Burnley Tornados Jnr 32 Merseyside Nighthawks 20 BURNLEY Tornados left it late to secure a hard fought victory in an entertaining encounter against Merseyside Nighthawks at Holt House.

The first quarter was nip and tuck with Burnley coming closest to scoring against their Liverpool rivals, having a touchdown disallowed due to a penalty.

The second quarter saw Nighthawks take command of the game, with Burnley missing the crucial tackles and allowing the opposition to score.

The Nighthawks were halting Burnley’s running play too by blocking Griffith but he still managed to make one score.

Ben Dyer and Andy Hawkes then chased the ball into the endzone for a safety and the Tornados surged into the lead 8-6.

The advantage did not last long, though, as the Nighthawks cashed in on a Burnley fumble and at the end of the half the Nighthawks were up 8-14.

Burnley needed a big start, but a mistake allowed the Nighthawks in again to extend their lead by twelve.

Flynn Griffith then worked his magic and with his team mates putting in blocks he was able to get into the endzone and reduce the deficit.

George Flesher then put pressure on the Nighthawks QB and was able to score a safety taking Burnley to within four points.

Gino Mann kept his eye firmly on the ball and was able to catch a pass from Robins and turn and score the six points.

Sutcliffe’s punt made it 24-20.

With the defense fired up, Anthony Tither, Josh Bonnick and Ben Dyer were able to pressure the Nighthawks into making mistakes and Burnley got the ball back.

Griffith once again ran the ball into the endzone and Robins scored the conversion to ease the Tornados to victory by a 12 points.