The Rams gained their first home victory of the year in a good battle with the Caesars on Sunday to finish their regular season on a high note. Good defence by Yorkshire was decisive in the game as they kept Nottingham away from the endzones.

The Rams kicked off to start the game and with the ball going out of the back of the field the Caesars took over at their 20-yard line. The visitors were held on their first drive and had to punt with Yorkshire taking over possession and starting to move the ball well. They very nearly took the lead in the opening stages but the pass from Rik Lowthion to Lee Taylor all by himself at the 1-yard marker couldn’t be brought down and Nottingham took over then ball. The Caesars made good progress up the field with Albert Thompson at the helm but a fumble recovery by Paul Sherratt as they moved into Rams territory lost them possession. With Yorkshire offence being held by a tight Caesars “D”, Shaun Chambers being award the MVP by the Rams for an outstanding game, they punted. It was the turn of the Rams defence to show their worth and they did by not allowing any yardage on the Caesars drive. The punt plus a Nottingham penalty put the ball on Nottingham’s own 35 yard spot giving Yorkshire superb field advantage. Lowthion made good use of this starting with a long pass to Paul Calvert who caught the ball well at the Caesars 10 yard line. After loosing a couple of yards on the first play Yorkshire drew first blood with a 13-yard toss from Lowthion to Justin Lester to put the home side up 6 nil.

Nottingham started the second period with a vengeance piling on the pressure from the start. A good run by Thompson after seeing a gap in the Rams defence got his side to Yorkshires 10 yard marker from where Scott Messom went in to even the score but with the kick being good by Lee Stone the visitors were in front by a point. The final two minutes of the first half saw most of the action. Just after the two-minute warning a long ball from Lowthion to JJ Forder would have resulted in another TD for the Rams but Chambers interception and return took away the chance and Nottingham started another drive. Good runs by Vandon Warner made good headway to the Yorkshire half but a pass from Thompson trying to get deep was intercepted by Tim Cooper and the return gave the Rams good position again. Lowthions pass to Forder plus a Caesars penalty got Yorkshire deep into Nottingham territory and with Calvert bringing down a pass at Nottinghams 4 yard line Yorkshire were in with a chance, but luck was not with them as after an unsuccessful first play time ran out.

After the Caesars kick off and the long return by Tim Adams the Rams were on the move again. Caesars penalties and good runs by Lester made ground towards Nottinghams endzone but tackles by Chambers forced the Rams to go for yardage on forth down, but a sack on Lowthion by Marcus Riley allowed the Caesars to take control of the ball. Nottingham had their own chance to advance with some good plays to get inside the Rams half but lost the ball on downs. After a couple of changes of possession Justin Bird got a crucial recovery on a fumble deep in the visitors area which lead to a further score for Yorkshire. A 16 yard pass from Lowthion to Forder, who took the MVP for a great game on both sides of the ball, put them up 12 - 7. Jonathan Evans kick split the sticks to put Yorkshire in front 13 to 7. The kick was a milestone for Yorkshire as Evans is the first player for the Rams who has moved up from the junior squad and as such was the first point to be scored by an ex-youth member. Also Andy Hill, who had a superb game as runningback and linebacker, made his 100th tackle of the season.

Both defences stepped up in the fourth quarter and didn’t give either team a way through to score. Good plays by Forder and Simon Connor stopped a late drive by the Caesars late in the game and Yorkshire took over to run out the clock.

This good performance by the Rams finished their regular season and they now hope to move this forward to the quarter final playoff game against the Birmingham Bulls.