Vinson out of the running for Monarchs

American football

The London Monarchs must win tonight in Amsterdam to keep alive their hopes of hosting the World Bowl, an honour bestowed on the team with the best mark midway through the season.

Their opponents, the Admirals, coming off a 19-10 defeat in Frankfurt and without a victory, are also under pressure. They have to win to salvage any hope of a championship run.

The Monarchs suffered defeat in their last game, too, a 28-6 beating by Rhein Fire, a loss that saw their running back, Tony Vinson, hobble off the field with a sprained ankle after gaining a paltry five yards. He is unlikely to play, his position filled by the powerful Ed Hobbs and the rapid Abrams Smith.

London will want to improve on the Rhein game, which saw their offence rush for a mere 39 yards and four first downs while the quarterback, Stan White, sacked three times, completed just eight passes for 74 yards.

Lionel Taylor, the Monarchs coach, described the defeat as a "good old fashioned whipping", but yesterday was taking a positive view. "I hope some good comes out of that game, because it might shake some of my guys up a bit," he said.

Taylor will be anxious for London to counter the threat posed by the Admirals' running back, Brent Moss. Mike McCoy, the quarterback, has completed nine of 18 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown but has thrown two interceptions.