Sussex Thunder have teamed up with Football America UK, and are proud to announce the release of their all new Official Thunder Merchandise store.

The store is packed with custom garments, from baseball caps to hoodies, both embroidered and screen printed. Each item can be individually customised to include your favourite players number and name.

Get over to http://shop.sussexthunder.com

This Sunday Sussex Thunder will be streaming their game against the Bristol Aztecs live on the internet at http://live.sussexthunder.com

Join us from 2.00 for the pre-game show from Broadbridge Heath Stadium in Horsham, where we will be bringing you all the action as the Thunder look to avenge their defeat from earlier in the season.

The Thunder streamed their last home game as a test and are pleased to say the game was streamed live, without any technical difficulties. The stream itself attracted over 150 unique viewers and was watched from as far afield as Singapore and New Zealand.

If you could take the time to tune in to the stream, and let us know your thoughts, any improvements that can be made, any additions, changes, features, please do not hesitate to contact me media@sussexthunder.com. If you feel that this is a valuable development to the increased popularity of the sport please show your support, and help us devleop this by donating to the cause using the link at the bottom of the live stream page.

Look forward to hearing from you

Sussex Thunder

Dan Innis After the Opening Touchdown

The first game at the new stadium, a sunny afternoon, a decent crowd, local rivals the Farnham Knights as the visitors and the scene was set for an excellent afternoon of football.

The Thunder took to the field looking to overturn a 36-12 loss only 4 weeks ago and celebrate with their first win of the season.
Right from the kick-off the Thunder showed their intent, a ten play drive taking them deep into Knights territory. Quarterback Eber Kington found tight end Paul Nixon and receiver Adam Fishlock for first downs. With Running Back TK Chisango also picking up yards. Kington who was 3 for 3 on the drive, tried to find Phil Allman but the pass fell incomplete. The home side decided to go for a 41 yard field goal but the attempt was just wide of the posts.

On the Knights first play, a big hit by defensive back Dominic Gould knocked the ball loose and was recovered by Carl Martin.
Kington was then sacked for a 19 yard loss but found Chisango for a 14 yard gain, but the Thunder was forced to punt and the Knights took over on their own 7.

The visitors continued with the running game but only 3 plays later another fumble by the Knights running back was recovered by Nixon.

The Thunder moved downfield, Kington’s pass to Allman looked a touchdown all the way as the receiver had beaten his man on the outside, but in trying to recover the Knights defensive back tripped the receiver, out came the flag for pass interference and the home side had a 1st down at the visitors one yard line. Both Chisango and Kington tried to force the ball home but the Knights defence held firm. On the next play however, they bit on another run play and Kington found Full Back Daniel Inniss in the end zone for the go ahead score. The PAT was good and the Thunder led 7-0.

The crowd were now well behind their team and the Thunder had dominated the first quarter to such an extent that they allowed the visitors only four offensive plays.

The visitors tried to catch the Thunder out by going to the air on their next drive, but defensive back Marcus Dilley picked off Joe Thompson’s pass.

Runs by Kington & Chris Lampey and two Kington completions to Inniss and Sam Yaxley moved the Thunder but a penalty stalled the drive and the Thunder were forced to punt.

The visitors went back the ground game with some success, a 13 play drive, aided by a couple of big penalties on the Thunder moved Farnham into scoring range, but a big stand by the home defence forced a field goal attempt which fell well short.
Thunder then went 3 and out. The Knights moved to the Sussex nine yard line as half time approached but again the Thunder defence led by American tackle George Korischar and Gould stood firm to stop the visitors getting on the scoreboard.
Into the second half and with the Thunder still holding the upper hand, the Knights were stopped dead and forced to punt from their own 21.

But disaster the struck for the home side, Kington was sacked for a loss and next play he fumbled the snap and the Knights recovered the ball. Six plays later, the visitors tied the game up with a 2 yard touchdown run, the PAT was good and the scores were tied at 7 apiece.

Both teams were forced to punt on their next possession, but Sussex returner Marcus Dilley fumbled the ball on his own 6 yard line and the visitors were able to recover. They only needed one play to take the lead, again the PAT was good and the visitors had a 14-7 lead. In the space of about 3 minutes, the Thunder had gone from being in control to trailing by a score.

Moving into the final quarter and Sussex continued to move the ball, but stalled inside the Knights red zone. They settled for a field goal, but the snap was fumbled and the Knights got the ball back.

Again the teams exchanged possessions. The Knights looked to try and kill the game off. But for the second time in the game, a pass down the sideline was picked off by Sussex, rookie corner back Andy Miles snagging his third interception of the season and the team’s eighth in 3 games.

The game was delayed for 25 minutes when Sussex offensive lineman Ryan Cameron was blocked in the back on the return and hit the ground head first. He was immobilised on the field by the Thunder medical team and an on call doctor was summoned. He was then taken off to hospital and thankfully released a few hours later with a mild concussion and whiplash and a large bucket of KFC.

The game became a little deflated after the incident. The Thunder had one final drive to level the scores but despite two more Kington completions, they were unable to get within scoring range and the game ended with a turnover on downs with a Sussex fumble.

A good hard fought local derby in front of a near 200 crowd ended with the Thunder dropping to 0-3 but Head Coach Tony Stitt said after the game “We are gradually improving, we have a lot of young rookies on the squad this year. Two games ago the Knights beat us by 24 points, today they beat us by seven in a game I feel could quite easily have gone the other way”.

Farnham Head Coach Ian Ellis added, “This young Thunder team is growing up week by week, they gave us a hell of a fright today, it won’t be too long before they get that win under their belts”

The Thunder now have a week off before the Bristol Aztecs make the journey to Thunder Stadium on the 20th June.

The game marked a first for British American football when it was streamed live on the internet, attracting viewers from as far afield as the US, Singapore and New Zealand. If any teams would like information on how to set up live streaming for their own games please contact

media@sussexthunder.com

Thunder recently caught wind that Matt Jackson made BBC Sport headlines thefull story can be found here – http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/american_football/8683396.stm

This Sunday sees the first game at Broadbridge Heath Stadium for the Thunder when they entertain the Farnham “Fast Lane” Knights in a local derby game.

The visitors, from just over the county border in Hampshire, will be looking to complete the double over the Thunder, having won on the opening day of the season 36-12.

The Thunder are expecting a decent size crowd for the game, which marks the return of American football to the stadium, which was once the home of the Horsham Predators. There is still one ex-Predator in the Thunder ranks in Linebacker Adrian Teague, who is in his 25^th year of playing the game.

The club would like to see as many family, friends, supporters both old and new as possible at the game to create a good atmosphere and cheer the Thunder on to their first win of the season.

Avaliable on the day are :

Licensed Bar

Hot & Cold Food including a BBQ

Live Commentary

Cheerleaders

Thunder Merchandise

Excellent Game Day Programme

Covered Seating

Picnic Area

Please come along and watch two of the countries top 6 teams battling it out for honours.

Entry is only

£3.00 for adults

£.1.00 for under 16’s (free with a paying adult)

Free for under 12’s

Programmes £1.00