yard Tom Evans end-around touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty.

Bath completed the comeback in the fourth quarter. Allen worked the option to his left and pitched to Taylor, who raced down the left sideline and cut inside for his second touchdown, putting the Cardinals ahead 18–14. North Lanarkshire’s final possession ended one yard short of the line to gain. After a sequence of miscues, Allen ran 17 yards for the first down that allowed Bath to run out the clock and secure Bowl XVI.

Scoring Summary

Period	Team	Scoring play	Score
First quarter	Bath Cardinals	Steve Onditi touchdown from Henry Allen on an option play; Chris Hunt kick unsuccessful	Bath 6–0
First quarter	North Lanarkshire Rams	Adam Donaldson 1-yard touchdown run; Kyle Matheson two-point kick successful	Rams 8–6
Second quarter	Bath Cardinals	Chris Taylor 9-yard touchdown run and recovery of his own goal-line fumble; Chris Hunt kick blocked	Bath 12–8
Second quarter	North Lanarkshire Rams	Adam Donaldson 26-yard touchdown run	Rams 14–12
Fourth quarter	Bath Cardinals	Chris Taylor touchdown run on an option pitch from Henry Allen; no additional points	Bath 18–14

Half-time: North Lanarkshire Rams 14–12 Bath Cardinals. The third quarter was scoreless.

Teams and Coaches

Bath Cardinals

Head coach: Bob Turner. Assistant coach: Jason Walker. Coaching assistants: John Evans, Julian Mallia, Matthew Towl, Ben Mallia and Kevin Badley. Physio: Emma Wiltshire. Team officials: Hayley Turner, Alison Adams, Philip Adams and Rona Wagstaffe.

No.	Player	Position	No.	Player	Position
1	Daniel Tope	S	3	Joe Escott	DT
5	William Wagstaff	QB/WR	8	Mike Cottrell	QB/CB
10	Chris Hunt	K	12	Mark Hibberd	TE/DE
19	Henry Allen	QB	21	Matthew Mallia	S/DB
24	Alexander Johnson	CB	25	Peter Rigby	RB
26	Matthew Jenkins	S/QB	27	Daniel Burke	FB
28	Ryan Surrey	WB/LB	31	Chris Taylor	RB/CB
35	Steve Onditi	DE	39	Jamie Pringle	OL/DL
40	Jonathan Wreford-Glanvill	CB	44	Jordan Allsup	LB
48	Darren Ifill	DE	50	David Newman	OL/DL
52	Paul Pattison	NT	54	Tom Johnson	DE
55	Nicholas Hooper	LB	56	Phil Turner	OL/DL
58	Lance Turner	OL/DL	66	Kris Beacham	FB/LB
69	Karl Adams	OL/DL	74	Simon Drake	DE
75	James Goddard	DL/OL	77	Mitchell Turner	OL/DL
80	Kyle Latore	WR	83	Tom Evans	WR/CB
84	Tom Wishire	DE	85	Sam Baker	WR/DB
87	Joe Bodley	WR	88	David Harvey	TE/WR

North Lanarkshire Rams

Head coach: Darryn Trainor. Assistant coach: Andy McIntosh. Manager: Alfie Bett. Physio: Anne Bett.

No.	Player	Position	No.	Player	Position
1	Simon MacLennan	WR	2	Jonathan Ewing	WR/DB
4	Jamie Reyes	DB/WR	7	Paul McGovern	K/WR
10	Kevin McElhinney	QB	18	Jamie McCoy	WR/DB
21	Kyle Mateson	RB	25	John Heron	DB/WR
30	Ross Graham	TE/LB	31	Blair McTague	RB/LB
33	Adam Donaldson	RB	44	David Hare	TE/LB
55	James McMillan	DL	57	Richard Swan	OL
58	Adam Zuk	OL	60	Steven Main	DL
66	Greg McIntyre	DL/OL	70	Paul Gallacher	OL/DL
72	David Brand	DB	73	Kris Nunn	DL
74	Craig Thompson	OL/DL	75	Sean Murphy	OL/DL
80	Alex Campbell	WR	86	Alan Davidson	TE/DB
90	Steven Kane	TE/LB

Names, numbers and positions follow the contemporary Bowl XVI programme. The programme prints the Rams roster name as “Kyle Mateson”; the match reports spell the conversion kicker’s surname “Matheson”, so that discrepancy remains noted rather than silently resolved.

Programme

The surviving eight-scan Bowl XVI programme is a primary source for the event details, officials, finalist rosters, coaching staffs, league standings, season results and semi-finals. BYAFA chairman Wendy Bamford’s welcome notes that Bath had begun playing league football the previous year and that the Rams had defeated defending champion Clyde Valley during the regular season. The team histories say Bath formed in 2001, borrowed kit from Bath University for their first league campaign in 2003 and returned to beat Bristol in the 2004 semi-final after losing to the Aztecs during the regular season. The Rams history describes the club as being a little over three years old and identifies the 2004 win over Clyde Valley as the Hawks’ first regular-season defeat in three years.

The programme also records a Plate final between Lancashire Wolverines and Kent Brewers at noon, followed by the championship-team announcements at 2:45pm and Bowl XVI kick-off at 3:00pm. Its printed list of earlier BYAFA Youth Kitted champions runs from the Tiptree Titans in 1989 through the Clyde Valley Hawks in 2003.

Photos

They include action photographs, individual images of Bath’s Chris Taylor (#31) and North Lanarkshire’s Adam Donaldson (#33), a Bath team portrait, the championship trophy and helmet, and a post-game Bath group.

Sources

All documents/images supplied by Chris Taylor
BYAFA Bowl XVI official programme, 5 September 2004 (eight scanned spreads).
BYAFA game report, “5th September 2004 Bath Cardinals 18-14 North Lanarkshire Rams” (archived document identifying the article as from byafa.org).
HotIron Scottish American Football Webzine, “BYAFA Championship Final 2004: North Lanarkshire Rams 14 Bath Cardinals 18” (archived contemporary report).