The Vukovi Belgrade could’ve had a better start to the season, but they’ll take what they can get and their 21-10 win over the Ljubljana Silverhawks will have to do.

The Silverhawks found themselves on the verge of a stunning win after a 10 point lead and a scoreless first half for the home team. The lead lasted until very late in the game, but it wasn’t to be for the Slovenian team which has already lost in a similar fashion in Serbia.

The Slovenians knew who they were and very rarely passed the ball, but managed to completely outplay their opponent in the first half. They built their lead on very solid defensive play and some great running from their import running back Jordan Capitanio, who’s play was excellent in his CEFL debut.

The Vukovi on the other hand found out that they’ll miss their quarterback Jordan Green more against teams that have a chance of stopping them. They had problems moving the ball with their running back Brandon McDowell at quarterback and the running game wasn’t that impressive either.

Neither was their overall play. With the Silverhawks up 3 points, the Vukovi made a huge goal line stand at the end of the half, but it turned out that a penalty would give the Silverhawks another try, and Capitanio scored on a 1 yard run with no time left on the clock.

The frustration resulted in “whose field is this” shouts by the Vukovi players in the second half, and in the end, their unbeaten streak at home survived. Returnee Andrej Tasić scored on a 10 yard run in the third quarter to reduce the score to 7-10, but it took a lot of failed attempts before they could finally manage a drive that would give them their first lead.

McDowell completed a pass to Saša Petaković for a big gain, and with times getting desperate, Tony Stubbs was put at running back – in his only run, he got the Vukovi another big gain and put the ball at the 2-yard line. The Silverhawks defense put in a great performance, but they finally cracked and gave up the lead when McDowell ran it in for the decisive points.

The Silverhawks were shut out in the second half, and it was clear they would not be able to score when they had only one shot. A four and out gave the Vukovi the ball and the win. Still, Brandon McDowell escaped for the last score of the game on a second down run.

It wasn’t pretty nor impressive, but it was good enough for the Vukovi’s first win.