Shamrock Bowl XXIV, the Championship game of the Irish American Football League, will take place in Tallaght Stadium on 8th August 2010, kick-off 2pm.

Tallaght Stadium is a 6,000 seat multipurpose venue owned by South Dublin County Council. The Council is keen to attract new events to the ever expanding greater Tallaght area and it is anticipated that the Shamrock Bowl will generate a lot of local interest. The stadium is home to professional soccer team, Shamrock Rovers and has also hosted some representative rugby games. Major events at the stadium in recent months include the FAI Cup Final and World Footballer of the Year, Christiano Ronaldo’s debut game for the Real Madrid soccer team. The stadium was opened in March 2009.

2010 will be the first time that the Shamrock Bowl has been played in the greater Dublin area since 2006. Last years game, between the UL Vikings and Dublin Rebels was one of the most exciting ever – with the Vikings winning in sudden death overtime. Its hoped that this years game can build on the successes of recent years which have seen the game develop into a family orientated event.

American football fans can take a virtual tour of the facilties by visiting the stadium website at the following link:  http://www.tallaghtstadium.ie/

Tickets for the game will go on sale soon – details will be posted on this site.

On Sunday 28th March, the Sunday Independent publised a major feature article on American football in Ireland. The article, entitled “New recruits to Gridiron prove its no passing fad” by journalist Andrew Cosgrave, took up nearly a full page in the sports section. The Sunday Independent is Irelands best known Sunday newspaper with a readership of over a million people. The online version of the article can be read at the following link:

Sunday Independent Article

Scoring

Q2
7-0 Knights: Matt Craig, 10 yard reception from Adam Devenney. PAT good (Paul McKillop).
13-0 Knights: John Wright, 17 yard run.
Q3
19-0 Knights: Paul McKillop, 21 yard reception from Adam Devenney.

Video Highlights

Game Report

Game Report by the Carrickfergus Knights:

In the first meeting of the two teams this season, the Craigavon Cowboys hosted the Carrickfergus Knights on a windswept field of battle. Both Northern division teams had won their opening games, increasing the importance and anticipation of this showdown.

The Cowboys took the reins claiming the starting kick off but were soon on defense after Knights FS Chris Annette laid out for an extraordinary interception on the Craigavon 41.

Carrick, however, were unable to capitalise on the turnover and great field position on their beginning series, up against a hungry Cowboys D who dug in and watched an early field goal attempt sail wide.

After trading punts, Craigavon gave away the ball and great field position once more with Knights DE Arron McNaughton recovering a fumble on the 15-yard line. Four plays later, QB Adam Devenney found #81 wide out, Matt Craig in the end zone to break the stalemate. #86 Paul McKillop added the extra point to make it 7-0 just inside the second quarter.

Craigavon brought the ensuing kick off out to their 36 but turnovers continued to plague them and on 1st down, SS Duncan McCaughan came up with the ball at the 40 for Carrick. Again with a short field the Knights took over and this time were able to run the ball in with rookie HB John Wright scoring from the 17 yards out. A botched PAT left it 13-0 and defense consumed the rest of the quarter.

Carrickfergus returned the ball to mid-field to start the second half and scored for a third time on the fifth play of the following drive. #14 Devenney found #86 McKillop who grabbed the pass and turned it up field and in for a 21 yard TD. With a failed conversion the scoreboard read 19-0, which proved to be the final result of the day with both teams punting four times each as defense closed in and smothered the rest of the game.

The Knights move on to a 2-0 record behind MVP performances of rookie HB John Wright, closing in on 160 yards total offence on the day, and snarling DE Darren Montgomery whose vicious intensity underlined the defensive shutout.

Game Photos

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Game Report by the Dublin Rebels:

The Dublin Rebels kicked the new season off to a start with a convincing home win over the visiting West Dublin Rhinos. With a dominant ground attack and a defense running rampant, the Rebels comfortably overcame a high penalty count and some blips in the passing game to secure a 48-0 victory.

Receiving the opening kickoff, the home team went straight to work on the ground. With only LG Tobias Hansson remaining from the starting line of last season, newcomers Jonathan Kelly and Darren Colgan joined the promoted Nicky Kenny and D-line convert Steve Wilson in a new-look group. Under the tutelage of retired Rebel stalwart Shane Campbell, this spring’s catalogue of maulers maintained the same nasty finesse that has epitomized the storied Rebel O-lines of recent years. The chain crew broke into a steady canter as the Rebels collected first downs with steely greed.

With daylight in front, RBs Aaron Smith and Sam Hodgins squeezed and slashed through, each finding the endzone early on. The combination proved deadly the entire game, and as the yards piled up it became difficult to see who was complementing the other. Like an imported chocolate cookie with a crunching bite, washed down with a smooth pint of full-fat Irish milk, the flavour was too potent for the visiting Rhinos, their hands as full as their mouths with this tasty tandem.

The Rhinos struggled to gain any momentum on offence against a tough Rebels defense that was swarming to the ball. A combination of Rhino three and outs and coughed up fumbles recovered by the home defense gave the Rebels offense even more time of possession, and allowed them to expand the playbook. However, attempts at slinging the ball through the air were largely fruitless. It wasn’t until the 2nd quarter that QB Andy Dennehy connected with WR Barry Flinn, their first completion going for a 5 yard touchdown, as Flinn snuck behind CB John Keegan. A safety off an overzealous snap to the Rhinos punter and a further touchdown run from Smith brought the score to 29-0 at halftime.

The second half continued in a similar vein, with the Rebels defensive line continuing to attack the QB Stephen Macken and RB Sean Power. With DE Henry Wasserman and DT Conor Walsh returning from lengthy absences from the game; DT Sunday O’ Hanlon let loose after 15 years on the offensive line and DE Steve Walsh lining up against several former teammates, there was more than enough fire in their variously shaped bellies to keep up intrusions into the Rhino backfield.

The visitors set out in the third quarter to make amends for their first half errors. The game plan was to test the Rebel defensive back pairing of Eoin Daly and Colin Keegan: they came out looking to air it out. However, with that vaunted defensive line running rampant the constantly under pressure Macken coughed up an interception to a lurking Ross McCooey, the veteran linebacker setting up blocks and taking it all the way to the house for another 6 points. However, the resilient Macken and co did manage to take advantage of some defensive penalties and connected on a number of passes for a handful of first downs. Unable to sustain a long drive though, they couldn’t quite get close enough to threaten the endzone themselves.

Back on offense the Rebels continued to run the ball effectively with a reshuffled offensive line, as the indomitable viking Hansson suffered his first known instance of pain and made way. Another score from Hodgins brought the lead to 42-0 after a successful conversion by rookie kicker Ian McDonald, held by holder Paul Grogan. With the game in hand Flinn moved under centre for the 4th quarter, happily feeding to Smith initially, who brought play to near the goal-line. With a close eye on the stat sheet, Flinn faked to Smith on the next play, rolled right, ignored wide open TE Paul Smyth and ran it in himself for the final score of the game.

Game Report by a neutral spectator:

A bright sunny Sunday at Sportslink saw a re-loaded Rebels team unleash hell on the Dublin Rhinos over 4 quarters. The Rhinos came into the game with a major flu crisis affecting half of the team,and several players took and failed late fitness tests prior to the game.Coach Mark Lawless was also one of the affected but braved the day for his teams first game of the year.

Sam Hodgins and new RB Aaron Smith tore it up on the ground,combining for over 300 yards. Hodgins ran 3 TD’s in on the day,including two huge individual efforts.Smith was also impressive on the ground,making some huge runs.

The Rebels struggled in the passing game.QB Dennehy,playing hurt with back spasms, was 2 of 14 but did manage to make those two count in the endzone.Midway through the 3rd quarter Dennehy was replaced by back up QB Barry Flinn,who brought not only a passing threat but caused huge problems for the Rhinos with the scramble.

It was a tough day for the Rhinos and QB Steve Macken had little protection from an aggressive Rebels D. Macken missed most of the 2nd and 3rd Quarters with injury but bravely returned to lead his offense. QB Sean Power stood in well, but the Rhinos could get nothing going on the ground or air. The Rhinos did complete a 35 yarder midway through the first.The Rhinos hung in the game until the final whistle and their team will have benefitted from hitting the ground running against such a strong team.

The game finished 48-00 but the Rhinos can take heart that they faced what is likely their toughest opponent for the year. The Rebels play Trinity College Dublin this sunday at midday in Trinity Sports Grounds,in an early battle for the top of the IAFL Central Division.

Game Photos (from the Dublin Rebels Facebook account)

“Rebels beat the Rhinos 47-00…..

BOOMMM”

From Dublin Rebels Vs Dublin Rhinos, posted by Dublin Rebels on 3/24/2010 (21 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher

Game Report by the Cork Admirals:

The Cork Admirals travelled to Belfield to take on UCD in the visitors opening game of the 2010 season. The Admirals played well early on in the game. Rookie receiver Shane Knowles took the opening kickoff and afforded the offense good field position with a return to midfield. On the first snap of the game QB John Kenny connected with Dave Barry for a 50 yard catch and run score. QB Dom McHale again found Barry for the conversion. On the ensuing UCD possession a deep pass to the right sideline was intercepted by rookie Kit OKeefe, who followed blocks by Peter Lucey for a defensive score.

Later in the quarter another O’Keefe interception set up the Admirals offense again. Alain Pezeron made good yardage on the ground to put the visitors in scoring range. An interception  stopped the Admirals attack however.

In the second quarter a good drive featuring a balanced attack by the Cork side moved the ball to the UCD ten yard line. QB John Kenny took the ball up the middle for the score.

UCD made some good gains through the air as the half progressed but strong defensive play from Peter Glavin, Harris Monaghan and rookie Niall O’Brien, who intercepted a pass to end the UCD attack and keep them at bay.

QB Dom McHale converted that turnover into points by connecting with Eric Tcasik for a score in the corner of the Endzone. Dave Barry converted for 2 points. At halftime the score was 28-0.

In the third quarter UCD came out with a renewed vigour and became more effective on offense with RB Larry Doyle (#25) and QB Colin O’Meara (#7) picking up yardage. Following another turnover UCD set up near the Admirals goal line. The Cork defense put in an excellent goal line stand to stop the home side two yards shy of the end-zone. The next Admirals drive moved the ball from their own goal area to UCD territory before penalties killed the drive and the Admirals had to punt. Again UCD performed better on offense gaining a first down before punting.

Following a mishandled snap QB John Kenny fell on the ball in the Cork end-zone to give UCD a safety for their first score of the season.

In the fourth quarter Alain Pezeron and Shane Mulcahy each had several tough carries to gain rushing first downs for the Admirals before McHale found Dave Barry for the final score of the day.

UCD, eager to score in the games final minutes, used the pass game to move into Admirals territory. Unlucky not to score the clock expired as UCD reached the Admirals red-zone.

Both teams next meet each other on April 18th in the return fixture in Cork .

The 2010 DV8s League will feature three full time participants in 2010. Erris Rams are in their second year and and joined by two new teams – IT Carlow Chargers and Tullamore Phoenix. Both the Carrickfergus Knights and Dublin Rebels will be fielding 2nd teams for a limited number of fixtures to aid the DV8s schedule and to assist with their own player development.

The DV8s League is a development programme aimed at getting newly formed teams competitive action while they are building their playing and coaching squads. Teams typically spend two years at DV8s level before being admitted to the main IAFL League.  DV8s has some rule modifications to make it more suitable for newly formed teams such as it is played with 8 players instead of 11 on the field at any time and there are limits on the number of veteran players who can play. This is because DV8s teams typcially have smaller less experienced squads than established teams.

Each DV8s team plays a different schedule which is appropriate to their stage of development. In addition to the fixtures below, a one day blitz style tournament will take place in Tullamore on July 11th.

DV8s has been a very effective way of getting new teams established. In 2010, four teams graduated from DV8s to the full IAFL league.

2010 DV8s Standings

[standings league_id=16 season=2010 mode=extend]

2010 DV8s Schedule

[matches league_id=16 season=2010 mode=all template=iafl-weeks]

Game Report by The Craigavon Cowboys:

The Craigavon Cowboys travelled to the ALSAA Sports Club in Dublin to take on the Dublin Dragon in their season opener for the 2010 IAFL season. The Cowboys have returned to full IAFL status following two successful years in the Development Eights (DV8) League.

Winning the toss, the Cowboys elected to receive the ball and started with their tried and trusted combination of Bobby Murray #40 lead blocking for his son John Murray #34. However, the Offense was finding the Dragons Defense and the adjustment to the 11 a side game a little difficult and the drive stalled. The Dragons also found the Cowboys Defense very tough and were forced to punt on their first drive. Both sides struggled to move the ball on Offense and the first quarter ended scoreless.

The second quarter saw a change of fortunes and the Cowboys quickly moved the ball to the five yard line where Bobby Murray punched the ball in for six and kicked, Shane Bell#46 converted the extra point. Seven to zero at the half and the game was still in the balance.

The second half resumed with the Dragons taking the ball downfield quickly to the Cowboys 20 yard line but the drive stalled with the Dragons being forced back out of field goal range due to a number of sacks from Linebacker Chris Harper #52 and Defensive End, Marty Devlin #53. The Cowboys Offense took heart from the strong stand of their Defense and drove the ball 50 yards downfield for Quarterback, Michael Mc Gregor #5 to carry in from 10 yards out for a touchdown and again Shane Bell converted.

Following another turnover, the Cowboys again moved the ball steadily and ended the drive with a 30 yard touchdown pass from Mc Gregor to Conor Fearon #81. The conversion from Bell made the score 21-0. Still in the third quarter and behind by three scores, the Dragons refused to quit and finally put together a scoring drive together though the point after was missed.

The Cowboys scored again early in the fourth quarter and although the point after kick was blocked, quick thinking by the holder, Chris Bondi #16 picked up the lose ball and carried in for two points. With time starting to run out, the Dragons again fought hard for a scoring drive and converted their extra point to make the score 29-13. An attempted onside kick was retrieved by Conor Fearon and the Cowboys ran out the clock.

The Dragons can take heart in a fine performance and their never say die attitude won the respect of the Craigavon team who take their victory to a home game against the Carrickfergus Knights at the Brownlow Sports Campus on Sunday 28th March, kick off at 1pm.

Game Photos

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West Dublin Rhinos 0-47 Dublin Rebels

Craigavon Cowboys 29-13 Dublin Dragons

UCD 2-34 Cork Admirals

Reports to follow shortly…

Five teams play their first fixtures next weekend, afterwhich all IAFL teams will have played at least one game.  The West Dublin Rhinos travel to Sportslink to play 2009 finalists, Dublin Rebels. Two former DV8s teams will make their return to the IAFL – DV8s champions Craigavon Cowboys travel to the Dublin Dragons – note that this game has been switched to ALSAA due to pitch unavailability. UCD hope to improve on last weeks IAFL debut, when they lost to defending Champions UL Vikings,  when they host the Cork Admirals at Belfield.

All games kick-off at 1pm

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Sportslink, Old Airport Road, Dublin.

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ALSAA, Dublin Airport (Note Venue Change).

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UCD, Belfield, Dublin

Report by the University of Limerick Vikings:

The UL Vikings kicked off their defence of the Shamrock Bowl championship in fine style in ALSAA at the weekend with a 56-0 victory over the UCD Sentinels. The Sentinels are a new team to the 11s league but can draw on good experience from the development league of the IAFA. The game was played in perfect conditions and in a friendly spirit and both colleges fielded very young and athletic squads.

UL won the toss and elected to receive. The UCD kick coverage unit did well and held UL inside their 15 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage however UL’s strong running game took up where it left off last year and RB Colm Cronin, brother of Ireland’s newest international rugby cap Sean Cronin, took the ball off tackle and went the distance from over 80 yards out. He was sprung by some strong blocks by Chris Macheichok, James Twomey and Brendan McCarthy. The Vikings missed the extra point attempt but things looked bleak immediately for UCD.

To credit the Sentinels they displayed considerable nerve, talent and physical fortitude in a gutsy display. Once they had settled into the rhythm of the 11s game they began to make plays on the Vikings with Larry Doyle at running back picking up hard yardage and QBs Colin O’Meara and David Farrell standing tall in the pocket and picking out recievers despite the intense pressure put on them by the Vikes’ front 7. The UCD recievers proved themselves to be a tough bunch, not least Paddy Duffy. He was the smallest man on the pitch and he made a number of catches across the middle where he got rocked by Jake Mulhern, Brendan McCarthy and Glen Carr amongst others. He took them all, made the catch, bounced back up and trotted to the huddle. On one drive in particular they moved the ball from their own 15 yard line to the Vikings 2 yard line only to come up short with a huge goal line stand from the Vikings.

On Defence the Sentinels struggled to contain the Vikings’ rushing attack. Colm Cronin had a career day of over 200 yards and FB James Twomey punched in two short yardage touchdowns. Cornerback Darragh Mooney had some instinctive plays in the passing game, breaking up a number of passes intended for Vikings recievers. The Vikings passing game did get going and QB Liam Ryan completed two touchdown passes to TE Marc Ashworth and one to WR Alan Walsh. Late in the game the Sentinel defense began to find their stride and forced the Vikings to punt on two drives. The Vikings defense was back to its speedy, swarming ways. DE Dermot Moriarty recieved MVP of the game for his 12 solo tackles including 1 sack. Jake Mulhern and Mark Gaffney were solid inside at MLB and in the secondary Alan Walsh had a standout game despite dropping two sure picks.

All in all it was an entertaining game that each team will have taken lessons from. Both sides showed a little early-season rust with a couple of unnecessary penalties being conceded. The Vikings now go on to face the Dragons at home while UCD face Cork, another divisional rival.

Photos by Paula Telford

“Ul Vikings 56 – 0 UCD”

From Vikings @ UCD, posted by Paula Telford on 3/14/2010 (30 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher

Sunday the 15th March saw a 3 year plan come into it’s final phase,as Trinity College made it’s full debut in the IAFL. The previous year, TCD had dominated the DV-8’s format, and many speculated as to how they would perform in the IAFL. Their opponents, DCU Saints, have been a regular visitor to the playoffs in recent years .If the collegiate rivalry wasnt enough to build the hype, the fact that Trinity Head Coach Darrin O’Toole (A former coach at DCU) and DCU Head Coach Dave Rothwell were both former teammates as part of the famous Rebels team who dominated the first half of the decade meant all eyes were fixed on this as the game to watch on this sunny opening weekend.

The game started badly for the debutants, with bad field position resulting from the opening kickoff. TCD went 3 and out and a bad punt had DCU sniffing blood on their first possession.After a short drive, RB Dave McMahon kicked one to the endzone to bring the score to 7-0 DCU.

Trinity came out on their second drive firing, and 2 plays into it RB Rob McDowell exploded for a 50 yard TD.A missed PAT left the game close at 6-7.

After trading blows on ensuing drives TCD took the game by the neck,on the back of an INT by LB Steve Fallon in the 2nd quarter. An excellent catch by WR David Corcoran saw QB Spottiswoode bring TCD into touching distance of DCU’s endzone.Niall Clarke made a crucial 2nd down catch to bring the ball to the 2 yard line,and on 3rd down FB Connor Logue ran untouched behind C Matt McGrath,LG David “Sugar” Kane and LT Justin Stover into the endzone. All round specialist James Marron kicked the PAT to give TCD a 13-7 lead going into the half.

The 3rd Quarter saw a refreshed Saints team come out firing on all cylinders. TE Flood made some big catches to drive down the field, and Dave McMahon continued to cause problems for the rookie defense.Holding firm on defense, TCD got the ball back thanks to a Lorcan Smullen interception. A few plays later RB McDowell blasted through the Saints to score a  stunning 40 yard TD,bringing the score to 20-7 to the new boys.

DCU rallied well,completing some nice passes and moving the chains.RB McMahon broke out to the sideline and took another score to bring the 3rd quarter to an end,with it all to play for,20-15 Trinity.

In the fourth quarter DCU tried to air the ball out with limited success.TCD’s Defensive Line caused huge pressure, with Wahab,Logue and OLB Carton getting sacks. Trading blows, Trinity DB Sam Whelan came up with a huge sack to prevent DCU scoring in the Red Zone. On DCU’s next possession Connor Logue sacked QB Ecklof and took the ball away. A play later, RB McDowell broke again through the heart of DCU’s defense to make the game 26-15. Trinity went for 2 pts and FB Logue powered the ball home for a convincing Trinity win.

Trinity finished the game with zero sacks allowed and zero interceptions,2 interceptions on defense and 7 sacks.DCU play the Rebels April 11th,Trinity face the Rebels in their next game March 28th.

Scoring

Q2
7-0 Knights: John McDermott, 4 yard reception from Adam Devenney. PAT Good (Paul McKillop)
Q4
14-0 Knights: Paul McKillop, 52 yard reception from Adam Devenney. PAT Good (Paul McKillop)
14-8 Trojans: Chris McKeown, 56 yard reception from James McKelvey. 2XP Good (Erin Wagner)

Video Highlights

Game Photos

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Game Report

Game Report by the Carrickfergus Knights:

Sunday saw a showdown between the IAFL North Division rivals Carrickfergus Knights and Belfast Trojans to open both teams’ 2010 seasons.

The game got under way with the visiting Trojans kicking off, giving the ball and early control to the Knights, yet Defense was to dominate the entire first period and much of the game.

Both teams traded punts on their opening drives and an unsettled Knights offence were forced to kick the ball away three more times, despite fumble recoveries on both Special Teams and Defence by #48 George Brand and #68 Conor Beckett.

Strong pressure by the Trojan Linebackers forced a fumble on the Knights’ succeeding drive and gave them the ball in good field position. However, the Carrick D maintained their dogged aggression and DE Mark Hunter popped the ball free for CB Killian Poland to recover and run it back 14 yards. A penalty on the visitors was tacked on to the end of the fumble return and took the ball down to their own 10 yard line. Two plays later #14 Adam Devenney found wide out JB McDermott on the left side of the end zone to open the scoring. #86 Paul McKillop converted the PAT to make it 7-0

The Trojans returned the following kick off out to the 30 yard line where their offence took over and recorded the game’s first 1st down, although Defence kept a firm hold and both sides traded punts once more.

With a matter of seconds left in the half, the Belfast team failed on a 4th and 6 yard attempt with Carrick DE Arron McNaughton getting a sack for a seven yard loss. The Knights lined up for a long field goal but the ball brushed past the outside of the left upright to leave it 7-0 at half time.

The traveling Trojans took the ball to start the second half and, after both teams opening possession ended again in punts, the visitors put together a 60 yard drive, most of it on one breakaway run by RB #39 Erin Wagner. But the Trojans failed once more on 4th down with Knights CB Ciaran Watson batting down the crucial pass in the end zone.

Carrick took over on their own 11, running and passing out to the 29 and on the fifth play of the series QB Devenney hooked up with WR Paul McKillop who broke a tackle and burned up field for a 52 yard score. McKillop’s second catch of the drive put the home team ahead 13-0 and he had enough juice left in the tank to kick the extra point.

After the ensuing kick return to the 36 yard line, the Trojans broke their own big pass play of 56 yards when a tipped pass by #35 Chris Annette fell into the waiting hands of a Trojan receiver. RB Erin Wagner then bundled in for a 2 point conversion to increase the excitement in the 4th quarter with the score at 14-8.

Knights’ rookie HB John Wright took a lot of punishment all day from the Trojans LB corps but kept improving with each drive. It showed on the following series with three of his runs, back to back, going for a total of 28 yards but the offence stalled after a ten yard holding penalty resulted in a punting situation.

The call on the kick was a touchback, so Belfast started on their own 20. With both teams sharing penalties and emotions running high, the Trojans churned down the field converting a 4th down and going all the way to the Knights’ 12 yard line in a marathon 15 plays that ate up the clock. Yet another 4th down loomed for the Trojans, with very little time left on the clock, as the Carrick D stiffened and the visitors sent their hopes up in a pass to the back corner of the end zone where CB Killian Poland stepped in front of the ball and batted it to safety.

QB Adam Devenney knelt out the clock on the 12 yard line giving the Knights a tough, tough victory in an arduous divisional bruiser.

Knights’ game MVPs were awarded to rookie HB John Wright on Offence for an unremitting debut performance and CB Killian Poland who governs the corner ruthlessly on D.

Photos By Ariane Boudias (on Flickr)

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The 2010 IAFL season kicks off on Sunday 14th March with two games in Dublin and one in Carrickfergus. University of Limerick Vikings will open the defence of their title with an away fixture against University College Dublin, one of four teams making their debut in the IAFL this season.

The Carrickfergus Knights host local rivals Belfast Trojans at Woodburn, Carrickfergus in a game which is expected to have a major impact on who will go onto win IAFL North.

One of the IAFL’s other debutants, Trinity College Dublin, host fellow third level team, Dublin City University Saints at the Trinity College Sports Grounds in Santry, Dublin.

All games kick off at 1pm and spectators are welcome.

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ALSAA, Dublin Airport, Kick-off 1pm.

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Carrickfergus Rugby Club, Woodburn, Kick-off 1pm

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Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry, Kick-off 1pm.

The Univ. of Limerick @ University College Dublin fixture due to kick-off at 1pm on Sunday 14th March has been switched to ALSAA, Dublin Airport. The playing surface at UCD’s usual venue, Belfield, is unplayable due to recent bad weather. UCD & the IAFL apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The Irish American Football Association (IAFA) has been awarded conditional recognition by Sport Northern Ireland (SportNI).  This means that the IAFA is now officially recognised as the National Governing Body for American football for the entire island of Ireland (the IAFA has been officially recognised by the Irish Sports Council since 2004).

American football in Ireland has always been organised on an inclusive cross border, cross community basis. IAFA membership in each jurisdiction is roughly pro-rata to the population in each. The recongition by SportNI, which was achieved with the full consent of the British American Football Association (BAFA),  means that the IAFA’s has NGB status over the full geographic area in which it operates and has members.

Clubs based in Northern Ireland will now be able to apply to SportNI under the Places for Sport and Awards for Sport Programmes.  Full recognition is expected to be confirmed in the near future following the adoptation by the IAFA of  a SportNI policy recommendation at its recent AGM on 27th February.