Sussex Thunder's bid to reach the British Superbowl gridiron final came to an end in Birmingham.

Touchdowns from Nick Burt, James Brazier and Ryan Holness saw the Bulls march into the Division One final for the second successive year where they again will face London Os.

Sussex's only reply to a strong, well-organised Birmingham performance was a touchdown from Mike Ashby's 19-yard reception.

Bulls made a number of errors in the first quarter which Thunder were unable to capitalise on and it was the hosts who scored against the run of play with a Burt touchdown and extra point kicked.

It wasn't long before Birmingham extended their lead in the second quarter when Brazier received a perfect pass from Cotterell. Burt kicked the extra point to give his side a 14-0 advantage.

Jay Cashman intercepted a Cotterell intended pass in the endzone, but received a severe hand injury and was taken to hospital.

The Bulls were forced to punt on their first possession of the third quarter, Paul Evans making four tackles on this drive and taking his total to over 100 for the season. In steady rain, the conditions were getting tricky and the quarter comprised of five drives and five punts.

Thunder restored hope when Anthony Stitt fired a perfect pass to Mike Ashby for their first points. Andy Smythe's extra point kick was blocked.

Any thoughts of a Thunder fightback were dashed when Holness scored on a scorching 18-yard run and with Burt again adding the extra point, the Bulls were 21-6 ahead.

Overall Thunder made 110 yards rushing and 163 yards passing against the Bulls 141 yards rushing and 83 yards passing.

Stitt had 82 yards rushing from 18 attempts. Stuart Franklin completed nine passes from 23 attempts for 134 yards. On defence, Paul Evans weighed in with 14 tackles (112 for the season) and a fumbled recovery. Bola Aiyede had 11 tackles plus an interception.