Sunday 21st  brings with it the second running of The Sting where the University of Bath Killer Bees American Football team will face the University of Bristol Barracuda.

After winning the inaugural BUAFL challenge trophy last year, the Killer bees have had mixed fortunes this term, with consecutive defeats to Bristol (19-3) and the UWE Bullets (38-12) to open the season followed by impressive wins against Warwick Wolves (28-0) and Tarannau Aberystwyth (30-0) prior to the Christmas break. The second half of the season commenced with a narrow 14-0 loss to the Southampton Solent Redhawks on Super Bowl Saturday, a game in which victory was within the teams grasp throughout.

Despite high levels of recent graduation resulting in many rookies holding down starting positions, and others getting significant playing time, the Bees are certainly still in with a chance at post season football, with prospects even better for next season. Of the three teams to defeat the Killer Bees this season, only UWE have suffered defeat themselves having lost to last seasons National Champion Birmingham Lions, which shows that despite a current 2-3 record, Bath are more than capable of making the step up in performance to emulate last seasons trophy winning campaign.

After struggles in their first two seasons in the league, the opponents Bath face in The Sting have enjoyed much better fortunes this season, winning their first five games to sit atop of BUAFL Conference 3 Southern Division. Widely regarded as the toughest in British university football, this is a huge achievement for a team in only their 3rd full season. Their biggest test will no doubt come this Valentine's Day when "No Love Will Be Lost" in the Bristol Universities Varsity game.

In last season's encounter at the inagural Sting event, the Bees won convincingly in a 40-0 blow out, with the plethora of touchdowns coming from from L. Haslett, T. Williams, J. Nunn, D. Chaopradith, E. Anastassacos and S. Hallissey. However, with the Cuda having recorded their first ever win over the Bees in the earlier match up this season, they enter this years event as undoubted favourites. With that in mind, the Killer Bees will be looking to restore their pride and give the hometown Bath supporters something to cheer about for the second successive year.

With Bath needing a win to keep hopes of a post season berth alive, and Bristol looking to extend their lead at the top of the division, The Sting promises to be a close-fought contest between two top quality sides and should not be missed. Live commentary comes in the form of renowned Killer Bees Alumni Chris Gammond, who has had the honour of being selected as guest announcer at the Bristol Varsity, and he will be ably supported by fellow Bees Alumni Adrian Dalmedo.

Kick off will be at 1pm at the St Johns pitch on the main University of Bath campus.  All are welcome and admission is free! For directions click here