A Hampden horror show ends Scots' Bowl hopes

Frankfurt Galaxy stifled the Hampden roar as they secured the victory which finally killed off the Scottish Claymores' hopes of reaching the World Bowl at the construction site that is Hampden yesterday.

Two touchdowns by receiver Darrick Branch - one in the first quarter and another in the final quarter - killed off the Claymores and set up the possibility of an all-German World Bowl in Frankfurt next month.

Rhein Fire moved to within touching distance of the Bowl with a 12-7 win over England Monarchs on Saturday and Frankfurt, with five wins from eight matches, now, have control of their own destiny.

However, it was another desperately disappointing show from the Claymores in front of a noisy 8000 crowd. Once again they contributed to their own downfall with kicker Gary Parker, hero of the piece against England the previous week, missing two kicks in the second quarter which would have given the home side victory.

There was also a costly and painful interception thrown by quarterback Jim Ballard with just 90 seconds of the match remaining as his pass up the middle was picked off by Frankfurt linebacker Shawn Banks.

With that error ended the Claymores 1998 challenge for the World Bowl, and with only two wins from eight matches, most of which were within their reach, it has been a deeply disappointing campaign.

Head coach Jim Criner admitted afterwards that it was a frustrating season given the number of injuries the Claymores have had and it was a case of them simply running out of steam yesterday as they visibly wilted in the second half.

The defence had managed a decent enough job in the first half and kept Galaxy to just 35 yards, but once again the Claymores could not translate their superiority into points on the board. Barefooted kicker Jon Baker gave the Claymores the lead nine minutes into the game with a 45-yard field goal, but Frankfurt came back at the end of the first quarter with quarterback Damon Huard hooking up with Branch with a seven-yard pass into the end zone for a touchdown.

German kicker Ralf Kleinmann made the extra point to tie him for the all-time top scorer in the league on 127 points.

Agonisingly for him, however, he missed two field goals in the third quarter which would have given him the lead outright. Frankfurt also opted to go for the two-point conversion on their second touchdown which denied him his moment of glory.

The Claymores came back in the second quarter with Ballard picking out tightend Willie Tate with a 29-yard pass for touchdown, but Parker remarkably failed to kick the extra point.

Parker went some way to making amends when he put over a 22-yard field goal with three minutes of the second quarter left, but then failed to make a 30-yard field goal that had presented itself with just seconds of the first half left.

Frankfurt punter Bill Kushner saw the snap go over his head but he managed to recover the ball on the 20-yard line. It presented Parker with a kickable prospect, but his effort drifted wide.

Coach Criner removed any blame for that miss from Parker and explained afterwards: ''That wasn't Gary's fault. The ball was put on the tee at a bad angle and it came off his foot badly. I don't blame Gary for it.

''It was a very disappointing outcome. We should have been at least four points better off at half-time and those points would have made the difference.

''But I felt we could go out in the second half and continue to do what we were doing and pull it off.

''I wouldn't say it was Gary's fault and I wouldn't say it was Jim Ballard's fault - we all contributed to it today. We just weren't good enough to pull it off.''

The missed kicks could have been even more painful for the Claymores had Kleinmann made any of his field goal attempts - from 48 yards and 36 yards - in the third quarter.

There was another let-off for the Claymores at the start of the final quarter, when receiver Mario Bailey galloped in for a touchdown - but it was correctly adjudged that he had stepped out of bounds.

However, the Claymores did not heed the warning. Huard linked up with Branch again for an identical touchdown to the one in the first quarter and this time Jorg Heckenbach made the two-point conversion to take Frankfurt to 15-12.

It was another case of the Claymores squandering opportunities as their offence stalled and they did not manage a single point in the second half.

Frankfurt coach Dick Curl admitted: ''It wasn't pretty to watch but sometimes you're better to be lucky than good.''