AMERICAN football enjoyed its big day out in London, where New York Giants defeated Miami Dolphins 13-10 at rain-lashed Wembley.
Fears the first regular-season NFL match to be played outside North America would become a damp squib prvoved to be unfounded despite the dismal conditions that, at times, turned the contest into a lottery.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is determined to turn the sport into a global game, and he will have been encouraged by the crowd’s enthusiastic response to the league’s groundbreaking initiative.
A near-capacity crowd of 81,176 spectators ignored the rival attractions of four Barclays Premier League football matches, including Liverpool’s clash against Arsenal, to see the Giants win their sixth consecutive match, on the back of running back Brandon Jacobs’s career-high 132 yards rushing, to improve to a 6-2 win-loss record.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning admitted the chance to play at Wembley had made the long trip worthwhile.
"It was a great atmosphere and the stadium was fantastic," he said.
"It was fun to be here, just like a regular game.
"The field conditions were tough but we had to deal with it. We had to find a way to win and we managed to get it done."
Miami must have hoped a change of scene would bring a change of luck, but the Dolphins remain without a win after succumbing to their eighth defeat of the season.
"It’s a disappointing loss but I can’t imagine the game going any better for the league," Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said.
"The hospitality was second to none.
"The conditions weren’t a factor for me. I told our guys that in any close game, you can’t make that many mistakes, especially in the scoring zone."
American football has struggled to make a lasting impression in Britain, but the novelty of watching a meaningful NFL fixture in the flesh sparked a huge demand for tickets from a sporting public usually obsessed with its own version of football.
Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes got the contest under way in a blaze of flashbulbs after a trio of English sports stars – rugby union legend Martin Johnson, Chelsea footballer John Terry and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton – presided over the pre-match coin toss.
Miami running back Jesse Chatman’s six-yard dash on the first offensive play of the match would have been unremarkable in the US, but this was history in the making and it drew a huge roar from the fans.
Miami kicker Jay Feely had the chance to score the first points, but he missed a 48-yard field goal at the end of the Dolphins’ first drive.
Instead, Tynes got his name in the record books when he converted a 20-yard field goal for the Giants in the first quarter.
New York seemed to be in control when Plaxico Burress’s crucial catch on fourth down was correctly ruled completed by the replay official. Instead of having to settle for a field goal, Giants quarterback Eli Manning scored the game’s first touchdown with a 10-yard scramble on the next play.
Giants defensive end Michael Strahan then recovered a fumble from Dolphins quarterback Cleo Lemon, and Tynes moments later drilled a 41-yard field goal to increase New York’s lead to 13-0 at half-time.
With the weather remaining atrocious, mistakes were Miami’s best hope. Manning duly obliged with a third-quarter fumble and Chatman’s powerful run set up a Feely field goal.
Miami remained in the match long enough for Lemon to throw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn Jr late in the game, but the Giants held on to win.
Reuters
Source: foxsports.com.au
