On the opening kick off of the 2012 IAFL campaign, Rhinos receiver Shawn “Dougy” Douglas caught the ball and followed his blockers all the way to the end zone for his first touchdown of the season. It wouldn’t be long before he returned though as the Tullamore Phoenix opening drive ended in a turnover after a fumble forcing sack from defensive end Stephen Mooney. Set up in prime field position inside Phoenix territory, Rhinos quarterback Stephen Macken lofted a pass deep into the end zone which was hauled in by Dougy.
Still in the first quarter the Rhinos defense halted the Phoenix on their next possession which resulted in more points for the Rhinos offense. Quarterback Macken threw a deep pass into the end zone once more which was batted away from receiver Alex McGuirk by a Phoenix player, but only as far as receiver Paul Hosford who showed great reflexes and concentration to haul in the batted ball for a touchdown. He then converted the point after attempt to bring the score up to 19-0.
The Rhinos defense continued the game as they started it, stopping the Phoenix offense from gaining any momentum. While Tullamore found some success running the ball the passing game was not as successful. The Rhinos secondary accounted for 3 interceptions with John Keegan, Sam Monson and Wellington “Wello” Omorodion all snagging passes from the Phoenix QB. While John Keegan and Sam Monson picked up a lot of yards on their returns, Wello was the only defensive player to take the ball all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.
Leading 26-0 at half time the Rhinos were not about to get complacent and let the Phoenix players turn the game around. The second half was fought even harder by both teams with the Phoenix chasing the game and the Rhinos aiming for that elusive shut out. Rhinos quarterback Stephen Macken added to the scoring total in the third quarter when he ran up the middle falling over into the end zone for the first touchdown of the second half.
The final score of the game came late in the fourth quarter as quarterback Stephen Macken found receiver Shawn “Dougy” Douglas just inside the end zone once again for Dougy’s third touchdown of the game. Receiver Sean Power was unlucky in the fourth quarter after he caught a pass from Macken, turned up field and dived just inside the pylon for what would have been his first touchdown of the season only for a holding penalty to take the score off the board.
While Tullamore failed to get on the scoreboard they did not stop trying, forcing the Rhinos defense to step up to keep them at bay. The receivers from Tullamore managed to come up with some spectacular receptions at times much to the dismay of the home team. Fighting hard to the very end Tullamore threatened to score up until the very last play of the game. On their last drive they picked up first down after first down through the air but the Rhinos defense stiffened to keep them out of the end zone. Final score Rhinos 38 Phoenix 0.
After opening the season on a high note, the Rhinos are back in action in two weeks time against northern division opponents the Belfast Trojans. The game will be held in Castleknock College at 1pm on the 25th of March 2012. We hope all the friends, family and fans who came out to support us yesterday can make another appearance in two weeks time as it was great having you there!