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The Arrows
took another step towards a playoff berth on Sunday, as they held the visiting Manchester Titans scoreless, whilst putting up 34 points of their own in an impressive all round performance.
For the second week in a row it was running back Dave Mills who took the early initiative with runs
of 13 and 12 yards on the Arrow's second drive, leaving the team knocking on the door. From 4 yards out quarterback Richard Wilde hooked up with wide receiver Phil Grove on a quick slant for
the game's first score. Kicker John Riddell added the extra point for a 7-0 lead to the home side.
In the second quarter defensive captain Andy Mortimer picked off his third pass of the season,
putting the Arrow's offence in business once again. This time it was receiver Phil Grove's 17-yard reception that set up a Dave Mills touchdown, as he ran the ball in from 4 yards out. Kicker
John Riddell tacked on the extra point. Following another 3 and out by the Titans offence, both Mills and his running mate Mark Collett made decent ground gains to leave the Arrows at the
Titans 1-yard line. From there it was a simple belly-flop over the line for fullback Alan Harris for the Arrow's third touchdown of the day. Kicker John Riddell's extra point brought the
halftime score to 21-0 to Redditch.
In the second half the Arrows continued to mix their running with a ball control passing attack.
Running back Mark Collett jinked 19 yards behind a solid block by lineman Gary Matthews, taking the Arrows to a first and goal at the Titans 2-yard line. And it was Collett's number that was
called again to bang it in from there and extend Redditch's lead to 27-0.
The Arrow's dominance of the game went unbroken into the fourth quarter, as the defence thwarted Manchester's
drives with sacks coming from defensive end Martin Hill and linebacker Ian Looms. As the clock wore down the Arrows had one last scoring opportunity, but faced a tough 4th and 11 at the
Titans 24-yard line. The Arrows were not to be denied however, as Richard Wilde lofted a pass to receiver Phil Grove, who made a spectacular finger-tip reception for the first down. Mark
Collett capped a fine individual performance (20 carries for 147 yards) by taking the ball in from 12 yards out, and after John Riddell nailed his fourth extra point of the day, the Arrows
were left with a satisfying 34-0 win.
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