Munich Cowboys have problems in Paderborn
The Munich Cowboys showed a different picture in their away game against the Paderborn Dolphins. The Cowboys had worked their way into a solid starting position over the course of the GFL season. This position has deteriorated increasingly in recent weeks, with defeats against Saarland and Paderborn. Before that, on August 10, they had narrowly won at home against Straubing with 24:21 and stayed on course for the playoffs.
During their appearance in Paderborn, the team of head coach Christos Lambropoulos wanted to regain fourth place in the GFL South group with a win. This would qualify them for participation in the final round of the GFL. 2,100 spectators gathered at the “LOBBE Gameday” in the Hermann-Löns Stadium. ß
The Cowboys’ prospects were extremely bleak before the game began. Starting quarterback Nick Yockey was unable to play due to a head injury. Backup playmaker Luca Raue stepped in for him. This involuntary substitution meant that Munich was unable to score any points until the third quarter. The Dolphins took a 21-0 lead on the opposing side. Janik Laumann, Joshua Breece and Felix Blissenbach each caught a touchdown pass for the home team.
Despite all the problems, Munich refused to give up and started to catch up. Jeremias Delgado scored the next touchdown for the Black and Yellows (6:21, 3rd quarter). An improved defense and a spectacular touchdown pass from quarterback Raue to wide receiver Gabe Bocella over 97 yards brought the Cowboys even closer to equalizing (12:21, 4th quarter). However, time was running mercilessly against the guests and their own unnecessary penalties kept setting the team back. This meant that the Dolphins were able to hold on to their deserved 21:12 victory.
On September 7th, the Cowboys will have everything at stake in their match against Ravensburg. They will be relying on support from Straubing in particular. The Spiders are ahead of Munich in the table and have two supposedly easier opponents in Saarland and Kirchdorf. If the Munich team wins against Ravensburg and their rivals from Straubing slip up twice, they will be in the final round of the GFL. They would then face the overwhelmingly powerful Potsdam Royals in the first round of the playoffs. The Brandenburgers are the champions of the GFL North Group and therefore have home advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
