UCLA suspected that this was not going to be their day when defensive lineman Billy Coe had his foot run over as he got out of a car as the team met. They arrived at Solihull's Norman Green Stadium to find they had left their flags at the team pick up point, and promptly lost cornerback Ollie North with a damaged hamstring on the second defensive series. The Pathfinders too had their problems. Their coach arrived an hour late and they had to wait for their flags to arrive courtesy of Fen Harriers.

However none of this detracted from one of the best, most exciting games the Youth Final has turned up in many years. In many ways it ways a game of two halves. UCLA took an early lead through a 55-yard run by Tony Findley straight up the middle of the Pathfinders defense. The 2 point extra was unsuccessful. Two drives later the Renegades again found the end zone, this time on a reverse to wide receiver, Adam Reagan who scampered in from 35 yards. With the extra two again being no good the Renegades held a healthy 12 - 0 lead at the end of the first period. The second quarter saw both defenses on top, although the Pathfinders were camped within the UCLA 20 for a great deal of the time without ever really threatening to score.

The third period was a complete reversal of the first half, with the Pathfinders using MVP Dwain Clarke in the slot to ease the pass rush pressure to great effect. Quarterback Luk Smith hit Alen for a scoring strike of 58 yards to close the gap to 12 - 6, before Alen again latched onto a Smth bomb and breaking a tackle rambled in from 53 yards out. With the 2 point extra again being stopped the scores stood tied at 12 - 12. The next UCLA series saw the Pathfinders Brett Rosenbaum ejected for tripping, before the Pathfinders struck back with a Smth to Clarke strike which saw the latter again break tackles to notch a 74 yard score and secure a Pathfinder lead of 18 - 12.

The fourth quarter saw both sides move the ball and both sides provide some resolute defense. Clarke, the Milton Keynes MVP was unlucky not to snare a couple of other long bombs, while a Piers Angove interception for the Renegades, was almost taken back fully 90 yards for a score. In the end the Pathfinders ran out worthy winners in a good hard fought game.