By Greg Loughran
With the 2009 IAFL season half way through, the Dublin Rebels are leading the Irish league with 9 points from 4 wins and a tie, the Carrickfergus Knights are in second with 6 points from 3 wins and a loss while last years Shamrock Bowl winners, the University of Limerick,Vikings have 5 points from 2 wins,1 tie and one loss. The Vikings share 3rd place with the most improved team this year, the Dublin City University, Saints. Struggling for form are the Belfast Trojans and the Cork Admirals, who were both expected to be contenders for the title this year. The West Dublin Rhinos have performed heroicly but so far have only managed to tie one game.
The Dublin Rebels, who will be representing Ireland at the EFAF Atlantic Cup in Belgium at the end of June, dropped their only point to the UL Vikings in a nail bitting 14 - 14 thriller at the Sportslink,Dublin. Strong defense by the Rebels and an unfailing connection between Quarterback, Andy Dennehy and Wide Receiver, Barry Flynn secured the point. This was a major improvement for the Vikings who had suffered a 12 - 7 defeat in Limerick to the Rebels.
The Carrickfergus Knights , who have been an also run team this past few years, finally look like being a contender for the league title this year though a 40 - 7 thrashing by the Rebels in Dublin will always be a concern. Their crunch game will be at the end of May when they host the Vikings who always play well away from home.
DCU,Saints have competed well this year but have yet to show well against the top teams.
DV-8 Development 8 a side league.
This is the second year of the DV-8 league and it has proved a huge success for football in Ireland. In a country that does not have the infrastructure,culture or resources to start a full 11 a side team easily, the 8 a side game lowers the bar for starting a team. However it does not lower the competitive nature of the sport.
A long running college rivalry between Trinity College ,Dublin and University College ,Dublin added extra spice to the league. With the Carlow Chargers failing to pass the last IAFL audit, an opportunity to schedule a third game between the colleges emerged and the chance to claim bragging rights emerged. UCD stunned Trinity with a 34 - 13 defeat in the opening game but Trinity bounced back and won the next two games by 34 - 0 and 42 - 0.
One of the oldest names in American Football in Ireland,the Craigavon Cowboys finished last years DV-8 league with a 5 - 1 winning record and were a hot favourite to do well. With father Bobby "Moose" Murray and son John Murray both carrying the ball, the points racked up quickly. Winning margins of 24 - 0 and 47 - 0 looked good but a home defeat of 28 - 0 by Trinity was a wakeup call.
The newest and most westerly team in Ireland emerged in Erris, Co.Mayo. "The next team west of us is the New England Patriots" said head coach, Michael Kelly. The Erris Rams have easily the most picturesque field for football and is well worth the 3 hour drive to it's nearest team.
The Dubln Dragons are another team with a pedigree but fell on hard times a few years ago and dropped from the full IAFL status to the DV-8 league to rebuild. "The Dragons may have dissappeared from the football map had they not had the DV-8 league to fall back on" said DV-8 Commissioner Ciaran O'Sullivan. The team has however been caught between a number of teams on the rise and not seen success on the field so far.
DV-8 minnows, the Midlands Soldiers from Co.Ofally have struggled to keep up with the pace and secure some points in the league but have nevertheless kept on fighting. General Manager, Ken Farrell has taken Flag Football to a number of schools in his area and is determined to build for the future.
