Month: July 2015

Shamrock Bowl XXIX Finalists

Shamrock Bowl XXIX
Shamrock Bowl XXIX

After yesterday’s semi-finals in Belfast, we now have our finalists for Shamrock Bowl XXIX – the Belfast Trojans and Trinity College Dublin.

Both semi-finals were close fought games, with the weather favouring defences. In the first semi-final, Trinity College beat the Dublin Rebels 22-0, kicking things off with a Field Goal in the 1st quarter, followed by two 80 yard touchdowns by Rob McDowell and another by Alex Gurney in the second half. In the second semi-final, the Trojans beat the UL Vikings 10-0, again with a Field Goal in the 1st quarter and a QB sneak in the second half.

Both teams also reached last year’s Shamrock Bowl, with the Trojans winning 7-0 after a touchdown in the 4th quarter by Connor Whitla. After yesterday’s semi-finals, we can expect another close fought game this year.

Tickets for the Shamrock Bowl are still available at shamrockbowl29.eventbrite.ie and remember to use the discount code sb29 at checkout to get 50% off your tickets.

Play-off update: Rebels and Vikings into Semis. Waterford into IAFL1 Bowl.

Sunday 19th July saw three play-off games being played, the results of which were as follows:

Shamrock Bowl Wildcard games:

Craigavon Cowboys 19-62 Dublin Rebels

UCD 12-20 University of Limerick Vikings.

IAFL1 Semi-Final:

Meath Bulldogs 9-13 Waterford Wolves.

The Dublin Rebels and UL Vikings now advance to the Shamrock Bowl Semi-Finals, which will be played in Belfast on July 26th. The Rebels will play Trinity College in the 1pm game and the Vikings will play Belfast Trojans in the 4pm game.

The Waterford Wolves advance to meet the Cork Admirals in the IAFL1 Bowl in Navan RFC on Sunday 2nd August. The winner of this game will be promoted to the Shamrock Bowl Conference.

 Belfast Trojans 2nds will play South Kildare Soldiers in the IAFL2 Bowl, also taking place in Navan RFC on Sunday 2nd August.

New teams – Application Process for 2016 to begin soon.

As the 2015 kitted football season draws to a close over the next few weeks, thoughts are already turning to 2016. The IAFA is aware that there are several groups out there considering starting new teams. Some have already made formal contact, others have yet to come forward.

The application process for new teams is going to start earlier than usual this year in order to allow for some additional meetings to be scheduled with the applicants including a seminar/workshop and an additional face to face meeting in advance of the formal application/audit meeting.

Therefore, can any groups who are thinking about starting new teams please get in contact and supply the information below by 31st July 2015:

  1. Names of committee/management establishing the team.
  2. Location of team.
  3. Provisional team name.
  4. Contact details (phone, email & postal address).

Information should be emailed to  commissioner.

All prospective new teams responding will be contacted by the IAFA shortly after submitting the information and application forms will be circulated in early August with a return date in late August.

New teams who come through the application process will be placed in, what we hope will be, an expanded IAFL2 division in 2016. IAFL2 is the IAFA’s development league whereby teams get experience, including competing in a league, alongside other teams at a similar stage of development. Teams will typically spend 1 or 2 seasons in IAFL2 before stepping up to IAFL1 – promotion to IAFL1 is decided based on being ready to compete at that level rather than any set number of teams going up in any year.

Play-off Update – UCD and Craigavon clinch final spots.

With the conclusion of a very exciting SBC regular season last weekend, we now know the identities off all the SBC play-off teams and the dates/locations of all the games.

Belfast Trojans (8-0) and Trinity College (7-1) earned byes into the Semi-Finals by topping their divisions.

UL Vikings (6-2) and Dublin Rebels (5-3) won the right to host the Wildcard games, which will take place on Sunday 19th July.

There was a very close battle for the final two Wildcard spots with 3 teams – UCD, Craigavon Cowboys and North Kildare Reapers all tied with a 3-5 record. As UCD and Craigavon did not play each other during the regular season, the head to head tiebreakers could not be used. Therefore the teams have to be separated on points difference with UCD and Craigavon earning the final spots in the play-offs.

 

The full SBC Play-Off schedule is as follows:

Sunday 19th July, 2pm – Wildcard Weekend:

UCD @ UL Vikings.

Craigavon Cowboys @ Dublin Rebels.

Sunday 26th July, k.o. tbc – Semi-Finals (both at Harlequins, Belfast):

Winner of UCD/UL @ Belfast Trojans.

Winner of Craigavon/Rebels @ Trinity College.

Sunday 9th August, 3pm – Shamrock Bowl XXIX, Dalymount Park.

2 x Semi-Final winners.

 

Meanwhile, in IAFL1 and IAFL2, we still have another weekends play to decide who will qualify for the play-offs. As things stand, we are in for a very exciting regular season finale with 4 teams, 3 of whom are playing next weekend, battling for the 3 x IAFL1 play-off spots. In IAFL2, the Belfast Trojans 2nd team have qualified with the other final spot still to be determined.

Independence Day Fixtures

4thJuly_IAFA_FBCover

To celebrate Independence Day this Saturday, a number of our teams are hosting major events around their fixtures. There are two events planned, one in Dublin and the other a double-header fixture in Carrickfergus.

Dublin
The Dublin Rebels are hosting the South Dublin Panthers in Donnybrook Stadium in Dublin, in association with Eventfuel and Lovin Dublin. As well as the main fixture at 5pm, there’ll be an outdoor cinema, live music, a food village and kids zone so head to www.eventbrite.ie/e/4th-july-festival-tickets-17298076011 to get your tickets, and use code rebels20 or panthers20 to get 20% off.

Carrickfergus
The Carrickfergus Knights, together with the Belfast Trojans, are hosting a double-header fixtures in the Carrickfergus RFC. The first game sees the North Kildare Reapers against the Knights at 1pm followed by the Craigavon Cowboys vs the Belfast Trojans at 4pm. This will be a family fun day with entertainment, food and drinks for the entire family!