Week 5 and the campaign for more Curt moved to Glasgow.

With just 20 points in 4 games this season, this was no time to back down in the belief that 4 Curt Quarters would being us our 1st NFL Europe win.

But if it takes just 2, we'll take that exchange rate too ...

A good Saturday night in Glasgow was had by all, but as the night began to wind down the time for wagering began. Preston decided to bet Ian these 2 delightfully checked chairs from the hotel that the Claymores would prevail 13-10. Ian on the other hand went for 20-10 Fire. Thankfully Preston decided he didn't like the chairs very much 24 hours later ...

Sunday
Preston and Colvin and joined by two recent transatlantic arrivals. Shuggie of course is back for another game - still looking for his 1st points. The well tanned individual behind him is Barker, who we found out has been in the West Indies the last couple of weeks, and therefore will be deducted points in our prediction competition. We were instantly suspicious of his 6-3 start to the season and now we know why - Ben Saunders has been making his picks the last 2 weeks!

Also sporting an alter ego this week was the Mad Hatter, who decided to call in reinforcement headgear to prevent any unnecessary concussions from drunken clowns this week.

But once again the Horizontal Hybl offense fails to cash in. Nate hits Scott McCready on his 1st 2 passes - but they gain just 5 and 2 yards. On 3rd down Ahmaad Galloway is nailed for a 3 yard loss - failing to turn the corner yet again. On 4th and 6 at the Fire 33, the offense quite rightly goes for it (Nick Murphy is leading the league in touchbacks).

Fire QB Chad Hutchinson escapes from the pressure on the Fire's next drive. However he stopped short of a 1st down here, ending a promising drive. K Mike Shafer boots a 48 yard FG to get the Fire on the board.

FIRE 3-0

The Claymores 2nd drive is once again sparked by the introduction of Maurice Hicks.

He takes 3 Hybl dump offs a total of 23 yards to move the Claymores past midfield.

Then on 3rd and 2 he runs up the gut and gets 3 yards to the 28 yard line.

Then the biggest surprise of all. On 1st down, Hybl goes back to throw and launches a pass downfield to Ron Bellamy who has scorched Fire CB Earthwind Moreland on a post. Ron pulls it in and the drought of 196 minutes and 7 seconds is over! See it wasn't that difficult!

CLAYMORES 7-3

TOUCHDOWN SCOTLAND!

However a debatable coaching decision came good. Fire were called for holding giving the Claymores the option of having the Fire 4th &1 or 3rd & 11. Jack must have sensed the Fire might go for it, as he sent Hutchinson back on the field, with another chance to throw a TD. On 3rd and 11 however the Claymores pass rush led by Alan Harper broke through and forced Hutchinson to throw the ball away. Then Ingo Anderbrugge was wide left on his 31 yard FG. The football gods were smiling on us for once!

Fire responded with their #2 QB, southpaw Greg Zolman who seems to have learnt this curveball from Chad Hutchinson. This one looped over our defensive line and was complete for a short gain but Fire had to punt. A good effort from Brooks Barnard gets downed at the 4 yard line.

Curt's 2nd drive didn't produce any points but in the context of the game of field position was quite important. Pinned at their own 4 with half a quarter to go, Curt moves them 51 yards in 5 minutes.

On this drive, Curt starts to excel in the shotgun. A 3rd down shovel pass to Hicks produces a 1st down. Then he produces one of his best throws of the season - firing a dart downfield that threads the needle behind the linebacker and in front of the safety for a 22 yard gain to Scott McCready. But the drive eventually stalls and Murphy pins the Fire deep themselves as the quarter winds down.

Hutchinson completes a couple of passes to get the Fire moving just before the 2 minute warning, but a false start on ex Claymore OL Pita Elisara stalls the drive. The Claymores had a chance to maybe use a time-out and save the clock for Curt - but perhaps Jack feels happy enough with the lead for a change. Curt does get the ball back - but with only 16 seconds left, and the clock is run out.

CLAYMORES 7-3 (HT)

Half-time is Twister Time. While the Claymores have yet to lose on the board this season - Preston had not been involved in any winning decisions. Would another losing streak end Sunday? Click below to find out!

3rd Q

Out of the blue, Ahmaad Galloway suddenly breaks free on a Hybl dump off and rumbles 44 yards to the Fire 26 yard line.

However Hybl is sacked by David Nugent 2 plays later and the drive stalls when he throws and high and out of bounds to Bellamy on 3rd and long.

Rob Hart steps up for a career long 47 yard FG, which has the legs but is just off to the left.

D forces Fire to go 3 and out again though, when Jimmy McClain makes a great tackle in hauling down Fire WR Willie Quinnie short of the 1st down.

But Hybl gives the ball back to the Fire 3 plays later, when his nemesis Fire S Abdual Howard picks him off. Unlike Week 2 when Howard took it in for a score, thankfully this time Ron Bellamy is on hand to make the tackle.

A Durrand Roundtree sack halts the Fire but Mike Shafer is good again this time from 45 yards.

CLAYMORES 7-6

The teams trade 3 and outs on their next possessions. Hybl is sacked by Nugent again forcing another Murphy punt, and increasing the restfulness of the home crowd.

However the Claymores D responds and Brad Franklin pushes Fire WR Adam Herzing out of bounds a yard shy of the 1st down. However the Barnard punt is muffed by Ian Smart and the Fire recover at the Claymores 13 yard line.

It looks the Claymores have got the ball back when Jermaine Chatman strips Quinnie of the ball on a 3rd and 10 completion. However the ball is ruled incomplete and Anderbrugge is good from 31 yards.

FIRE 9-7

Ian Smart atones for his muff by taking the kickoff back 32 yards to midfield behind some good blocks.

But Hybl is unable to do anything with this Smart field position, and 2 incompletes later Nick Murphy hits his punt into the end zone.

Hybl had now gone 5 straight 3 and outs in the 2nd half in the last 2 weeks.

WE WANT CURT!

And we would get our wish when our defense held the Fire yet again. After giving them a roughing the passer penalty, Quinnie was again tackled short of 1st down yardage - this time by Jens Petterson.

Careful what you wish for ... Curt's 1st drive ends up in disaster when on his 2nd pass the ball slips out of his grasp and the Fire recover.

But sacks by Jimmy McClain and Damian Gregory help hold the Fire again, and they settle for Mike Shafer's 41 yard FG.

FIRE 12-7

The defense held yet again, forcing a 3 and out and Curt got the ball back at his 9 with 5:29 left.

After picking up a couple of 1st downs it looked to have stalled when on 4th and 10 at their own 33 with just under 3 minutes left.

Jack gambled to go for it, but Helfman couldn't pull in Anes's pass in tight coverage and it fell incomplete.

Shuggie fell over and the Claymores looked down and out. (Shame on Shuggie for wearing something under his kilt too).

1st & 10 from Sco 20 (87 seconds)

Surprise! A Hicks draw play gets 11 yards.

Tick tick tick!

1st & 10 from Sco 31 (65 seconds)

Helfman pulls in Curt's pass at the 47 yard line and holds on despite a wicked hit from Howard.

Tick tick tick!

1st & 10 from Sco 47 (45 seconds)

Curt finds McCready over the middle who spins away for a 1st down but is tackled in bounds.

Time out Scotland - 33 seconds left

1st & 10 from Rhe 38 (33 seconds)

Curt lobs a ball to Hicks down the right sideline who gets the 1st down, but fails to get out of bounds!

Tick tick tick!

1st & 10 from Rhe 23 (13 seconds)

Curt spikes the ball to stop the clock.

2nd & 10 from Rhe 23 (13 seconds)

False start on Todd Wike - no play.

2nd & 15 from Rhe 28 (13 seconds)

Curt drops back to pass and lobs the ball to the left corner of the end zone ...

Bellamy has got behind the cornerback, and the safety is slow to get over ...

The ball seems to be in the the air for what seems like eternity, but Bellamy is still free as he jumps to haul it in for the winning TD with 6 seconds left.

Pandemonium breaks out!

CLAYMORES 13-12

Claymores do attempt a two point conversion, but haven't got the right personnel in, and the pass falls incomplete.

TOUCHDOWN SCOTLAND!

The losing streak is over!A

Everybody is happy!

FINAL

CLAYMORES 13 FIRE 12

Game "cheddars" to...

Curt Anes. Show grit and determination to bounce back from his 2 earlier fumbles to lead the last gasp drive. Ended up 10 of 19 for 122 yards and 1 TD.

Jimmy McClain. 11 tackles and 1 sack to lead the D which made a bunch of clutch tackles all day.

The D-Line. Showed up big time on Sunday, and really frustrated Chad Hutchinson. More than doubled its sack total with 5 and helped shut the Fire running game down to 67 yards. Flickingers sack at the end was pivotal.

Ron Bellamy. Only 2 catches for 56 yards, but both were for monumental 28 yard touchdowns! Hopefully a breakout performance from him.

What we learnt after Week 5 ...

Team didn't quit and showed heart. After being falsely accused of being a 'poor team' in some quarters, they held together like glue on Sunday. The defense simply refused to lose, when the Fire had many opportunities to put the game away.

Curt is Captain Comeback. Anes seems at this best when the game is on the line, and doesn't get flustered. Don't forget he was on the verge of pulling the Amsterdam game out of the hat 2 weeks ago, until the coaches roped him in and settled for the FG. He simply has to be on the field in the 4th quarter.

Don't forget the Deuce. It's a little known rule in NFLE that extra points can be returned for 2 points (blocked kick, a fumble or interception). Thus when the Claymores took a 1 point lead with 6 seconds left the safest strategy of all might have been to take a knee...

Odds & Ends

We've spent 4 weeks commiserating mainly with the winning teams - so it make sense to role reverse. We were happy to see Kevin O'Neal again. He was a great coach for us a few years back and it's good to have him back in the league. He was so popular here they even named a pub after him - which we would go to later.

The weight was finally lifted from Jack's shoulders and it's almost sent him to sleep!

Congratulations to Jack on his 60th NFLE victory, and not the 55 that Dom and Preston have miscounted!

Everybody was looking real tired - the win took a lot out of us!

Ian took some hard hits on special teams for one. Ryan meanwhile didn't have his best day (by his own admission), but was still part of a terrific defensive performance.

The Curt Anes Appreciation Society was in full throng post-game. To read what the Claymores FTP made of the the whole weekend please click the link. Our guess is they had a good time.

Also kudos to hand out to FTP Jayne & Mark who withstood some verbal abuse while standing up for what they believed in. And full credit to Mark's megaphone which we could hear from the other side of the stadium!

So it was to O'Neills we went to continue the celebration. As ever, Karl was in fine tune and gave a great performance. But we were sad to hear the Claymores were no longer requiring his services. New Campaign for next week - WE WANT KARL!

Also good to see Kenny Stats making some late night changes to the stats!

We're only 5 weeks into the season and have already ending up drinking with ex-Cuse and Fire OL Sean O'Connor on 3 occasions. Him and RB Ryan Brewer popped into O'Neills after the game to sample the local nightlife.

In case you are not familiar with Syracuse - their mascot is Otto the Orange who we saw on our Figure 8 tour in 2002. Sean was on the sidelines that day, and assures he was not in fact Otto ...

Winning is fun. It's really special when you are 0-4 as well. This felt a lot like 1998 when Jim Criner's injured squad beat Jack Bicknell in Week 5 to get their 1st win too.

We'll have our hands full next week versus the Galaxy for sure - but it was a great victory to savour, no doubt about it!