The Manilva Suns American football team got their league campaign off to the perfect start last weekend with a 26-21 victory over the Portuguese side, Lisbon Navigators.

Both teams were playing their debut match at national level, with Lisbon having the advantage of playing at home, but the Suns ran out as favourites to win, even though it was going to be no easy task against the young, athletic Portuguese team.

It didn’t take long though for the greater experience of the visitors to tell, with Austrian Rene Knopf, formerly of the Vienna Vikings, setting up a 40 yard pass for Spanish national player, Juan Ortiz, to receive for the touchdown.

The second quarter saw another touchdown involving Knopf in a 30 yard run through the Portuguese defence.

The Suns came out from the half time break with a 26-6 lead but the strain of the long trip by coach to Lisbon and the effort expended in the first half began to show itself, with the youth and energy of the Portuguese side beginning to swing the balance.

With the Navigators piling on the pressure, Manilva Suns were forced into a number of defensive errors, which the home team punished with touchdowns, but time was running out, and the Suns held out for a convincing 26-21 victory.

Manilva Suns can now look forward to their first home game in the LNFA2 league against another Portuguese team, Oporto Renegades, on 23rd February, at the Manilva football ground.