Unlike last year, some Thunder fans did make the trip to Scotland this year. Here Mike and Henrik from Fanclub #1 enjoy a tradtional warm up beer outside the Murrayfield Hotel. However they may have wished by the days end that the game had been played in Glasgow like last year!

Preston shows off his recently updated BAD CALL O-METER. It’s a sad day for football when you have to cover Phil Luckett's name! (Jeff Triplette was the referee of last weeks game who forgot to blow his whistle). Once again the Meter did the trick as the officiating on the whole was acceptable!

What's this? The Cheerleaders changing room? Sadly not, as the Claymores LETTERMEN go through pre-game warm ups. And no, Billy (letter M) is not taking a piss!

And then there was a game!

Awesome, simply awesome.

That was the Claymores on Sunday as they put the disappointment of the previous weekend in Berlin firmly behind them by extracting a huge chunk of revenge on the same Thunder team. Back on Scottish soil, the team was focused, determined, disciplined and nothing short of awe inspiring as it rolled to the greatest win in franchise history. The 42 points scored, 3 conceded were both home records trailing only the 48 in Berlin last year and the shutout in Frankfurt in 96 for franchise records.

Once again the defense set the tone of the game, leaving the offense to play a solid and smart game which netted a team record 6 TD's by the unit. Last week in Berlin, the secondary picked off 3 passes in the 2^nd half but the O could manage only a FG in return - this week 4 thefts were turned into 4 TD's. The first one, by Blaine McElmurry stopped a promising Berlin drive (after the Claymores had done their traditional 3 and out - despite Scoops making a catch that was non-called). McElmurry returned the pick (his 3^rd in just over 30 minutes of play) 52 yards to the Thunder 43 yard line. From there the O moved slowly aided by a late hit call on Kevin Daft (called a week late!) on the out of control S Kevin Peoples. A 13 yard Stecker run to the 1 yard line was then followed by #27's first rushing TD of the season - as he scooted round right end for a 7-0 lead.

Stecker on his way to TD #1

Then the Eric Kresser meltdown began. On the 3^rd play after the kickoff he again found blue and silver in the form of Duane Hawthorne who returned the ball to the Thunder 30 yard line. Three plays later from the 26 yard line, Daft seemed to take forever to find a wide open Rickey Brady in the endzone as his pass barely made it over the closing defenders. Brady's diving catch made it 14-0.

Then it was time for "same procedure". Kresser to Hawthorne for an INT, and Daft to Brady for six as the TE's 17 yard grab made it 21-0 barely inside the 2^nd quarter. The loud and vocal crowd at Murrayfield was going barking made by this stage!

Rickey "TD Machine" Brady makes it 21-0!

Kresser was given an early shower, as Scott Milanovich came in on the Thunder's next series, and found some white shirts for a change on a drive that led to a Jaret Holmes 47 yard FG. Then after forcing the Claymores to punt, Milanovich had the Thunder on the move again. The drive was aided by a sneaky fake punt in which P Brain Moorman scampered for 24 yards on 4^th and 4 from their own 19 yard line. (The longest run against the Claymores this year). Berlin coach Pete Vaas was obviously in gambling mood as when the Scottish Hounds held firm on 3^rd and goal, he went for it on 4^th and G from the 1 with 17 seconds left in the 1^st half. Milanovich dropped back to pass but with Jon Hesse bearing down, his pass was tipped by Chris Ward and the Hounds had held!

The 2^nd half followed the same pattern, as Milanovich took a pounding from the Hounds who refused to let Berlin score any more points. Vaas tried another fake punt on 4^th and 17 midway through the 3^rd but this time Moorman was 'held' to 13 yards. Two plays later Daft finally threw a perfect deep pass right into the arms of Damon Gibson who raced in for a 65 yard score. It was Daft's best and last last throw of the day as he took a well earned rest, with Marcus Crandell coming in for the next series.

Another INT, this time by Ryan Taylor led to another Stecker TD run at the start of the 4^th quarter. At 35-3 the Claymores O really started to push Berlin around, with Ben Snell running hard. A 24 yard run by Snell set up Stecker's 3^rd TD run (tying a league record) with just over 6 minutes left to make it 42-3. QB Mike Cook came in for Milanovich but fared no better. Then the Claymores got the chance to use their own 3^rd stringer, Takayuki Sunaga, much to the delight of the Murrayfield faithful. The Japanese QB helped to run out the clock with a few handoffs, and the 39 point rout was complete.

Blanie McElmurry got his third pick in 2 weeks

So 3-1 and off to Dusseldorf to play the Fire. Just like last year. This time we're bringing a defense, so the chances of last season's 39-6 drubbing are slim. But with the Fire also 3-1, this promises to the biggest test for the Hounds and co yet as sole possession of first place is at stake!

WEEK 4 CHEDDARS

Normally, we give out "Cheddars" to the outstanding individual performances from the game, but in the aftermath of Sunday's 42-3 score our only option is give THE WHOLE DAMN TEAM, COACH CRINER and the REST OF THE COACHING STAFF all "Cheddars" for an awesome performance.

 QB Kevin Daft - 3TD's, no turnovers

 QB Marcus Crandell - Led two TD drives

 QB Takayuki Sunaga - Got on the field!

 RB Aaron Stecker - 3 TD's to tie league record. Plus check out his awesome pass block on Gibson's TD.

 RB Ben Snell - 90 yards rushing to lead team and make up for last week.

 RB Peter Sochart - Got on the field!

 WR Damon Gibson - 65 yard TD made up for punt return goof

 WR Sulecio Sanford - 20 yard catch was longest by WR until Gibson's

 WR Deon Mitchell - Got a great downfield block on a Stecker swing pass

 WR Scott Couper - We know you made that catch Scott!

 WR Rowelle Blenman - 1 special teams tackle

 TE Rickey Brady - The TD machine clocks up 2 more

 TE Willy Tate - 6 perfect holds!

 TE Tremanye Allen - 1 catch, some nice blocking

 TE Nachi Abe - Played some O

 C Mike Newell - Tough in the middle all day

 G Jason Gamble - Helped us get to 176 yards rushing

 G Ben Cavil - Did I mention 176 yards rushing?

 T Scott Curry - Helped file the missing person's report on Berlin DE Jonathan Brown. Great first game Scott!

 T Cornell Green - Get well soon!

 T Rome Douglas - Get well soon!

 T Jason Tenner - Last week is all forgotten!

 T Chad Abernathy - Part of the OL that gave up only 1 sack

 DE Michael Mason - 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks and Hound of the Day

 DE Chris Ward - 2 tackles, 0.5 sack plus the crucial pass tip on 4^th down

 DE Rasheed Simmons - 2 tackles

 DE Jabbar Threats - 2 tackles, 1 sack

 DT Antonio Dingle - 1 tackle, 1 sack

 DT Noel Scarlett - 1 tackle - no personal fouls!

 DT Tom Tovo - Back in action!

 LB Jermaine Benoit - Back in action!

 LB Matt Finkes - 4 tackles, helped hold Thunder to 50 yards rushing on offense

 LB Phil Glover - 8 tackles and just super again

 LB Jon Hesse - 3 tackles plus all important hurry on 4^th down play

 LB Ryan Taylor - First INT of the season

 LB Brian Smith - 1 special teams tackle

 CB Duane Hawthorne - 6 tackles, 4 pass defenses, 2 INT's - Eric Kresser can't sleep at nights!

 CB Kory Blackwell - 1 tackle and solid all day helping hold Berlin to 15 of 36 passing

 CB Central McCllelion - Sadly injured early, but kept his gameshirt and pants on to cheer the team the rest of the way. Got a game ball from Duane after one of his picks

 CB Hurley Tarver - 2 tackles, 1 pass defense

 S Blaine McElmurry - Another INT and 5 more tackles.

 S Marcus Ray - 3 tackles

 S Chris Bayne - 2 tackles

 K Rob Hart - Perfect on XP's (setting new league record) and made nice tackle on kick return

 P Jon Ballantyne - In the swing of things now (48.0 average) plus a super one on one hit on the punt returner that may have saved a TD

 Coach Criner and the rest of the coaches - For making all the necessary adjustments from last week, keeping the team focuses and disciplined, Awesome!

Berlin QB Eric Kresser under center in the 1^st Quarter, deciding which Claymore to throw to.

The Hounds were back to their best, and the Murrayfield faithful responded with some of the best barking this side of Cleveland!

And the barking was loudest in the Upper East Stand, by those bare chested beauties! But relax girls - they're all institutionalized!

Steck sweeps left in lots of space that newly arrived Scott Curry has helped to create

CB Central McCllelion enjoys a relaxing day in the sun - but sadly Cent had been injured early in the 1^st quarter. Hopefully it's just a knee sprain and he'll back ASAP.

The Cheddarhead banner got some more air time this week.

3 more TD's and still the league's leading rusher!

Most improved player of the week - OT Jason Tenner! After a bad day in Berlin, and a trip to the bench for Sunday, Jason responded in great fashion when Cornell Green went down. He had to enjoy that 4^th quarter when the whole O-line pushed Berlin up and down the field!

But the real O-line hero was Scott Curry! Sadly we couldn't get Scott cheddared as he was probably on the phone to Montana checking on his new-born. Instead we celebrated at the airport after the game by eating some Curry - not bad!

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