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Two weeks have almost passed since the curtain rose on the 2014 Irish American football season and it almost feels like we’ve had another off season! But now the year properly starts with four games for us to mull over. Without further ado-
Shamrock Bowl Conference
Belfast Trojans vs. Carrickfergus Knights
Well the reigning Champions get underway, heading to Carrickfergus to take on the Knights, and they’ll be giving the home side a difficult game.
The Belfast side haven’t suffered defeat in over two years now, and they won’t be keen to lose any time soon either. Head Coach Drew Mikhael will have his team ready for this game and they’ll no doubt be itching to rack up the points and shutouts once again.
The Knights are underdogs on paper. They suffered a preseason defeat to the Craigavon Cowboys, who finished below them in the division last year and feature below the Knights on our Power Rankings.
But as we all know these games aren’t played on paper. The Knights are a team that have been building year on year, forming the future in the hope of finding the success of years gone by. The strong youth set up the team has will aid them too in the future. The Carrickfergus team will be prepped and raring to go for this game and looking to prove what they can do. Whether it will be enough to stop the Trojans is another matter though.
Trinity College Dublin vs. West Dublin Rhinos
To say Trinity got off to a flying start would be an understatement as they knocked off the old SBC South dominant team, the UL Vikings, 34-9 at Santry just under a fortnight ago.
And now the 1&0 side host their city rivals, the West Dublin Rhinos. The strong defence of the Rhinos was tested last year, as the team endured a tough season and showed a lack of ability to put points on the board. But as the year went on the young offence grew stronger, with quarterback Jonny Northcutt growing in stature. The highlight of their year was no doubt the massive 7-6 upset of the Shamrock Bowl-bound Dublin Rebels and they’ll be looking to repeat those kind of feats several times this year.
This should be a great game. The likes of Dan Finnamore, Rob McDowell and the receiving corps of Trinity that managed to put 34 points on a tough defence of UL against a defence that can shut out any team on its day. That’s an exciting prospect on paper.
Waterford Wolves vs. Dublin Dragons
The two former IAFL-1 teams will battle it out in the hope of starting 2014 with a win. The Dragons came out on top in the only match up between the sides last year, winning 14-2, in a tight defensive battle of a game.
The Wolves will want revenge for that. Will the new American influence of Coach Robert Wills help the Wolves turn around the defeat?
The strong defence and run-heavy offence behind quarterback Aaron Walsh will have to be on the top of its game to topple the strength and experience on the Dublin side.
The Dragons have been prepping hard this offseason, including a worthwhile scrimmage with the Meath Bulldogs. They have a healthy mix of experience and youth and are building well on and off the field for the future. Their recruitment campaign and social events look to get people involved with the Lucan club.
This will no doubt be another low scoring, defensive game but a match that will be a good tell of where these teams are and what they can do in 2014.
IAFL-1
Mullingar Minotaurs vs. UCD
UCD make the drop after they forfeited a game in the Shamrock Bowl Conference last year, an unlucky ruling considering how close they pushed the UL Vikings in the playoffs and how much they have developed under the eye of Head Coach Eoin Cunningham.
Photo by Ash O’Flanagan – http://www.ashoflanagan.tumblr.com
That development will make them favourites for the IAFL-1 trophy this year, and they are number one in our Power Rankings as of now.
However it won’t be a walkover for the team. The IAFL-1 showed last year how competitive and close-run it could be, with every game a battle.
The Minotaurs were thick amongst those battles, pushing every team and scoring on everybody they played in their debut season.
With quarterback Conor Brennan, who was the joint top passing scorer in the IAFL-1 last year (an achievement that led him to the European Championships with the Irish flag team), the Minotaurs have a dangerous passing game.
But with the likes of quarterback Colin O’Meara and receiver Paul Geraghty, so too do UCD. They’ll be missing Tom Donovan for this game but they should be able to get by without him.
Double Coverage Predicts – The Minotaurs came on leaps and bounds last year and they’ll no doubt cause waves in a competitive division this year but this one has to go to UCD.