AMNRL Champions - New York Knights!

Clouds gathered and unleashed an almighty storm shortly before kickoff of the 2011 AMNRL Championship Final at Pier 40 in Manhattan, but it was not enough to deter either team as they took the field to challenge for one of the greatest prizes in American Rugby League.  As the teams stood for the national anthem, the rain subsided, but the real storm was about to begin.  The game started at a cracking pace with both teams eager to gain ascendency.  The Wildcats had great field position early thanks to a few wet weather errors from the Knights, but it was clear early on that there was nowhere to go for the Wildcats.  The Knights defensive line was solid and tight, and each tackle delivered with aggression that could felt amongst the crowd that remained huddled undercover at the Pier.

 

After the early onslaught from the Wildcats, the Knights soon took their opportunity as Regan Hyde stormed through to score a converted try taking the score to 6-0.  Hyde continued to be a dominate force throughout the match with barraging runs and leading his team's defensive line.  On the stroke of quarter time, the Knights opted to take a long range penalty goal, a sensible move in the conditions and they moved out to an 8-0 scoreline.  

 

The second quarter saw the Knights begin to gain ascendancy as CJ Cortalano broke through to score an fantastic try.  Their weathering of the first quarter storm from the Wildcats gave them the confidence to open up their attack even in the slippery conditions.  They continued to dominate in the third quarter, while the fourth quarter things evened out a little with some poor ball control to finish the match from both sides.

 

The Knights were ferocious in defense smashing the Wildcats into submission and despite the wet, slippery conditions they were able to score 38 points.  The WIldcats only try came due to an error by the Knights in their own in-goal area in the fourth quarter.

 

This is the Knights third championship having won in 2002, 2009 and now 2011.  The Knights also capped off a remarkable season with Nigel Milgate being named the MVP of the 2011 AMNRL.  Andrew Moody, also from the Knights was named the MVP for the grand final.

 

Prior to the match, the Knights conducted an Allstars match consisting of players from their Touch Rugby League.  It was a tight match with the red team taking victory 4-3.  The MVP for the match was red team's Martin Scherzinger.

 

Scorers for the Knights were:

 

Tries 

Regan Hyde

CJ Cortalano

Ian Elliot

Andrew Moody

Gareth Baxendale

Fitzjames Adams

Emmanuelle Cipraini

Nigel Milgate

 

Goals

Nigel Milgate 3 from 9 goals