Shadowed by the big game in Belgrade, there were two very important and equally dramatic clashes in the Northern group of CEFL. Beside a duel between top two teams, there was also a bitter battle in Budapest for remaining hope of playoff appearance between Ljubljana Silverhawks and Budapest Cowboys.

After annihilating Silverhawks in Ljubljana, the Budapest Cowboys started to slide and a three game losing streak cost a head coach Wally English the coaching job. For any chance of retaining any playoff hope, Cowboys had to beat Silverhawks.

Ljubljana on the other hand started poorly, losing three straight but managed to defeat Zagreb Thunder at home. Silverhawks came to Budapest seriously weakened, one of the missing players was also the defensive captain David Turšič and it seemed Silverhawks’ hopes were similar to the sky over Sunday’s Budapest – dark and bleak.

Budapest came out strong. After taking the ball in their first offensive possession, running back Andre Bynoe continued where he left in Ljubljana. He kept driving and pushing forward, which opened some great passing opportunities for Cowboys’ quarterback Jack Lydic. His first big completition was a fade to the left side to Robert Matheisz who was brought down a few yards before the endzone. Bynoe had little trouble finding some running space and after PAT it was a quick 7:0 for Cowboys.

Ljubljana had little success in next drive and was forced to punt but Cowboys’ special teams had some trouble securing the ball during a return. They fumbled and Silverhawks long snapper Luka Fabiani fell on the ball on the 10 yard line. After three runs and inches, Slovenian quarterback Miloš Vrhovec returned his team back to life with a classic QB sneak. PAT was blocked and Budapest were still alive by one point.

After that a disaster struck for Budapest. Bynoe was brought down in the middle of the field and didn’t get up. After some time he was managed to get up, but was limping heavily and it turned out later that a high ankle sprain was painful enough to sideline him for at least this game.

Jack Lydic and other two running backs Krisztian Rittinger and Gabor Janos were trying hard to score again, but first half ended with only a blocked field goal and the score remained the same until the first half.

A steady drizzle continued during the second half, but a fierce battle was raging in the playing field. First Miloš Vrhovec hit Jernej Pavlič on a fade to his left and Ljubljana claimed a lead for the first time during a game. 2 point conversion didn’t succeed so it remained 12:7.

Cowboys were driving continuously and in the fourth quarter they scored again. A long pass by Lydic was tipped by safety Matevž Kirbus, but the ball sailed directly to hands of Zsolt Veber. Rain and a slick ball contributed to another poor PAT, so Cowboys were again leading by one point 13:12.

But it sure didn’t take long for Silverhawks to bounce back. In the very next possession, Vrhovec again connected with Jernej Pavlič on a fade pass and all that remained for Pavlič was to sprint into distance for 18:13 lead. Milan Narat failed to score on a two point conversion which would assure Silverhawks a little less nervous finish, so it was back to Jack Lydic to do some 4th quarter magic.

Lydic played hard, ha was spreading passes all over the field but Silverhawks just didn’t give up. After an interception and return for a touchdown by Matevž Kirbus it seemed all over, but a touchdown was recalled due to the push in the back penalty by Milan Narat. Now it was time for Cowboys defense to throw everything into the battle and they successfully forced Silverhawks to punt.

Lydic had another opportunity to score and he drove his team downfield with no timeouts left. After spiking a ball less with little more than 30 seconds on the clock he fired a pass to the middle, but Silverhawks’ linebacker Primož Štolfa deflected the ball which sailed directly into the hadns of his teammate Jan Lipovec who took the ball to his 20 yards line and took a knee to finish a game.

This was a big victory for Silverhawks who kept slim hopes for reaching the playoffs. Cowboys on the other hand will probably try to achieve as many victories as possible but will have to win all the remaining games. They will be facing Gladiators, Zagreb Thunder and Budapest Wolves, but what’s the most important is that they stop their four games slide and achieve another victory.