One of the most exciting spectacles of youth football for years took place in Amersham on Sunday. The Hawks defence started strong and managed to force the Pathfinders to punt. Good pressure from the Hawks allowed Mike Bailey to block the punt and return it 12 yards for the opening score. An interception halted the Pathfinders following drive and on the following play, Matt Bailey found a wide-open Wells, only for the touchdown to be called back. The Hawks offence regrouped as Bailey found Ruecker for a 34 yard completion and the drive was capped off by a Nathan Hodge 7 yards sweep leaving the visitors up by 12 at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks started the second quarter strongly with Watson gaining 37 yards on a sweep and then capping off the drive with a one-yard burst. Wells gained the conversion leaving the Hawks 20-0 up.

The Pathfinder found their form on the following drive when QB Will Lawson connected with Rupert Talboys for a 2-yard gain and then found Alex Haig on a 4-yard strike. With a missed conversion this left the Pathfinders down by 14. A quick turnover gave the Pathfinders great field position and a clever reverse play allowed Ben Woodward to sprint up the left sideline to bring the home side back into contention. Tim Dada added the two to cut the Hawks lead to six. After overcoming mental errors, the Hawks offence restored their commanding stride when a superb play action pass allowed Matt Bailey to find TE Wells for a 58-yard gain. The following play saw Nathan Hodge; while on his way to over 250 yards rushing on the day, sweep home from 17 yards out. A Miles conversion meant that the Hawks held a 28-14 lead. The Pathfinders began a surge down field on their next drive. Strong running from Dada wore down the Hawks defence and his burst of speed proved fatal as he darted down the sideline to score from 38 yards out. Sims added the two to bring the Pathfinders within six. With under a minute to play, Nathan Hodge showed his dazzling moves as he cut against the grain and out sprinted defenders to score on a dazzling 68-yard run to leave the visitors up by 34-22 at the half.

The third quarter saw the Hawks offence dominate over ten minutes of the clock, yet the Pathfinders held firm, as neither team was able to score in the period. The closest attempt came from Hodge who saw his 7-yard sweep called back for a block in the back.

The Hawks extended their lead at the start of the fourth when a 40 yard punt return by Mike Bailey set up his brother Matt to fire an 18 yard slant to Wells for the touchdown. The Hawks gained a commanding 14-point lead when under heavy pressure Lawson fumbled and Hawks DT Westwood scooped up the ball and raced 22 yards for the unconverted score. However, the Pathfinders were still fighting hard. A determined drive led to Dada again scoring a well paced run from 8 yards out. Woodward caught the conversion leaving the Pathfinders in with a shout as they were down by only two scores. Harrogate were able to restore the lead on the ensuing kick off as the returner waited for blocks to form then picked his hole to sprint 87 yards for the touchdown. Watson added the two. Milton Keynes responded with a strong kick off return by Paul Willis who finally got dragged down at the Hawks 22 where Dada swept in cutting the lead again to two scores. Any hope of a late comeback was dashed when with just under two minutes to play Brook picked off Lawson and returned it 12 yards for the score allowing Harrogate to secure a 60-38 win in this hard fought and highly entertaining game