19 games. Months of playing and travelling. It all came down to this.
Could the Newcastle Blackhawks carry on their blistering form and book their place in the Premier Division next year? Or would a season of achievement end in disappointment?
Here’s how it panned out:
Game photos by Donna Petrie
Touchdowns – Ross Conley 2 / Jack Mulholland 1
Interceptions – Taylor Walton 2 / Phil Watson 1
The Blackhawks remember the Titans Bees.
Just under a year ago, Newcastle travelled to Manchester to fight for their Premier Division lives. Despite finishing bottom of their group, they could retain their top-flight status with a successful day against three Div 1 sides.
On that day, it wasn’t to be, with losses against the Bees and Revolution consigning them to the drop. This time around, the roles were reversed. Newcastle were riding a strong run of form, while the Bees were looking to hold onto their Prem place for a second year.
The game started nervy for the Blackhawks though. On the very first drive, Lee Fraser was picked off around the halfway line, but the sure tackling from the defense meant that the Bees couldn’t capitalise on the short field. Things started looking up soon after as Ross Conley hauled in a pass over the top to get the Blackhawks on the board. But the lead didn’t last long, as the Titans almost immediately responded with a score of their own.
At half-time, the match hung in the balance at 6-6. The game needed something, from someone.
And that someone was Taylor Walton. First, the dynamic Blackhawks defender popped up with a pick inside the five yard line to end a threatening Bees drive, responding quickly after the pass was tipped by at least one Newcastle teammate. That huge play set up Ross Conley for his second touchdown, as Newcastle’s leading scorer used his body to haul in a back-of-the-endzone catch on fourth down.
But Walton wasn’t done there. His second pick on the halfway line caused the tension to melt away on the Blackhawks sideline, and was quickly followed by a touchdown over the middle from Jack Mulholland. A two-point conversion from James Newton extended the Hawks’ lead to 20-6 with just over two minutes to go, and good defensive work on the final drive from Saskia Köttler, Phil Watson and Taylor Walton was enough to put the first win of the day in the books.
Touchdowns – Ross Conley 2 / James Newton 2 / Jack Mulholland
Interceptions – Taylor Walton 4
Maybe you could call it redemption. Maybe it’s just pretty symmetry.
But Newcastle had the opportunity to go up this year, by beating the two teams that sent them down the previous season.
A win against Titans Bees was done and dusted. But would a win against Warrington follow?
It’s been a challenging season in the Prem for the Revolution after their excellent promotion season last year. But the team boast a lot of talent and experience. A focused and energetic performance would be required if the Hawks were to make it 2-wins-from-2 on the day.
It was time for Taylor again.
There were times this season that it felt like the ball was drawn to Taylor Walton like a labrador to cheese. And the defender snagged his third pick of the day on the halfway line to set up the Hawks in excellent position. It wouldn’t be the last time.
After a catch and run by Jack Mulholland and two sure James Newton grabs, Newcastle opened the scoring as Newton reached for the pylon on fourth down. He added the extra point on a similar play, setting up a 7-0 game.
Yet another Walton pick followed soon afterwards, as he wrestled the ball into his grasp and advanced to halfway. And it was Ross Conley that added the second score, showing great composure to drag in a pass over the middle after James Newton got the team inside the five.
There was still time for more drama before the half. Walton got his second pick with a toe-tapper in the endzone, and Mulholland took a short outside pass all the way to the house, weaving around players before jogging in for the score. Walton even managed a fourth INT before the buzzer, but two deep heaves into the endzone from the offense didn’t lead to any more points.
At the break, the Blackhawks led 19-0.
The second half saw Conley add to his touchdown tally for the year, taking a long pass from Fraser in his stride. The Revolution got points of their own in response, ending the Hawks hopes of a shutout. But a James Newton touchdown rounded off the scoring to give the Blackhawks a strong 32-6 win, and put them on the verge of promotion.
Touchdowns – Jack Mulholland 2 / Martin Jolley 1 / Adam Newton 1
Interceptions – Taylor Walton 2 / Brad McDockery 1
By the time this one rolled round, there was very little to play for.
When the final whistle sounded on the Hawks-Revolution game, the Blackhawks still needed results elsewhere to go their way if they wanted an easy life in their final match.
At 2-0, there was still the chance of a three-way-tie in the play-in. If the 0-1 Bees beat the 1-0 Giants Blue, and then the Blue took down the Blackhawks, we’d need more football to decide the promoted teams in 2024. But the Blue prevailed in dramatic fashion against the Bees, grabbing an endzone interception in the dying seconds when the Bees looked nailed on to score and take the lead and the win.
That meant that both the Blackhawks and Giants Blue were mathematically promoted, and their last clash of the season took on a Fun in the Sun vibe as a result.
These two teams had already played twice this season, with the Hawks sweeping the Blue on the way to the division crown. This one ended 27-6 to Newcastle, but was a pretty light encounter with both teams enjoying the opportunity to play out the tournament without drama.
Taylor Walton completed a pretty ludicrous day on defense with two more picks, bringing his total to eight for the day. And Brad McDockery added one of his own in the dying seconds of the first half.
On the scoring front, Jack Mulholland switched on the burners yet again to stride past defenders for the opening score, and added a second on a weaving run before halftime.
Martin Jolley returned from injury to put his name on the scoresheet in the second half, popping up in the corner of the endzone for 20-0. And Adam Newton got a touchdown of his own late on, punctuating a strong breakout season for the young wideout.
An unbeaten performance on the day saw the 3-0 Blackhawks celebrate a return to the top-flight after a year in Div 1. With a strong, clever and quick side growing together, they’ll be heading into 2025 with a lot of optimism.
NEXT UP:
With the play-in tournament completed, there’s now the small matter of the National Playoffs. The 17-2 Blackhawks will be hoping to make waves in The Big Show in Manchester on Sunday September 15. Stay tuned for more details of that one…