COLCHESTER Gladiators 14, Farnham Knights 41. The Knights clinched the Southern Conference Division 1 championship with this emphatic victory and made themselves number one seeds in the play-offs.

A win for Colchester Gladiators would have robbed Knights of both accolades and they seemed to have a good chance because the visitors were missing starting quarterback Oli De Ruyter, who had got married the day before, and other key personnel, including wide receiver Michael Bradley-Banszki.

Gareth Davies, meanwhile, needed just three yards to break the 1000-yard milestone for the season.

Farnham’s response was a great performance on both offence and defence as they stormed to the league title.

Ally Reid took over the quarterback duties and leading receiver Stealy-J Wills opened the scoring on the Knights’ second play as running back Nick Roope threw him the ball for a 72-yard touchdown. John Symons added the extra point.

Reid had a solid day at the controls, managing Farnham’s dominant running attack and completing six of nine passing attempts, including a 23-yard scoring pass to the irrepressible Roope.

Davies cleared the 1,000-yard barrier easily as he racked up 210 yards from just 11 carries, including a 74-yard burst for a score in the third quarter.

Colchester put up a brave fight and stayed with the Knights until half-time when the score stood at 14-27. But the Knights defence stepped up the pressure and the offence was relentless, with the winning score completed by the end of the third quarter.

Roope had a stellar day, passing for a TD, catching a TD and rushing for a TD. He ran in a two-point conversion for good measure, while other scores were added by Paul Wakeford and Salim Ben-Romdhane

The Farnham club are on a high, with the senior and youth teams already in the play-offs and the juniors needing a win in London this weekend to make it a complete programme in the post-season.

The senior Knights’ play-off semi-final is on Sunday, August 23 when they meet Ouse Valley Eagles at Farnham Rugby Club (ko 2-30pm).

l Knights female offensive lineman, Laura Hill, played a full part in Team GB’s Women’s European Championship win over Germany in Spain.