| Box Score |
Sunday 27 June 1999
RheinStadion, Dusseldorf
Final Score : Frankfurt Galaxy 38 - 24 Barcelona Dragons
Dick Curl's Frankfurt Galaxy were clearly the best prepared team Sunday as they clinched their second World Bowl trophy becoming the first team to win more than one championship.
It was the Dragons though that got on the scoreboard first. With support from Dragons, Admirals and endless Fire fans in the Rheinstadion, Barcelona drove into Frankfurt territory but came away with only a 38 yard field goal from kicker Jesus Angoy.
 Rene Ingoglia scores from 3 yards to give Frankfurt a 24-17 lead they would not give up Photo: Iain Carey |
Star running back Lawrence Phillips rushed into the endzone from 4 yards out on a play which the Galaxy should not have let it but Phillips was determined and would not be stopped. The extra point was good to give the Dragons a 10-3 lead.
Phillips left the game with a hamstring injury soon after, a major blow for the Dragons and one which likely dented their confidence. The result was that it forced Barcelona to throw the ball a lot more, not good when you are used to relying on the run.
Andy McCullough exploded onto the scene for Frankfurt in the second quarter with two score five minutes apart. Both came on passes from QB Pat Barnes from 11 and 32 yards which shifted the momentum and gave the Galaxy a 17-10 lead at half time.
Barcelona would not give up and replied early in the third quarter with a 5 yard strike from QB Todd Bouman to Brian Finneran to level the game at 17.
All day Frankfurt had been trying to establish their running game and had been succeeding and the results were positive when Rene Ingoglia scored from 3 yards out and with the PAT the score stood at 24-17 Frankfurt.
Mario Bailey, the lead's leading receiver, added another score for Frankfurt early in the fourth, an 8 yard pass from Jake Delhomme which really killed the Dragons realistic hopes of a second World Bowl crown in three years.
Still, the Dragons fought and fought and were rewarded when back Mario Grier plunged in from 2 yards out to bring the Catalonian side within a touchdown of Frankfurt.
It was Andy McCullough who put the final nail in the coffin for Barcelona though when he caught his third touchdown pass of the night, a 7 yarder from Pat Barnes. With only 3:08 left on the clock, it was all but over for the Dragons and the Galaxy faithful began a long night of celebration.
Comments
This was only the second World Bowl I had been to, the other being Scotland in '96, and was also my first football game in Germany. Nnow I know that the German fans are crazy but in this game they made all the difference as you rarely had the chance to hear yourself think. The noise was constant and loud - it must be awful if the whole crowd is against you! But wasn't and it made for a fantastic atmosphere with some tense moments between Frankfurt and Rhein fans who have built up a superb rivalry in recent years on the gridiron.
Anyhoo. The return game for Frankfurt was superb returning 4 kickoffs for 150 yards and nearly breaking a couple. It gave their offense an easy day when they frequently gained possesion at midfield or better.
Speaking of offense, they were solid, executed well and managed to put together some good drives including a 99 yard drive leading to Andy McCullough's TD in the 2nd quarter.
This game was always going to have a lot of points scored in it, that's the way the league is year and all the better for it (in nmy opinion!) but three touchdowns from McCullough was unbelievable as he had the sort of game Yo Murphy did in '96.
Barcelona were really hurt by the loss of Lawrence Phillips. If he had been healthy the whole game, this would have been a very tight nail-biting affair. Now, I'm not saying that Phillips is the Dragons, he isn't but he is a major part of the offense, an offense that has struggled without a running game to fall back on and pound out some yardage.
The World Bowl rap. What's that all about then? Very good idea but a little odd and unexpected. What would they have played if the Dragons had won, the World Bowl flamenco?
So, that's it until next year. Hibernation for NFLEL fans! Well not totally, there is still the end of season party and then the NFL season but it's not the same as our own league. Ho-hum, another 9 long months ahead....!
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
FRANKFURT 3 14 7 14 38
BARCELONA 10 0 7 7 24
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: BAR - FG, JESUS ANGOY 38 YD, 7:10. BARCELONA 3-0
FRA - FG, RALF KLEINMANN 25 YD, 11:41. FRANKFURT 3,
BARCELONA 3
BAR - TD, LAWRENCE PHILLIPS 4 YD RUN (JESUS ANGOY KICK),
14:39. BARCELONA 10-3
2ND QUARTER: FRA - TD, ANDY MCCULLOGH 11 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (RALF
KLEINMANN KICK), 2:20. FRANKFURT 10, BARCELONA
10
FRA - TD, ANDY MCCULLOGH 32 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (RALF
KLEINMANN KICK), 7:34. FRANKFURT 17-10
3RD QUARTER: BAR - TD, BRIAN FINNERAN 5 YD PASS FROM TODD BOUMAN
(JESUS ANGOY KICK), 4:50. FRANKFURT 17,
BARCELONA 17
FRA - TD, RENE INGOGLIA 3 YD RUN (RALF KLEINMANN KICK),
8:29. FRANKFURT 24-17
4TH QUARTER: FRA - TD, MARIO BAILEY 8 YD PASS FROM JAKE DELHOMME (RALF
KLEINMANN KICK), 2:34. FRANKFURT 31-17
BAR - TD, MARRIO GRIER 2 YD RUN (JESUS ANGOY KICK), 6:02.
FRANKFURT 31-24
FRA - TD, ANDY MCCULLOGH 7 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (RALF
KLEINMANN KICK), 11:42. FRANKFURT 38-24
TEAM STATISTICS
FRA BAR
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 29 18
Rushing 13 6
Passing 16 9
Penalty 0 3
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 7-10 3-10
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 505 240
Total plays 67 52
Average gain 7.5 4.6
NET YARDS RUSHING 203 89
Rushes 34 19
Average per rush 6.0 4.7
NET YARDS PASSING 302 151
Completed-attempted 21-30 16-31
Yards per pass 9.2 4.6
Sacked-yards lost 3-28 2-10
Had intercepted 0 1
PUNTS-AVERAGE 2-36.5 5-44.6
RETURN YARDAGE 169 160
Punts-returns 3-19 0-0
Kickoffs-returns 4-150 7-160
Interceptions-returns 1-0 0-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 6-77 5-30
FUMBLES-LOST 2-1 0-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 33:26 26:34
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: Frankfurt (Ralf Kleinmann 25); Barcelona (Jesus
Angoy 38).
Frankfurt rushing: Jermaine Chaney 16-120, Jake Delhomme 5-47, Rene
Ingoglia 10-40, Pat Barnes 2-8, Todd Floyd 1-minus 12.
Barcelona rushing: Lawrence Phillips 7-40, Marrio Grier 8-39, Todd
Bouman 4-10.
Frankfurt passing: Pat Barnes 12-16 for 204 yards, 0 INT, 3 TD, Jake
Delhomme 9-14 for 126 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD.
Barcelona passing: Todd Bouman 16-31 for 161 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD.
Frankfurt receiving: Andy Mccullogh 6-151, Todd Floyd 4-50, Jermaine
Chaney 3-41, Mario Bailey 3-24, Werner Hippler 3-21, Ron Leshinski
1-41, Rene Ingoglia 1-2.
Barcelona receiving: Kaipo Mcguire 4-69, Brian Finneran 4-17, Alonzo
Johnson 3-32, Carlos Rosado 2-18, Lawrence Phillips 2-13, Marco
Martos 1-12.
Attendance: 39,643.