Sportklub CEFL is gearing toward its final stages of the 2019 season. The finals of both our competitions, the Championship and the Cup, will be played on the weekend of 8/9 June. All arrangements have been made and we can finally make the announcements.
Xenith CEFL Bowl XIV, as the pinnacle of this season, will be played on Sportplatz Ringstrasse in Chur, Switzerland on Saturday, 8 June, with the kickoff at 18:00 CET. The home team, Calanda Broncos will host the two-time and current champions, Swarco Raiders Tirol.
The Broncos were the newcomer in the league this season. They’ve played in the Eastern Conference of the Championship with three other teams, slating wins against each of them. They’ve traveled to Wrocław first to face the Panthers and took home a 27-3 victory. Then they greeted Turkish champion Istanbul Koç Rams and handily defeated them, 55-17. Lastly, Serbian top team, Kragujevac Wild Boars visited them last weekend, but the Broncos scraped through, 37-33.
The Raiders were equally decisive in the Western Conference, battling with two other teams. They promoted themselves to the finals by beating both of them early in the season. In the first game of the conference they’ve hosted another new CEFL team, Thonon Black Panthers. The game was lopsided as the home team triumphed with the score 41-7. In their second game, a third CEFL novice, Milan Seamen have welcomed them, but the tally stood in favor of the Austrians, 50-23.
The final game of the CEFL Cup will be played on the Stadio Europa in Bolzano, Italy on Sunday, 9 June starting at 14:00 CET. The two participants will be Bolzano Giants and Moscow Spartans. This is the first season of playing in CEFL for both. The Giants were the runners-up of their national league last year, while the Spartans are the current champions of Russia.
Giants’ road to the finals started at home, where they hosted Budapest Wolves in the first round and celebrated after a 36-19 affair. The Wolves have made a comeback in CEFL after a 5 year hiatus from international competitions. In the semifinals, the Giants have traveled to Belgrade to meet SBB Vukovi and ousted them from the Cup, 42-27. Previously, SBB Vukovi have evicted another newcomer, Bucharest Rebels, from the tournament with 28-14.
Moscow Spartans’ are also a greenhorn in Sportklub CEFL whose both wins came on the road. The first W in their column was marked after the game they played in Budapest against the Cowbells where the total was 24-6. Their second conquest was in the semifinals when they went to Istanbul and won even more convincingly against ITÜ Hornets, 43-17. The Hornets were victorious in the first round playing at home against another Moscow team, the Patriots, 40-19.