The Dubai Barracudas were left shell shocked by their 40-0 loss to Abu Dhabi Wildcats last weekend but coach Kyle Jordan is already looking to move on.
The Barracudas went into the Desert Bowl semi-final with confidence after three wins and a draw from six games, including a dramatic 24-12 win over the Wildcats, but were stunningly beaten by the Abu Dhabi outfit.
Vivaldi Tulysse, Andrew Williams, Amos Daniels, Nader Almahri were all on the scoresheet for the reigning champions.
Jordan told Sport360°: “We were really surprised by the result. We really expected to play better than we did, but Abu Dhabi really put together a great strategy. They basically lined up with their big guys and played big football and pushed us around the field and we weren’t able to stop them.
“They just played power football and we put a lot of guys in the box and tried to stop them, but between their offensive lineman and some misdirection, we just weren’t able to stop them.”
The result was a disappointingend to a season that had once promised so much. After a slow start, the Barracudas picked up two straight wins and a draw against the Dubai Stallions.
Key alterations, particularly moving Zavier Cobb to quarterback, paid huge dividends for them.
Jordan added: “We didn’t want to go out like that, but I told the guys after the game that we had a much better season than last and we have made progress. But sometimes you show up and it isn’t your night. They are so tough to beat when they play like that.
“We need some time to get away from football, it has been a long season. We played well for six months, it’s time for the guys to step away from it for a bit, but we’ll get back to it. I’m not going to let the guys throw out the last game, there were lessons to learn and we’ll look at it next time we start the next season.
“For us, it’s a matter of getting out there, getting stronger and bringing in some new talent. We need to build on this season. It takes time to build a programme… we have a solid core of guys and real foundation of players.”