American Football Ireland Week 4 Recap
There was plenty of Irish American football action happening around the country yesterday, across all divisions of the league. Three teams recorded blowout victories and set the tone for the rest of their seasons, while for others it’s back to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong. Keep reading for our American Football Ireland Week 4 Recap!
Premier Division – Dublin Rebels @ Belfast Knights
Despite getting into a 20-8 hole early on the road, the Rebels battled back with plenty of scores and eventually emerged victorious. The Dublin side have had a strong start to their 2023 campaign with 2 away wins, one of which came against the reigning Shamrock Bowl champs. While the Knights probably didn’t pose as much of a challenge as UCD, 36 – 20 is a good scoreline to come away with and the Rebels will be well poised to continue their unbeaten run when the Cowboys visit them in a few weeks time.
Westmeath Minotaurs @ Craigavon Cowboys
The Minotaurs opened their debut premier division season with an emphatic 38 – 0 shutout of the Cowboys on the road up north. There were scores a plenty from Shaun Dalton, Cathal Dunne, Alan Campbell & Jay Bruton, while Quarterback Joe Kinahan had himself a day with 4 touchdowns through the air. The Westmeath side are sure to face stiffer competition later on in the season, but after a win like this to open their campaign don’t be surprised to see them alive and kicking when the postseason rolls around.
Division 1 – Louth Mavericks Vs NI Razorbacks
In one of the aforementioned “blow out” games, the 2022 Division 2 runners up stepped it up big time and put 33 unanswered points on the Razorbacks. The Mavs scored 4 times in this fixture – three times on offense and an Alex Simms pick 6 on defense – in an early display of what’s to come for the rest of the season. On the other hand, Gareth Millar and his Razorbacks will be kicking themselves for letting this one get away. The Hogs are better than this and will be seeking redemption as the season progresses.
Division 2 – Causeway Giants @ North Dublin Pirates
Anyone who follows Gaelic Gridiron knows that we like to rib on the Pirates. And can you really blame us? They have never recorded a winning season, and that trend looks set to continue in 2023 as they gave up a 26-0 scoreline to the visiting Giants in their first game of the season. The visitors scored on both sides of the ball, courtesy of Jig McCoy, Dessie Mackey & Peter Phillips, on course to their victory – putting them in strong contention for a Division title at the end of the season. There are just 4 teams in the third tier of Irish American football this season, so every win & loss will count in a battle for promotion.
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