After winning ever game by 30 points or more last season the Rebels were given a fright by the DCU Saints on the opening day of the season but a TD and 2 point conversion was enough to win.
Cork were made to fight all the way by Belfast as they clawed out a victory while Tallaght lost their first ever game against an experienced UL side which appeared in the Shamrock Bowl last year.
There have been two further rounds of games since I last posted.
Sunday 1st April
Carrickfergus Knights 22
Tallaght Outlaws 0
Carrick record first win of the season.
Dublin Dragons 6
UL Vikings 34
Vikings go 2 and 0.
Belfast Bulls 14
Belfast Trojans 12
Bulls win the derby in what was the Trojans first ever game.
Sunday 15th April
Tallaght Outlaws 12
Belfast Trojans 60
The battle of the debutants is one sided as the Trojans record their first win. Tallaght's record is now 0 and 3 but they have finally recorded a couple of scores.
Dublin Dragons 6
DCU Saints 0
Saints lose another low scoring game. In two matches they've conceded just 14 points but have yet to score and go 0 and 2. Dragons move to 1 and 1.
With just four games remaining the playoff picture is nearly clear.
Here's the division by divison update:
The IAFL South division, which the UL Vikings claimed with a 7-1 record, has also produced one of the two wild card teams in the shape of the Cork Admirals. The Admirals 5-2 record includes the only defeat UL suffered all year albeit in the form of a walkover. The sole remaining game sees the Tallaght Outlaws, with an 0-7 record, travel to Cork. The expansion side from west Dublin are guaranteed to finish with the worst record in the league even if they pull off the upset.
The IAFL Central, home to the currently IAFL champions the Dublin Rebels, has just one game to go. The Dublin Dragons will need to upset the Rebels, who have already wrapped up the division title, if they are to avoid last place in the group. Their defeat yesterday to the DCU Saints, who finish the season 2-6, places them behind the Saints on head-to-head. Neither the Dragons nor the Saints can claim a wildcard slot.
Finally the tightest division is the IAFL North. The Belfast Bulls are in the playoffs but the division isn't decided yet. With the Bulls-Rebels game that was due to be played this weekend being rained off the seeds in the playoffs have yet to be determined. A Bulls win would give them a shot at a home semi final, were the Rebels to falter against the Dragons.
The Belfast Trojans and Carrickfergus Knights will play each other just once (as opposed to the normal two games against divisional rivals) in a game worth double points on Sunday. A win for the Knights and they travel to Cork for the wildcard round, anything else and the Trojans are in the playoffs. Should the Bulls lose to the Rebels then the Trojans would take the divisional title and progress directly to the semi finals. Incidentally the Trojans inflicted the Rebels sole defeat this season.
Tables
North
.....................................W L D Pts
Belfast Bulls......................4 2 1 9
Belfast Trojans..................3 2 1 7
Carrickfergus Knights..........2 4 0 4
South
UL Vikings.........................7 1 0 14
Cork Admirals....................5 2 0 10
Tallagh Outlaws.................0 7 0 0
Playoff structure Wildcard game
Wildcard 2 @ Wildcard 1
The wildcards are decided based on best second placed records. The two best second place teams play each other for the final semi final spot. The team with the superior regular season record gets home advantage in this game.
The division winner with the best regular season record gets home advantage in the semi finals and plays the winner of the wildcard game. The two remaining divisional winners play the other semi with home advantage going to the side with the superior regular season record.
Shamrock Bowl
The two semi winners meet to decide the overall IAFL Champions.
25/06/2007, 1:30 PM
Dodge
Bit harsh sticking the Tallaght side in South conference!
Which team trains in Lucan? I've been tempted to go up a couple of times
25/06/2007, 1:38 PM
Aberdonian Stu
With the Tallaght guys it was the only option really as it would have caused an imbalance in the conferences otherwise. If there's any future expansion it'll like be readdressed. On the whole the amount of travel has been reduced by the format being introduced this season.
As for Lucan, that's the Dublin Dragons.
25/06/2007, 2:17 PM
Danny
Went to watch the Carrickfergus Knights a few weeks ago
They were playing in sportslink against some american college all star team
was a bit of a joke game as the knights only had 11 players and the yanks had about 35
Some decent play by both teams tho and would defo consider heading along to another few games.
25/06/2007, 2:54 PM
Aberdonian Stu
Yeah that was meant to be a special combination team but things fell apart so the Knights had to ironman it.
31/07/2007, 10:46 AM
Aberdonian Stu
Sunday saw the UL Vikings claim the Shamrock Bowl for the first time in their history.
The Limerick side hosted the game, which decided the national champion, and beat the Cork Admirals 22-14 to claim the title.
03/08/2007, 9:06 AM
CollegeTillIDie
So how did DCU do last season then Aberdonian Stu ? Saw the League tables but no mention of the playoffs until the final.
03/08/2007, 6:30 PM
Aberdonian Stu
DCU won their last game to 12-0 over the Dragons to finish 2-6 for the season and in second place in the IAFL central, missing out on the playoffs.
The wildcard game was a walkover, which the Admirals were awarded as the Belfast Trojans had too many injuries to travel. They subsequently beat the Dublin Rebels 8-6 in the semis.
The other semi was a handy win for UL Vikings over the Belfast Bulls.
