By Rian Fearnehough
An American football match between De Montfort University Lions and Salford Storm had to be abandoned after a series of punch-ups involving players and coaches.
The game was called off in the fourth quarter, after more than 90 minutes of sometimes tense action, with Salford winning 6-0. The referee, a coach from DMU as it was a friendly game, abandoned the match after a third outbreak of fighting.
Both sides claimed that players were throwing punches, which caused the game to become unplayable. Officials said it was an unsafe environment for football.
The game was supposed to be a friendly scrimmage, as Salford are not currently playing in a division and needed to play several games in order to be eligible to join a league. DMU Lions agreed to a friendly – but the game was aggressive throughout, with several flashpoints throughout the game.
The game erupted in the fourth quarter. One brawl erupted after a strong tackle from a DMU player and was quickly calmed. A second brawl quickly followed. At this point, the referee issued a warning to both teams that any more fighting would bring an end to the game.
With three minutes to go until the end, a third fight – involving players from both sides – erupted near the DMU coaches on the sidelines. A strong DMU block caused a huge reaction from the Salford side, with a player throwing a punch at a Lions coach. The ref cancelled the game.
At the time of the abandonment, the game was 6-0 to Salford Storm, with the only touchdown coming in the second quarter.
Jason Shahid wide receiver for the Storm caught a short pass from his quarterback, avoided a few tackles and exposed a massive gap through the middle of the DMU defence to get into the end zone.
The Lions responded positively in the second half, scoring a touchdown of their own when Abdoulaye Sy received a pass in space on the ten-yard line, which left him free to score the touchdown.
Disappointment followed for DMU as the touchdown was ruled out after a block in the back by wide receiver Ola Egungbohun.
Despite looking better in the second half, The Lions could not capitalise before the abandonment.
Head coach Priyank Patel said it was right the game was abandoned.
“When I see a player from their side attempting to escalate a situation with one of our coaches, that’s where, for me as a coach, there’s a line drawn, and the game had to be called early.”
We reached out to DMU Sport, but they declined to comment on the situation.
