▁of ▁Brian ▁John ▁Small worth ' s ▁former ▁teams ), ▁a ▁National ▁Lot tery ▁grant , ▁and ▁spons or ship ▁from ▁ 1 3 ▁local ▁business es , ▁the ▁Sh arks ▁set ▁about ▁gain ing ▁entry ▁into ▁the ▁British ▁American ▁Football ▁League ▁in ▁time ▁for ▁the ▁ 2 0 0 7 ▁season . ▁To ▁do ▁this , ▁they ▁arranged ▁two ▁away ▁fi xt ures ▁against ▁teams ▁already ▁affili ated ▁with ▁the ▁League , ▁namely ▁Reading ▁and ▁Lincoln , ▁and ▁they ▁won ▁both ▁games ▁convin cing ly ▁without ▁conced ing ▁a ▁single ▁point . ▁ ▁The ▁team ▁were ▁accepted ▁into ▁the ▁South ▁West ▁conference ▁of ▁Division ▁ 2 . ▁Despite ▁an ▁opening ▁day ▁defeat ▁to ▁the ▁And over ▁Th r ash ers , ▁they ▁soon ▁b ounced ▁back ▁with ▁three ▁wins , ▁including ▁two ▁consecutive ▁shut outs . ▁They ▁eventually ▁finished ▁with ▁a ▁ 7 - 3 ▁record , ▁tied ▁with ▁the ▁Th r ash ers , ▁but ▁were ▁awarded ▁second ▁place ▁by ▁virtue ▁of ▁having ▁scored ▁more ▁points ▁in ▁the ▁teams ' ▁two ▁meet ings ▁during ▁the ▁regular ▁season . ▁ ▁In ▁doing ▁so , ▁they ▁made ▁British ▁American ▁football ▁history ▁by ▁becoming ▁the ▁first ▁team ▁to ▁qual ify ▁for ▁the ▁play offs ▁in ▁their ▁first ▁ever ▁season . ▁They ▁also ▁finished ▁the ▁regular ▁season ▁by ▁only ▁cont ending ▁ 6 6 ▁points ▁in ▁their ▁ten ▁games , ▁a ▁record ▁for ▁a ▁new ▁team ▁and ▁a ▁def ensive ▁record ▁better ed ▁by ▁only ▁four ▁other ▁teams ▁in ▁the ▁entire ▁league . ▁ ▁In