The big change this year is that the structure has been changed from 3 regional divisions to 2 regional divisions – IAFL North and IAFL South. These divisions will have 5 and 6 teams respectively as opposed to either 3 or 4 under last years format. This change gives a better balance between the divisions.  Consequently there will be some changes to the play-off structure. The top team in each division will host a Semi-Final.  Each 3rd placed team will travel to the 2nd placed team in their division in the Wildcard round.

As with last year, each team will play 8 regular season games. Most teams will play all the teams in their division once and a selection of teams in the other division. This is a change from last years format whereby teams played home and away against all divisional opponenets. However, the change gives teams a greater variety of opponents as well more common opponents.

There are 4 doubleheaders scheduled for the upcoming season where four teams will play at one venue on the same day. Each of these should be great day out for IAFL supporters.

The schedule and divisional standings can be found below. Please note that there are a small number confirmations to be made, so please check this site regularly for updates. One of these confirmations is the annual Colours match between Trinity College and UCD.

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	IAFL North	Pld	W	L	T	Pts
	Carrickfergus Knights	0	0	0	0	0
	Belfast Trojans	0	0	0	0	0
	Craigavon Cowboys	0	0	0	0	0
	West Dublin Rhinos	0	0	0	0	0
	Dublin Dragons	0	0	0	0	0

	IAFL South	Pld	W	L	T	Pts
	Dublin Rebels	0	0	0	0	0
	UL Vikings	0	0	0	0	0
	University College Dublin	0	0	0	0	0
	Trinity College	0	0	0	0	0
	Cork Admirals	0	0	0	0	0
	Tullamore Phoenix	0	0	0	0	0

2012 IAFL Schedule

N/A	University College Dublin			@			Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, 2:25am
Week 2
Feb 26	Trinity College			@			UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, 1pm
Week 3
Mar 4	Carrickfergus Knights			@			University College Dublin	Belfield, Dublin, 1pm
Mar 4	Cork Admirals			@			Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Dublin, 1pm
Mar 4	Dublin Dragons			@			Tullamore Phoenix	Tullamore RFC, 1pm
Week 4
Mar 11	Belfast Trojans			@			Craigavon Cowboys	Bronwlow, Craigavon, 1pm
Mar 11	Tullamore Phoenix			@			West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, 1pm
Mar 11	Dublin Rebels			@			Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, 1pm
Week 5
Mar 18	University College Dublin			@			Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 1pm
Mar 18	Carrickfergus Knights			@			Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, 1pm
Mar 18	Craigavon Cowboys			@			UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, 1pm
Week 6
Mar 25	Belfast Trojans			@			West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, 1pm
Mar 25	University College Dublin			@			Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Dublin, 1pm
Mar 25	Cork Admirals			@			Dublin Dragons	TBA, 1pm
Week 7
Apr 1	UL Vikings			@			Carrickfergus Knights	Carrickfergus RFC, 1pm
Apr 1	Trinity College			@			Dublin Dragons	Lucan Community College, 1pm
Apr 1	Craigavon Cowboys			@			Tullamore Phoenix	Tullamore RFC, 1pm
Week 8
Apr 15	Tullamore Phoenix			@			University College Dublin	Belfield, Dublin, 2pm
Apr 15	Carrickfergus Knights			@			Craigavon Cowboys	Brownlow, Craigavon, 12pm
Apr 15	Dublin Dragons			@			Belfast Trojans	Brownlow, Craigavon, 3pm
Apr 15	West Dublin Rhinos			@			Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Dublin, 2pm
Week 9
Apr 22	UL Vikings			@			University College Dublin	Belfield, Dublin, 2pm
Apr 22	West Dublin Rhinos			@			Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 2pm
Apr 22	Tullamore Phoenix			@			Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, 2pm
Week 10
Apr 29	Craigavon Cowboys			@			Belfast Trojans	Malone Road RFC, 12pm
Apr 29	Dublin Rebels			@			Carrickfergus Knights	Malone Road RFC, 3pm
Apr 29	Cork Admirals			@			UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, 2pm
Week 11
May 6	West Dublin Rhinos			@			Dublin Dragons	Lucan Community College, 2pm
May 6	Tullamore Phoenix			@			Belfast Trojans	Malone Road RFC, 2pm
Week 12
May 13	Dublin Dragons			@			Craigavon Cowboys	Brownlow, Craigavon, 2pm
May 13	Carrickfergus Knights			@			Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 2pm
May 13	Dublin Rebels			@			UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, 2pm
Week 13
May 20	Belfast Trojans			@			Carrickfergus Knights	Carrickfergus RFC, 12pm
May 20	University College Dublin			@			Craigavon Cowboys	Carrickfergus RFC, 3pm
May 20	Trinity College			@			West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, 2pm
Week 14
May 27	Trinity College			@			Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 2pm
May 27	Dublin Rebels			@			Tullamore Phoenix	Tullamore RFC, 2pm
May 27	Dublin Dragons			@			UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, 2pm
Week 15
Jun 3	Craigavon Cowboys			@			West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, 2pm
Jun 3	Cork Admirals			@			Belfast Trojans	Malone Road RFC, 1pm
Jun 3	UL Vikings			@			Tullamore Phoenix	Tullamore RFC, 2pm
Week 16
Jun 10	West Dublin Rhinos			@			Carrickfergus Knights	Carrickfergus RFC, 2pm
Jun 10	Dublin Dragons			@			University College Dublin	Sportslink, Dublin, 12pm
Jun 10	Belfast Trojans			@			Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Dublin, 3pm

Players from Trinity College Dublin  visited the young patients and hardworking staff at Temple Street Childrens Hospital on Thursday 15th December. The visit served as an opportunity for young kids in the wards to meet American Football players who turned up for the occasion in full helmets and shoulder pads, but also gave the opportunity for Trinity Football to deliver 130+ childrens toys donated through it’s second annual toys for tots drive.

This year saw the rivalry of Trinity College(TCD) and University College Dublin(UCD) set aside as both teams played on Dec 3rd in a game organised as a focal point for this years toy drive. Players, coaches and spectators turned up with childrens toys to donate as the price of admission to the game. The game saw TCD come out 7-0 victors over UCD with RB Rob McDowell scoring the winning touchdown and Peter Quinlan kicking the PAT.

 The real winners on the day however were the kids staying in Irelands national childrens hospital. Coach O’Toole and his players turned up at the hospital laden with bags of toys, with presents ranging from rattles for infants, to dolls for young girls, to Transformers and xbox games for the older kids who will be staying in the hospital over the Christmas period.

 Coach O’Toole said “We wanted to do something to give our players a sense of perspective and of giving back to the community. Where we don’t have financial means to assist, I realised coaches do have great influence, so the toy drive was born. I reached out to Coach Collins and his team who embraced the toy drive and really helped make it a success. We are also very thankful of the people who turned up on the day to donate and watch a great game of football.Today our players got to see how they can make a real positive impact both through donating the toys and by spending time with some fantastic kids who we hope get well soon.” 

Some of the workshop participants discuss options for the 2012 season at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry.

On Saturday 17th September 2011, the Irish American Football League (IAFL) held a meeting in Dublin to discuss the structure and timing of the league season going forward. This was a workshop style meeting where the participants discussed a variety of proposals and ideas before deciding on some recommendations.

Key considerations included ensuring that all teams have a competitive schedule, travel costs and future flexibility. There was a strong desire from the participants to recommend a structure that can be flexible going forward in terms of the number of teams participating and can accommodate increases in the number of regular season games played if desired beyond 2012.

The key recommendations of the workshop were as follows:

The IAFL should have two regional divisions of similar standard – IAFL North and IAFL South. Teams should play all their divisional rivals annually with the balance of games being against teams in the other division with opponents determined by the previous season’s rankings.

Consideration should be given to playing the Shamrock Bowl earlier in July, possibly to coincide with 4th July. Depending on the number of games scheduled per weekend, this may mean a earlier start to the season with some games played in February.

DV8s should be played after the end of the IAFL regular season so that more IAFL teams can enter 2nd teams in the DV8s league, thus making it bigger and more competitive.

Youth Kitted football (U19) should be played during the same timeframe as the DV8s to capitalise on synergies and make both more financially viable e.g. ground sharing for games. Initially Youth Kitted will use reduced numbers of players to allow as many teams as possible to participate.

The IAFL Board will be reviewing the recommendations and over the coming weeks and incorporating the feedback into its draft plans for 2012.

Workshop Attendees:
Carrickfergus Knights
Cork Admirals
Craigavon Cowboys
Tullamore Phoenix
West Dublin Rhinos
UL Vikings
IAFL Board Members

Dublin Rebels also forwarded feedback.

Rob McDowell 90 yard kickoff return 6-0

Peter Quinlan PAT Good 7-0

Sean Power 16 yard catch 7-6

Sean Power  2 PAT 7-8

Rob McDowell 30 yard run 13-8

Report and photos to follow…

Trinity QB Alex Canepa has tough day vs aggressive Rebels defense

Rebels QB Andrew Dennehy makes vital fumble recovery on 1 yard line

game report to follow

(Photos by Jessica Pakenham-Money)

(Photos by Martin Connolly)

Report to follow…..

Rookie RB Garrett "Boom" Dargan makes mark in IAFL

Trinity Football RB Rob McDowell shatters records vs Dragons

QB Alex Canepa vs UCD

Photos by Jessica Packenham-Money

Trinity Football opened the season in style against rivals UCD today at Belfield.  The game from start to finish. This game was a tale of two halves. Trinity found early form and capitilised on errors by the UCD’s Defense. Trinity got an early lead when on 4th down, and on 4th UCD’s center snapped over the head of the Punter and the result of the play was a safety putting Trinity up 2-0.

Trinity took to the field again on offense, and after some nice running by Garrett Dargan, QB Canepa found his way into the endzone. On the two point attempt UCD’s Defense led by Nick Hal held strong and they managed to shut down the two point attempt. 8-0 TCD.

QB Canepa found open men with a couple of his few completions on the day and Trinity found themselves on the march downfield, but UCD’s solid defense held firm and shut down the long drive. Early in the 2nd quarter, with a mistake made in the UCD Secondary, Canepa capitilised and found Rob McDowell wide open for his first touchdown of the season, as he reeled in a beautiful catch. UCD again held firm on the 2 pt…14-0 Trinity.

Richie Whelan OLB and Nick Hall and Kevin McFadden rallied UCD’s Defense for the remainder of the 1^st half and shut Trinity’s offense down. 14-0 Trinity going into the half.

Coach John Collins fired up his men during the interval and UCD came out firing in the 2nd half. With UCD’s O-line led by Patrick Buttner and Niall Daniell making solid blocks UCD started marching down the field with success. 2^nd Year QB Colin O’Meara who on the day had over 200 yards on the day found the room and time he needed and began to march his offense downfield. O’Meara Found WR Dave Bennett in the endzone and he leapt above the CB and pulled in the football Touchdown UCD, Bennett also had a spectacular catch on the day leaping above two Trinity DBs to pull in the Football for 30 yards. The two point conversion was successful O’Meara finding Conor Redmond in the Endzone. 14-7.

On the next drive Trinity put Rob McDowell in and he ran 70 yards yet again for another Touchdown…or so he thought, as the line judge judged him to have slightly stepped out of bounds.UCD received a huge lift and held firm.

UCD rallied once more and some more great blocking by his O-line including Chris Scollard and Ben McLarney and Jonny Cosgrove helped O’Meara make some excellent completions. Shane Kenny a 3 year WR had a huge day and helped march UCD downfield yet again making some key catches. Kenny got the ball and made his way to the endzone for a bringing this game back to a 14-14 tie. UCD then completed again O’Meara finding Redmond in the Endzone.  Coach Collins and UCD performing a solid comeback.

UCD’s lead was short lived and on the following Kick Off Trinity’s Special Teams Coach David McGrath sent on his starting kick return team and with good result…some solid blocks by Amir Alsaffar and Conor Bates saw McDowell speed 80 yards into the endzone. The ensuing 2pt conversion failed and UCD Defense stood strong knowing they could still win this game. Colin Harper and Brian Leonard making some important stops on the day.

UCD’s Defense held firm for the remainder of the game and pinned their faith on O’Meara and unfortunately for UCD Trinity’s defense found the necessary vigor to stop UCD’s Offense. The game went to the final minutes with UCD found Kenny once more but some crucial plays by Fionn Chen and Hunter Inman forced UCD to go for it on 4th down, O’Meara fired over top to the outside and found Geraghty one and one with Trinity’s DB. Unfortunately Geraghty couldn’t find the stride to catch the ball and UCD turned the ball over. With just over a minute remaining in the game, Trinity came on one last time, and rookie RB Garrett Dargan drove the ball on several carries from the midfield to the 1 yard line as time expired

Trinity College Dublin,the 2010 CUSAI College Champions, travel to Belfield to face a UCD team out to start the season with a big win.

UCD head into the 2011 season with only 10 returning players from the 2010 season. With a mix of experienced recruits and rookie recruits from this years recruitment drive, Coach Collins looks to improve on last years 2-6 record. Some of his Key returnees include Offensive Linemen Paddy Buttner and Niall Daniell, Quarterback Colin O’Meara who had an excellent first year as a rookie and is looking forward to leading UCD’s Offense for the 2011 season. In the backfield with O’Meara is 2nd year Runningback Dave Murphy, Murphy twilighted as a RB and returner last year but was primarily a DB. With Larry Doyle gone Murphy steps up at number one. Safety Kevin McFadden and second year man Nick Hall at Linebacker look to lead the defensive pack with the help of other key players like CB Brian Leonard, LB Vitaly Levdonski and LB Richie Whelan.

Trinity have come into the season off the back of prestigious victory over the University of Limerick Vikings in the 2010 Intervarsities, and hope to build on that great performance. Coach Darrin O’Toole has worked diligently this off season to build a program based on NCAA D1 powerhouse teams. Coach O’Toole travelled to Dallas, Texas to be a keynote speaker at the AFCA convention in January,but either side of that date has been busy assembling a coaching staff of legends. Ex Dublin Tornado Danny O’Callaghan joins the team as Defensive Coordinator, with fellow ex Tornadoes Dave Mc Grath and Steve Collins joining him at Trinity,as Special Teams Coach and Defensive Line Coach respectively. Ex Rebel legend Ken Hudson joins the team as Defensive Backs Coach. On the offensive side of the ball ex DCU Saint John Heffernan has joined the staff as Wide Receivers Coach. Overall,Coach O’Toole has built a juggernaut of a coaching staff, but ultimately it will be the students who will decide the contest this sunday.

Sophomore Texan QB Alex Canepa takes the reins of Coach O’Toole’s Run and Shoot inspired offense. Rookie sensation Rob McDowell returns to continue shattering IAFL records with big runs. Wide Receiver David Corcoran enters his senior year on the back of a disappointing campaign last year,and has worked hard to ensure a big improvement. Tight End Andrew Harvey will see plenty of the ball as will Matt Sheehan. Rookies Daniel Murphy and Andrew Walsh will also see time at receiver,and can expect the ball will come their way frequently over the course of the season.Promising receiver Craig Marron is injured for the UCD so Lorcan Smullen will seize the opportunity.

On the Offensive Line, Bashar Hassani has moved to Center, and is joined by David Kane(returning from a year long injury),Neale Young, Tom Gonzalez and Finlay Dargan amongst others who will fight for starting spots.

Defensively Trinity has seen a huge upgrade in personnel. Junior MLB Stephen “Red” Carton made a big impression in the College Championship game, but will find it hard to repeat that performance against UCD. Leadership will also be provided by Texas A&M Postgrad LB Hunter Inman and Zaid Foty will look to cause UCD problems alongside DE Yousef Abdul Wahab.Cornerbacks Brian O’Driscoll,Fionn Chen and Brendan O’Sullivan all have an eye for the ball.

Sunday promises to be an exciting rivalry game,with the victors gaining an early advantage in the hunt for the Shamrock Bowl. Kickoff is 1pm at UCD and admission is free.

	IAFL North	Pld	W	L	T	Pts
	Carrickfergus Knights	8	6	2	0	12
	Belfast Trojans	8	6	2	0	12
	Craigavon Cowboys	8	4	4	0	8

	IAFL Central	Pld	W	L	T	Pts
	Dublin Rebels	8	5	3	0	10
	West Dublin Rhinos	8	2	6	0	4
	Trinity College	8	3	5	0	3

	IAFL South	Pld	W	L	T	Pts
	UL Vikings	8	8	0	0	16
	University College Dublin	8	4	4	0	7
	Cork Admirals	8	2	6	0	2
	Dublin Dragons	8	0	8	0	0

2011 IAFL Schedule

(All kick-off times are subject to change – please check a few days before each fixture).

Week 1	Away Team		Score			Home Team		Venue
Mar 6	Trinity College		20	@	16		University College Dublin	Belfield, Dublin, 1pm (Report)
Week 2
Mar 13	University College Dublin		6	@	56		UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, 1pm
Week 3
Mar 20	Carrickfergus Knights		27	@	14		Craigavon Cowboys	Brownlow, Craigavon, 1pm
Mar 20	UL Vikings		6	@	3		Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Dublin, 1pm
Week 4
Mar 27	Cork Admirals		0	@	6		West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, Dublin, 1pm (Report)
Mar 27	University College Dublin		0	@	8		Belfast Trojans	Malone RFC, Belfast, 1pm
Mar 27	Dublin Dragons		14	@	59		Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry, 1pm
Week 5
Apr 3	Belfast Trojans		6	@	34		Carrickfergus Knights	Carrickfergus RFC, Woodburn Road, 2pm
Apr 3	Trinity College		6	@	20		Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Dublin, 1pm
Apr 3	Cork Admirals		0	@	40		UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, Limerick, 2pm
Week 6
Apr 10	Dublin Dragons		8	@	74		University College Dublin	Belfield, Dublin, 2pm
Apr 10	Dublin Rebels		13	@	0		West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, 2pm (Report)
Apr 10	Carrickfergus Knights		8	@	45		UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, Limerick, 2pm
Week 7
Apr 17	University College Dublin		12	@	8		Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 2pm
Apr 17	Craigavon Cowboys		12	@	33		Belfast Trojans	Malone RFC, Belfast, 2pm
Apr 17	West Dublin Rhinos		8	@	13		Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry, 2pm
Week 8
May 1	Dublin Rebels		7	@	21		Carrickfergus Knights	Ballyclare Rugby Club, 2pm
May 1	Craigavon Cowboys		42	@	19		Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 2pm
May 1	Belfast Trojans		59	@	0		Dublin Dragons	Lucan Community College, 2pm
Week 9
May 8	West Dublin Rhinos		0	@	14		Carrickfergus Knights	Carrickfergus RFC, Woodburn Road, 2pm
May 8	Cork Admirals		15	@	6		Dublin Dragons	Lucan Community College, 2pm
Week 10
May 15	Belfast Trojans		10	@	0		West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, 2pm
May 15	Craigavon Cowboys		14	@	39		Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Santry, 1pm
Week 11
May 22	Trinity College		0	@	30		Craigavon Cowboys	CANCELLED, 12pm
May 22	UL Vikings		30	@	0		University College Dublin	Castleknock College, 2pm
May 22	Dublin Dragons		0	@	63		Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 2pm
May 22	Dublin Rebels		12	@	14		Belfast Trojans	Malone RFC, Belfast, 2pm
Week 12
May 29	Cork Admirals		0	@	30		University College Dublin	Belfield, Dublin, 2pm
May 29	Carrickfergus Knights		39	@	0		Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry, 2pm
Week 13
Jun 5	Belfast Trojans		21	@	28		Craigavon Cowboys	Brownlow, Craigavon, 1pm
Jun 5	UL Vikings		30	@	0		Dublin Dragons	Lucan Community College, 2pm
Jun 5	West Dublin Rhinos		10	@	16		Dublin Rebels	Sportslink, Dublin, 1pm
Week 14
Jun 12	Craigavon Cowboys		6	@	19		Carrickfergus Knights	Carrickfergus RFC, Woodburn Road, 2pm
Jun 12	University College Dublin		34	@	0		Dublin Dragons	Lucan Community College, 2pm
Jun 12	Dublin Rebels		30	@	0		Trinity College	Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry, 2pm
Week 15
Jun 19	Trinity College		0	@	30		West Dublin Rhinos	Castleknock College, 2pm
Jun 19	UL Vikings		30	@	0		Cork Admirals	CIT Stadium, Cork, 2pm
Jun 19	Carrickfergus Knights		14	@	16		Belfast Trojans	Malone RFC, Belfast, 2pm
Week 16
Jun 26	West Dublin Rhinos		14	@	24		Craigavon Cowboys	Lurgan Park, 2pm
Jun 26	Dublin Dragons		0	@	30		UL Vikings	UL Sports Grounds, Limerick, 2pm

QB James Marron gets game MVP Stephen "Big Red" Carton motivated

On the Vikings opening drive,DE Ziad Foty managed to steal the ball and return it 30 yards,before fumbling the ball while showboating.To his credit he recovered his fumble on the Vikings 2 yard line.Sophomore Texan QB Alex Canepa got into the endzone, but a flag brought it back. Two plays later,Trinity RB Rob Mc Dowell picked up where he left off last season and found his way into the endzone.On the 2Pt attempt,Canepa threw to Senior WR David Corcoran,who valiantly tried to pull in an overthrown ball.

Rob McDowell capitalises early v Limerick

Limerick came out guns blazing, under the guidance of QB Paul Keane and the strong running of FB Ian Cahill,but a staunch stand saw a revamped Trinity defense hold firm.Former IAFL legends Danny O’Callaghan.Steve Collins and Dave McGrath,along with new coach Mark Monaghan sent a defense on to the field that fought violently with Limericks powerful O Line.

The remainder of the first half saw a powerful game of chess played with neither team budging or giving ground.Due to the conditions,current coach of the year Ciaran O’Sullivan and Trinity head coach Darrin O’Toole played very conservative football,waiting for a break.Defensive standouts such as Trinity’s CB Brendan O’Sullivan Texas A&M transfer student OLB Hunter Inman held the Vikings well,while Brendan “B-Mac” MacCarthy,Mike O’Connor and Mark Ashworth made sure that the pressure was returned by Limericks defense. The break both teams were hoping for never came for either team,and both teams walked off at the half bruised and battered,with Trinity Football holding on to a 6-0 lead by a thread.

For the second half,the Vikings reloaded and came out razor sharp.Their experience in the big game showed,and a short pass was caught early.The Trinity LB missed the WR by fingertips as he skillfully evaded the tackle,and then sped to the endzone.Trinity held firm on the 2Pt attempt and the game was all tied 6-6 in a slobberknocker.

For the rest of the third quarter,the teams traded blows but held firm on crucial plays.Limerick powered the ball well with their FB Ian Cahill and complimented with Paul Keane who managed their misdirection game well.Trinity on the other hand,rotated QB’s Alex Canepa and James Marron and got the ball into the hands of Rob McDowell and rookies Andrew Stanley and Garrett Dargan in rotation.Neither side could break the other,and as the 4th quarter ran out,two bruised and sore teams prepared themselves for an overtime which would never be forgotten.

Overtime started like the rest of the game,hard,fierce,but no ground given.Then on a 3rd down Trinity WR Lorcan Smullen recovered a Trinity fumble and evaded two fingertip ankle tackles.Smullen somehow managed to keep his feet and returned the ball 70 yards for a Trinity win….however an inadvertant whistle during the play gave the Vikings a huge break and the ball came right back.Trinity couldnt raise their game again and the first period of overtime ended with the Vikings looking the more likely to win with momentum on their side and both sides tiring.

The second period of overtime saw both teams exhange punts,but Trinity saw theirs blocked.QB Keane,RB Garvey and WR Ashworth had the Vikings were at the door,but the Trinity defense led by Stephen “Big Red” Carton held firm on 3 downs.Carton had 4 sacks on the day and emerged as one to watch this season.

On 4th down UL brought out clutch kicker and Shamrock Bowl MVP Adrian Garvey,to kick the winning field goal.Garvey kicked it good but the officials mistakenly called it wide right.A distraught UL saw momentum swing back to Trinity,and a 3rd period of overtime approached.

A fired up Trinity took to the field and Rob McDowell broke some big plays to move them up the field.At 3rd and 3 from the 25 yard line,Trinity sent on their kicking team.The ball went dead center,but failed to make the frame by less than 6 inches,and Limerick had their chance again.The game by now was the longest championship game ever held in Ireland at any level of the sport,but two tired teams raised their game one more time.

Limerick had possession in their own red zone midway through the 3rd period,but Defensive Coordinator sent on a fired up defense to stop them one last time. On fourth down,the Vikings chose to run a trick play and passed from punt formation.MLB Carton made a fingertip interception in stride and powered to the endzone,but a last gasp tackle took him down.

Trinity sent on the offense to try finish the game off,and on second and goal from the 4 yard line Rob McDowell kicked a dive to the outside and despite the pursuit of the UL defenders,managed to evade them as he powered to the endzone.

The game ended 12-6  Trinity after almost 4 hours and saw TCD and Coach Darrin O’Toole lift their first trophy at a ceremony later that night.

After the game Coach O’Toole thanked UL for a game for the ages,and Coach O’Sullivan beamed with pride at the performance of the students of UL.Both stated that they look forward to the growth of The College Championships,and several colleges sent representatives to observe the event.

Trinity emerge victorious in one of the greatest IAFA games played

photos by Martin Connolly