It was the final weekend of the regular season with two games down for decision, one each in both the SBC and IAFL1.
In the SBC, the reigning champion Dublin Rebels overcame the South Dublin Panthers, while in IAFL1 the North Dublin Pirates ended their season with a win over the NI Razorbacks.
The Rebels won the SBC South after a 46-0 victory over an improving Panthers team who had won 2 in a row, including a surprise win over the Cork Admirals recently. It was good day for two of their running-backs, Wello Omo and Pete McMahon as they ran in 4 Touchdowns, while quarterback Andy Dennehy also ran one in.
The Rebels Head Coach Brian Dennehy says his team is beginning to hit their stride just in time for Playoff football, “I’m obviously delighted with the win. We performed well in all three phases. Our defense was suffocating, allowing zero points, generated turnovers and scored. Our offence were able to create big gains both running and passing and on special teams we blocked a punt and caused turnovers there too. It was a tremendous team performance. I’m immensely proud of the team and excited to be hitting peak form as we enter the playoffs. We saw that the Panthers beat Cork who beat us, so we knew we had to play well to earn the top spot in the division, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Dennehy is excited for what the Playoffs could bring, “We now look forward to the playoffs. There are a lot of good team left in. We play either the Belfast Knights or the Trojans. The Trojans beat us earlier this year and we had a titanic struggle with the Knights, which we ultimately won. We will need to bring our A-game to beat either team. We now move on to preparing for that game over the coming weeks.”
Panthers Head Coach Stephen McDonnell said that while disappointed, his team has reached their goal of making the Playoffs. He said, “Very disappointed to lose of course but have to credit the Rebels, they’ve played really well their last two games and have shown why they’re often the team to beat at this end of the season.”
“As I’ve said before, coming out of the break we had, the goal was getting to the playoffs. We had three games to do it and we got it done so I’m happy from that point of view.”
The Panthers now look forward to another game next weekend, a re-match with the Cork Admirals. McDonnell said, “We have another quick turnaround now as the game in Cork will be the 4th in 4 weeks. I’m really proud of the way these guys have shown toughness and really had each other’s back during this stretch. We’ve had multiple guys go both ways in a number of games now. Steve Mooney, Ryan Hewitt, Sean Goldrick, Steve Connor and others who are top players in their own right but have dug in and played everywhere that’s been asked of them often without a break.”
“We’re looking forward now to Cork and testing ourselves in the playoffs. We know well how tough Cork are going to be and how determined they’ll be to not let us away with beating them at home again. Coach Lomasney really prepares them well and we’re looking forward to a tough game.”
In IAFL1 the North Dublin Pirates were 19-0 winners over the NI Razorbacks. Two Touchdowns by Oisin Dowling, one a punt return, and a fake field goal run by quarterback Conor Coleman sealed the win for Ross Neville’s side.
North Dublin PiratesNeville said that while this season was a learning curve he was delighted to end the season with a win, “Delighted with the result today in what is always a tough hard hitting game between both teams. Some good running by both teams in difficult conditions was cancelled out by great defence.”
“Oisin Dowling played both offence and defence today, in what was ultimately his last game of football for the foreseeable future, after 8 years of playing football, and he turned in an MVP performance.”
As for the season overall Neville said, “This season has been a bit of a rollercoaster with the step up in competition from IAFL 2, coupled with a tightly packed schedule of 5 games in 7 weeks, we never had a full strength squad to pick from with players missing due to injuries or other commitments.”
“Ultimately our inexperience showed against the more established teams and it was very evident in those games. It’s all been a learning curve and we look forward to having some time off to heal and prepare for our rookie camps in October and then pre-season in prep for next year.”
Razorbacks Head Coach Mark Harris said, “It was a tough game for us at the end of a tough season. We were looking forward to building on last year and coming up with a few more wins but our schedule this year was rough, with three games being played in 4 weeks twice in our season, two sets of games back to back. Unfortunately this meant when injuries were picked up there was no time for recovery, and early on we lost a couple of crucial players and finished our season with a much depleted squad.”
“That said, the game on Sunday was tough. The Pirates played well and they are a good bunch of guys, who play clean and try hard. They deserved the win.”
As for players who played well in the game Harris said, “It’s hard for me to pick out specific players to mention, everyone on Sunday dug deep, played wherever they were needed for the good of the team and keep their heads up. Jamie Wright one of our defensive captains got an interception, made the fumble recovery and was in most of the tackles along with Daniel Robinson and I have to mention our full backs Chris Roy, Ally Best and Dee Lorimer who had a punishing day and just kept pounding away. Teddy Tedford our HB, he managed to make the first guy miss every time but succumbed to a well drilled Pirates line-backing core.”
Looking ahead to next season he said, “As for where we go from here… A bit of recovery time for the players, which is badly needed. However, Coach Murray and I are already working on next year and we’re already fielding calls from players wanting to get right back into practice. They know what they are capable of, I know what they’re capable of, and next year we aim to show that to the league.”
It all means that the Playoffs, in both the SBC and IAFL1, begin next weekend. The fixtures are as follows;
SBC
Cork Admirals v South Dublin Panthers
Belfast Trojans v Belfast Knights
IAFL1
Craigavon Cowboys v Galway Warriors
Westmeath Minotaurs v West Dublin Rhinos
All games kick-off at 2pm on Sunday July 22nd.
Picture Credit: Terry McCann and Ian Humes