Jim Harbaugh is never happy.

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National League Predictions, Week 12

National North

DC Presidents vs. Glasgow Tigers

The Presidents were somewhat stopped in their tracks as they lost to local rivals Gateshead and then to the Clyde Valley Blackhawks and now sit at 3-2. They take on Glasgow looking to get back to winning ways under Coach Ben Johnson.

Glasgow meanwhile, whilst not scoring much, have defended their way to a 2-1-1 record and sit second behind the Senators. This could be a close game and will depend on how the Tigers’ D holds the President’s O.

Glasgow Tigers to win by 1 score

Clyde Valley Blackhawks vs. Gateshead Senators

A rematch of the opening day 13-7 win for Gateshead sees the Senators head North to face Clyde Valley. Whilst the opening day was a close victory, recent games have seen the away side open up on offence (read: give it Evander Harewood) and score more points.

Will the Blackhawks be able to stop the now free-scoring Senators? It’ll be tough.

Gateshead Senators to win by 2 scores

Edinburgh Wolves vs. Dundee Hurricanes

The bottom two teams in the National Division North square off on Saturday. The Hurricanes are 0-5 whilst the Wolves are a fraction better off at 2-3 but both will be concerned with the win-loss ratio.

The Wolves should overcome the Hurricanes but they’ve not been recreating the form that saw them head to the playoffs last year and are struggling amongst their rivals. Maybe a win here can kickstart their season?

Edinburgh Wolves to win by 2 scores

Premiership Predictions, Week 12

Premiership North

East Kilbride Pirates vs. Sheffield Predators

It’s the battle of the undefeated teams this weekend as the Sheffield Predators travel across the border to take on the East Kilbride Pirates. Despite two high scoring offences partaking in this game, the winner will most likely be decided on whose defence plays better. With EKP currently conceding an average of less than 5 points per game, it’s hard to predict anything other than a home win.

EKP by a couple of scores

Doncaster Mustangs vs. Tamworth Phoenix

If the EKP – Sheffield game isn’t game of the week, then this one definitely is. When these two teams played in Doncaster last year, it was the Mustangs who game away with the victory. Should that happen again this season, the Premiership North title race will be blown wide open. For the Phoenix to win this one, they’ll need to stop Mustangs star receiver Martyn Lee from finding the endzone more than once.

 Close one. Tamworth to power through and win by a score

Lancashire Wolverines vs. Nottingham Caesars

After conceding more than 60 points in their previous two games, the Caesars will be hoping for a better performance when they take on the 2-2 Lancashire Wolverines (Lancashire currently average 10 points per game). This is a must win game for both teams. If the Wolverines win, their changes of a playoff spot will open while a victory for the Caesars will move them off the bottom spot of the table.

Lancashire by two scores

Atlantic Cup Preview

There is no domestic Irish football this weekend but two Irish teams take part in the EFAF Atlantic Cup! We interviewed David Barker of Trinity College Dublin and Belfast Trojans' Head Coach, Drew Mikhael, but now we take a look at the teams themselves.

Atlantic Cup Preview: Belfast Trojans' Drew Mikhael

Yesterday's Atlantic Cup Preview brought you Trinity's David Barker. Today we head to the other Irish team taking part in the competition as we (DC) spoke to the Belfast Trojans' Head Coach, Drew Mikhael (DM):

Drew Mikhael getting the traditional soaking - photo by Dave Bradshaw (https://www.facebook.com/davebradshawphoto)

AFL Week 11 Preview

Saturday 29th June

Danube Dragons @ Prague Black Panthers - 14:00 GMT

The only game that has any potential meaning this week sees the fifth place Black Panthers take on the fourth place Dragons to see if they can pull off a miracle and sneak into the playoffs. For that to happen, the Black Panthers not only need to pull off their first win against a team that is not the AFC Rangers but will also have to do so by some ridiculous margin to go ahead of the Dragons on points difference. 

The Dragons are ready to defend their playoff spot and need to dispatch the Black Panthers to do so.
© Dragons Media

Whilst there is a mathematical probability that the Dragons could find themselves dropping down to fifth and being out of the playoffs, the likelihood is that it won't happen and that their offence will pull off another brutalisation of the Black Panther defence similar to what we saw in week three and keep them in playoff position. 

With the Black Panthers offence getting progressively poorer throughout the season and their defence never having played at a great standard I can only see this one going in the Dragons favour. I believe it will be a case of trying to kill the game off before half time and then getting the backups in to finish the job. 

Prediction: The Dragons take it and secure their playoff spot, 35 - 13.

AFC Rangers @ SWARCO Raiders - 16:00 GMT

The Raiders surprised quite a few of us last week when holding out the majority of their top starters against the Vikings to turn what could have been an exciting game into a fairly dull encounter. This week I expect them to pull a similar stunt (although, when have my predictions ever come true) but this time be on the winning side of the scoreline over the leagues worst team, the AFC Rangers.

Considering the Raiders handed Adrian Platzgummer his very first AFL start against the Vikings, I see no reason why he shouldn't get a shot against the Rangers this week having hopefully survived the scolding from being thrown into the fire. Whilst the quality of the Rangers defence is nothing in comparison to the Vikings, hopefully we get to see a better representation of what Platzgummers potential is.

Young quarterback Platzgummer could be in for his second start of his career.
© Kellner Holly Thomas/Gridiron Photography

By this stage, I feel as if the Rangers are fully resigned to another winless season and having your season finale against one of Europe's powerhouses prOnobably hasn't done anything to change that sentiment. The Rangers need to keep building towards the future and if they do face a weaker Raider lineup it could prove to be a perfect opportunity to gain a little confidence going into next season, and who knows, maybe they'll try something other the letting Craig Maynard get beat up on every play as he tries to carry the team.

Prediction: This can only go one way for me, Raiders 32 - 6.

Raiffeisen Vikings @ Graz Giants - 19:30 GMT

This encounter, whilst also having zero effect on the standings, could turn out to be a very intriguing fixture depending on how both teams approach the game. To finish of their undefeated season, the Vikings can't afford to rest their starters from the get go as this Graz team have been the only team that has come close to beating the Vikings when they narrowly lost 24-20 in week six.

Just like the Raiders last weekend, I don't see the point in risking the starters for either team a couple of weeks before the playoffs and I see it as the perfect opportunity to get a little more meaningful play time for the backups, but I feel that whilst the Giants may take the approach of resting their starters and saving them for round one of the playoffs against the Raiders, I don't see the Vikings doing the same and instead will aim for that undefeated season.

Can Islaam Amadu improve on last weeks solid game?
© Kellner Holly Thomas/Gridiron Photography

If both teams come out with their big names on the field, this could potentially be one of the better encounters of the AFL season as once again the tricky Giants option attack will take on the Vikings defence with both teams being a little wiser to the other having already faced each other. Another thing to keep an eye out for is how the Viking share the ball around their offence if they have Gross under centre as well as Jesse Lewis and Islaam Amadu in the backfield, does Gross take a back seat like last week to the ground game, or do the Vikings let him sling it for the win?

Prediction: I feel this one depends a lot on which players start the game, but I'm going to give it to the Vikings 31-21.

Atlantic Cup Preview: Trinity College Dublin's David Barker

This weekend the Netherland's Amersfoort Untouchables and Belgium's Brussels Tigers head to Dublin to take on the Belfast Trojans and Trinity College Dublin in the EFAF Atlantic Cup. It will be TCD's first ever European competition so Double Coverage (DC) caught up with Club Commissioner, and linebacker, David Barker (DB):

Barker in action (#51) - photo by Ash O'Flanagan (http://www.ashoflanagan.tumblr.com)

Aaron Hernandez - he did what?!

Within mere minutes, Aaron Hernandez went from New England star to a future behind bars.

There had been talk of an arrest warrant for days, with police searching the areas around the tight end’s North Addeboro home for evidence, but to actually see such a big name star plucked from his swish digs in handcuffs was shocking to say the least.

WATCH LIVE: Authorities respond to Aaron Hernandez's North Attleboro home http://t.co/2MnclR15h0 #fox25
— FOX 25 News Boston (@fox25news) June 26, 2013

But nowhere near as shocking as the charges that were to follow. 

Aaron Hernandez charged with murder.
— George Zornick (@gzornick) June 26, 2013

Don’t get us wrong, Hernandez has had a pretty chequered past. At Florida, his reputation as a potential troublemaker - combined with talk of failed drugs tests - damaged his draft stock to the point where he was seen as a late round reach as opposed to the early round playmaker his talent should have suggested.

There was chat of gang involvement and general uncouthness. In short, Hernandez was considered a risk-reward kind of guy.

But this – this is something else. Hernandez stands accused of five firearms offences and the murder of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year old semi-professional player who was dating the tight end's fiancee.

We should have known when the Patriots cut him loose. Bill Belichick doesn’t make rash decisions on emotion and idealism, he makes decisions based on what is best for his football team.

Full statement from the Patriots following the release of TE Aaron Hernandez http://t.co/WdAz07raPm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 26, 2013

With the amount of insiders the Pats have, they would have no doubt known how serious this situation was.

This doesn’t appear to be a simple case of telling the police a porky or two about where you were and who you know. This is murder.

Now the official charges have been brought, it seems pretty clear cut; Aaron Hernandez is in deep sh*t. 

No amount of skill in his position is going to help him work his way out of this one...

Quoted tweet data were provided by Lissted 

Oregon "Change"

Catch a sneak peek of the new Oregon Ducks helmets in this video introducing their "Changed" team under new head coach Mark Helfich

AFL Week 10 Review

JCL Graz Giants 40 - Danube Dragons 21

Not even the home field advantage was enough to spur the Dragons on to victory over mid table rivals the Giants as once again their defence let them down against Alex Good and the Giants offence and their offence were just not able to keep up on the scoreboard.

The difference on the day was that whilst the Giants were able to keep the ball and consistently maintain drives, the Dragons drives seemed to encounter multiple problems either through penalties or turnovers as they got further down field. This lack of execution and boom-or-bust feeling to the Dragons offence has been prevalent all season and is one of the keys to the Danube team improving in the future.

© Dragons Media

The decisive point of the game came at the start of the third quarter with the score standing at 20-7 in favour of the Giants, the Dragons conceded a 62 yard kick return which was immediately turned into a 33 yard Good touchdown pass. The Dragons then put together a 10 play scoring drive of their own before immediately conceding a one play 59 yard touchdown pass that took the score to 33-14 and from there the game seemed dead a buried.

This victory confirms the Giants a playoff spot and a matchup against the Raiders in the first round and amazingly leaves the Dragons still in the lurch with a regular season finale against the Black Panthers to navigate to secure their playoff spot.

Prediction: Called the winner and almost got their points spot on but slightly overestimated how well the Dragons offence would do.

Prague Black Panther 26 - AFC Rangers 12

The struggle between the leagues bottom dwellers turned out to be a fairly even contest but ending with the predicted outcome of the Black Panthers offence managing to outscore the Rangers and in doing so claim their second win of the season and keep their very slim chance of actually making it into the playoffs alive.

The game winning factor on the day was the Black Panthers ability to run the ball and physically dominate the Rangers on both lines of scrimmage. This dominance meant that Craig Maynard was never able to be efficient in the passing and really struggled to crack the Black Panthers on the ground.

As usual quarterback Andrew Shoop delivered most of the points for the Black Panthers as he passed for two scores and ran for another to round out a nice 300+ total yard game. And with that said there's not really much to add on this game, no one was expecting fireworks, and neither side delivered, both teams are still miles away from the standard that they need to be at to compete against any of the other teams in the league and until they catch up, this fixture will remain meaningless to everyone else except the Black Panthers and the Rangers.

Prediction: I imagined it to be a little more high scoring than it actually was but I picked the winner right.

Raiffeisen Vikings 24 - SWARCO Raiders 6

My analysis of this game can only go so far as there was a clear difference in attitude between these two teams towards their future matchups that had a big impact on the scoreboard. If you didn't know already, the Raider rested starting quarterback Kyle Callahan and handed Adrian Platzgummer is AFL debut and also held some of their other starters out of the game. The Vikings on the other hand clearly had the goal of maintaining their undefeated season as they didn't try anything cute with their starters and let them go out and play, resulting in a fairly easy victory on the day.

 The twin headed monster of Jesse Lewis and Islaam Amadu was the driving force behind the Vikings offence as they were both able to consistently grind out good yardage and Lewis was able to punch the ball into the endzone on two occasions to take the Vikings clear of the Raiders early on.

New quarterback Platzgummer really struggled in his debut.
© Kellner Holly Thomas/Gridiron Photography

New Raider quarterback Platzgummer may have made his AFL debut, but it was largely a day for him to forget as he really struggled against the leagues best defence completing only 7 of 19 passes for 49 yards and 3 interceptions which helped the Vikings keep the ball and the clock under their control.

With these two teams likely to face each other twice more this season there was clearly some gamesmanship at work here as the Raiders decided not to reveal anything new or expose their key players to injuries in what was essentially a meaningless game. When these two teams next meet I am expecting a whole different kind of game to take place.

Prediction: My prediction largely hinged on this being a straight up game, so even though my winner was correct, the score was quite a way off.

Player of the Week

Alex Good, #7 Quarterback, Graz Giants.

© Kellner Holly Thomas/Gridiron Photography

Good's performance really overpowered the Dragons on the day as he accounted for 6 touchdowns on the day with half in the passing game and half in the run game. Combine that with another 300+ total yards and you have this weeks player of the week.

Premiership Power Rankings, Week 11

It's the second week of our combined Premiership Power Rankings, so we've decided to add helmets of the top ten teams on the list. Why? Because we're so kind to our fans!

Helmet designs courtesy of Rob Amor.

1. London Blitz (4-0)

A comfortable 69-0 over the Berkshire Renegades kept the Blitz in the top spot for another week and improved the team’s record to 4-0. With three shutouts to their name already, the Blitz D will be hoping for another 0 performance when they take on London rivals, the O’s, this weekend.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Alternate Jersey Reveal

Adidas unveiled the new Nebraska Cornhuskers alternate uniforms this week for the Adidas "Unrivaled Game" versus UCLA

Check out the reaction from the Cornhuskers players

London Blitz vs Berkshire Renegades VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Blitz back goes Beast Mode

London Blitz running back Temi Odeyumi went beast mode all over the Berkshire Renegades, including a soul taking stuff arm. Hold ma...

Big trouble in little Cornwall?

STATEMENT FROM THE NEWLY FORMED DUCHY REBELS 22/06/2013

Comprising 17 players and 1 coach who previously called themselves "Cornwall Destroyers".

We feel it necessary to make a formal statement as certain statements/allegations have been made on various social media by Mr. Peter Hoccom (Hoccum) regarding our leaving the Cornwall Destroyers including a statement in the "stolen" thread on the BAFANL forum that we have left to join the Cornish Sharks and stolen equipment.

We simply want to play football so will make no further comment after we have made our position and the timeline of events clear in this statement. We feel this statement is now warranted particularly following claims on various social media from Mr. Hoccom to recruit players under false promises and making unfounded and untrue accusations against players and coaches in Cornwall verbally.

The group of players now known as the Duchy Rebels AFC made the decision to leave the Cornwall Destroyers AFC of their own accord and for the reasons listed below. Options for the future of the players were then discussed by us as a group and after these discussions, the decision was made to contact Coach Myatt to ask him to join us and resume his coaching duties. As an ex player and very experienced Coach in both American Football and soccer, we valued his experience and felt honoured that he agreed to join us. At no point did Coach Myatt contact any players with regard to transfer of their duties to an opposing team. Coach Myatt had left the Cornwall Destroyers a few days before we left having had a disagreement with Mr. Hoccom, who with no playing or coaching experience decided he knew more about coaching and American football than the one qualified coach in the organization.

Sussex Thunder vs Cambridgeshire Cats - Highlights

Slightly later than planned, highlights from the Thunder's game vs the Cambridgeshire Cats.

Irish Football Round-Up

We said in our preview for this weekend that two teams would come into the Shamrock Bowl Conference Wildcard Playoffs as favourites but also that there'd be two teams facing them that will give them hell in order to reach the semi-finals themselves. Not to blow our own trumpet but we were spot on.

Photo by Nathan James Sharrocks

Coach Criner Returns to Britain for a Coaching Special

Courtesy of Kenny Murray

American Football has been through tumultuous times in Britain. Since the end of the NFL Europe franchise and the teams in Scotland and England, American Football has survived as part of a British league due to the hard work of many around the home nations. Recent events such as the Wembley NFL games and talk of an NFL franchise in London, as well as the drafting of Lawrence O'Koye show that American Football is enjoying a homecoming in Britain and indeed Scotland.

A former Head Coach of the Claymores is also having a homecoming of sorts...

On 22 June 1996, Coach Jim Criner sat down with his Scottish Claymores coaching staff, a single malt for company, to prepare them for the biggest game of their season.

The next day on the 23rd he coached the Scottish Claymores to a stunning victory in the Claymores home stadium of Murrayfield bringing the World Bowl to the football daft Scottish fans.

Jump forward 17 years and Coach Criner is once again in his second home, Scotland, preparing for a very different opponent.

On Saturday June 22nd at Stirling University Coach Criner and Coach Lynn Stiles (former assistant coach to Utah, Iowa, UCLA, San Jose State, Philadelpia Eagles, San Fransisco 49ers & St Louis Rams) are holding a coaching clinic for the British American Football Association.

The clinic is open to anyone, with a cost of £10 for non BAFCA members and BAFCA members will pay a reduced fee of just £5.00 as part of BAFCA's support for continued learning.

New Orleans Saints Cheerleaders "22"

Uh oh, it looks like we have a cheer off!

earlier this week we posted the video forthe Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders performing a cover of Taylor Swifts song "22"

Now it's come to our attention that the New Orleans Saints cheerleaders (the "Saintsations"...) also made their own cover of the same song and more to the point released theirs a day earlier! Being in the business of balanced reporting we feel it necessary to share the video for comparison.

And the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders version, just for comparison...

Irish Football Preview

Playoff football! The Shamrock Bowl Conference heads in to the post season as the Wildcard Playoffs take place tomorrow! It’s been an up and down season and it’s going to have the same pattern going into these match ups, up for one team and down for another.

Meanwhile the race for the IAFL-1 title heats up as the teams at the top look to put themselves a step above their rivals.

Photo by Ariane Boudias

BAFANL Predictions, Week 11

National League South Central

Milton Keynes Pathfinders at Maidstone Pumas

The Pumas are having a season to forget, a season in which they could break a record for the most points conceded in a season. We hope it doesn't come to that, but for now Milton Keynes will roll over those Pumas and make them purr.

Milton Keynes by 5 scores.

Premiership North

Nottingham Ceasars at Sheffield Predators

Perhaps one of the winners of the restructure, the Sheffield predators managed to avoid a season slicing through division one like a hot knife through butter and instead find themselves playing with the bigger boys. They have been more productive in the North than their final rivals from last year, the Saxons, have been in the South. The Ceasars on the other hand have looked frankly dismal. 

Sheffield to win by 6 scores

Premiership South

South Wales Warriors at Cambridgeshire CatsA long away game for the Warriors, as the two teams on either end of the Geographical spectrum of the premiership south square off. Cambridge swept aside Sussex last weekend by just outscoring them, and with South Wales looking in worse shape than Sussex, the Cats should have no problem clawing out this victory, however they will want to show some pride, and try not to concede anything.

Cats to win by 5 scores


Berkshire Renegades at London Blitz

The London Blitz have taken to the habbit of outscoring the London Warriors in as many games as they can. The Renegades faced a brutal 71-0 defeat and if the Blitz are wanting to stay in the continued outscoring form, they will be looking to better than. Spirits may be somewhat higher in the Renegades camp after a good outing against the Olympians, but the Blitz, the Olympians are not. (#yoda)

Blitz by ten scores and a safety


Bristol Aztecs at London Olympians

Our shout for game of the week right here. With the Cats snapping at the heels of these two teams, one can't help but feel this will be the decider for the third place in the South. The Aztecs have looked on great form, with Gareth Thomas finding his rhymn in the last game throwing for over 300 on Sussex. The Olympians have been a little off the beat, not being able to put away the lower ranked teams in the same fashion as the Blitz, Warriors and even Aztecs. One thing riding in the O's favour is being at home, and that could well swing the balance. Both teams will have circled this as potentially their biggest game of the season from the get go, with away trips to Scotland in the playoffs on the mind of both teams, it's a must win affair. 

This one will go down to who wants it more, and which team can pull out the better line play (the big difference between a good team and a great team).

The Olympians have been at #3 all year for the reason that we think they will end up there.

O's to win by a score.

Premiership Power Rankings

Now that we’re a considerable way into the season, we felt that it was time for a change with our Premiership rankings. Therefore, we’ve decided to combine the two rankings together, as well as introducing a writer’s power ranking from next week.

So sit back, enjoy our rankings and post your comments if you don’t agree with them. (Stupid comments will be deleted.)

1. London Blitz (3-0)

Despite not having a game this weekend, the Blitz come out as the #1 team in our new and improved Premiership ranking. With the Renegades coming up this weekend, the Blitz will be using this game as good preparation before their London derby against the Olympians the following week.

2. London Warriors (7-0)

With a 7-0 record, the Warriors could easily be the number one team on this power ranking, but for now, they claim the #2 spot. With their final three games spread over the next nine(!) weeks, the Warriors won’t be moving down our rankings any time soon.

3. East Kilbride Pirates (4-0)

A 39-7 road win over the Lancashire Wolverines cemented the Pirates place as the third best team in the country. With their next game coming up against the undefeated Sheffield Predators, the Pirates may be in a battle to retain their spot for another week.  

AFL Week 10 Preview

Saturday 22nd June

JCL Graz Giants @ Danube Dragons - 16:00 GMT

Whilst it's almost a forgone conclusion that the Dragons will make the playoffs, this game offers them the chance to at least make an attempt on overtaking the Giants for third place and in doing so a playoff spot against the leagues number two seed. The Giants won the first meeting between these two all the way back in week two with a score of 49 - 36 and the Giants running game dominating. This means that if the Dragons do want a shot at that third place then need to win by at least 14 points this week.

Will Good and the Giants option game get the better of the Dragons again?
© Kellner Holly Thomas/Gridiron Photography

The Giants run in to the playoffs is possibly the toughest in the league with both the Dragons this week and the undefeated Vikings the weekend after and so there's a very realistic chance that if they drop their game this weekend that they could be knocked down into fourth place and be the lowest seeded team going into the playoffs, which is a situation they would want to avoid.

The result will most likely be decided once again by the team that has the better running game and with both teams having fantastic athletes at both the running back and quarterback positions I doubt there will be a lack of yardage gained on the ground. The two key players that need to be kept tabs on during this game are Tunde Ogun for the Dragons and Alex Good for the Giants, Ogun was unleashed on the Raiders last week and is a big reason that the Dragons managed to put up 31 points and Good is always the catalyst of a strong Giant option run game so keep an eye on what these guys manage to produce and it may give you a good indication of who took the win.

Prediction: Another high scoring affair, but the Giants put up their sixth win 41-35.

Euro American Challenge

Europlayers in partnership with EUROstopwatch, MMX and CDFL is pleased to announce the Euro American Challenge on December, 20th 2013.

This friendly game will be played in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (USA) with 70 players from Europe and America with a live stream web cast and exposure to NFL and CFL Scouts to give these elect players the chance to live their dream. The American team will be made of current professional football free agents whereas the Euro squad will consist of the top American football players in Europe.

To select the best 35 European players combines will be organized throughout Europe from September to November. These 35 European players will fly to the United States in December to play in the Euro American Challenge game.

National League Power Rankings, Week 10

1. Colchester Gladiators (4-0)

No game for the Glads this week so they remain top for another week but the Thrashers and Nighthawks are chasing them down hard.

2. Solent Thrashers (5-0)

Not a convincing win this weekend but the Solent Thrashers remained unbeaten with a 20-6 win over the new boys, the Swindon Storm. They’re taking the South by storm, the newly rebranded Solent side, and they’ll be looking to continue in good form until the end of the season.

3. Merseyside Nighthawks (5-0)

A 22-8 win over Staffordshire got the job done for Merseyside but it’s far from a pretty score line. Are the injuries we heard about starting to take a toll on the Nighthawks? Or was this just a one-off slip? Or is that we’re being disrespectful to the Surge on a great showing? Up next for Merseyside is the Bombers in Lincolnshire.

SBC Wildcard Playoff Preview: Adrian Garvey of the UL Vikings

Our build-up to the Shamrock Bowl Conference Wildcard Playoff games is in full swing. On Tuesday we brought you UCD's Head Coach, Eoin Cunningham's thoughts. Yesterday it was the turn of the Dublin Rebels' Gary Sommerville. Today we head back to the SBC South match-up as Double Coverage (DC) caught up with University of Limerick Vikings' defensive end, Adrian Garvey (AG):

Garvey under centre for the Vikings in last year's Shamrock Bowl - photo by Nathan James Sharrocks

SBC Wildcard Playoff Preview: Gary Sommerville of the Dublin Rebels

Yesterday we brought you an interview with UCD's Head Coach Eoin Cunningham. Today we head to the SBC North Wildcard Playoff game as Double Coverage (DC) caught up with Dublin Rebels' wide receiver, Gary Sommerville (GS):

Dublin Rebels' Gary Sommerville chats with Double Coverage - photo by Nathan James Sharrocks

SBC Wildcard Preview: Eoin Cunningham of UCD

All this week we're bringing you some special edition interviews from the Shamrock Bowl Conference ahead of the Wildcard Playoff matches this coming Sunday. First up Double Coverage (DC) caught up with University College Dublin's Head Coach, Eoin Cunningham (EC):





The University "Colours" Derby between UCD (blue) and TCD (red) - photo by Ash O'Flanagan (ashoflanagan.tumblr.com)

Meath Bulldogs 12 @ Waterford Wolves 20 – RSC Waterford 16.06.13

by Greg Barrett

The Wolves V The Bulldogs, the game was made for clichés, “It was a dog fight”, “battle of the bark” or “Clash of the Canines”, but there was only one cliché that stood truest among all the rest – Defensive penalties cost games. This is of course not to take anything away from both teams who, in horrendous conditions went out and true to the games hype and clichés went for the jugular.

The game began with Waterfords defence taking to the field for the first series of plays; the Bulldogs (after going for it on fourth down) only got the first down due to a defensive penalty. Time for Waterfords newly revitalised offence to take the field against the third best defence in IAFL D1. The offence led by #37 Aaron Walsh started to test the Meath defensive line using their running attacks to pull the defence first left and then right and then right up the middle. But Meath stood firm. This continued for the first quarter with the only notable point being a 15 yard pass from Bulldogs quarterback #7 Eddie McMahon connecting with his receiver.

Wolves Defence hit the back field chasing down #7 Eddie McMahon

Arizona Wildcats new coaching staff

This is the kind of video that can sometimes get you major recruitment kudos. This one however, won't...

Bobcats win first BACL Bowl

The last time these two teams faced off was back in week 6 when the Gators were without Quarterback Tom Clancy, RB/LB Zack Skuse to name a couple. The Bobcats were also without one of their difference makers in Week 6 in the form of Offensive Tackle Orlando Victor who showed how much impact he can have on a game in the semi-final route of the Cowboys.

The Bobcats came firing out of the gates going 3 scores up inside the first half. Holloway opened the scoring with a powerful run before S.Kosteletos chipped in with one rushing and one receiving touchdown (thrown by Bleakman). Clancy pulled a rushing touchdown back before halftime to give the Gators hope heading into the second half trailing 21-7.

The Second half went no better for the Gators as the Bobcats scored on their first possession when Bleakman found Holloway down the field for his second score and Bleakman’s second passing score. The Gators answered when Platts ripped off a long touchdown run to bring it back within two scores. This was as close as they got though as the Bobcats power run game took over and Trudgian rumbled in for two scores of his own to close out the game for the Bobcats and crown them the first ever BACL Champions.

Special Guest Coach Robert Orr, from Stirling University, chose the Bobcats Quarterback Bleakman as the BACL Bowl MVP for his two passing Touchdown performance and over fifty yards rushing. Special mention was given to Gators Runningback / Linebacker Liam Platts who had a terrific game in a losing effort.

Birmingham Bulls - Coventry Jets Game Report

by Rob Amor

The Bulls faced Coventry Jets for the first time since 2008, with the club having never beaten their local rivals.

Both teams were on losing streaks following opening game successes (Bulls losing 3 and the Jets losing 4 in a row respectively), and one team would be putting an end to the poor form.

After receiving the opening kick-off, the Bulls offense suffered a short drive before punting in to Jets territory. Former Bulls Youth player, Fraser Oliver, led his offense on to the field and Coventry immediately opened the scoring.

A deep pass down the right sideline from quarterback Oliver saw the Jets receiver (Noach Ben-Haim) beat defensive back Jack Pemberton and run the ball in to the end zone for an approximate 50 yard score. With the PAT successful, the Jets were 7-0 up early.

Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders "22"

Following on from the popular "Call Me Maybe", the Dolphins Cheerleaders find something productive to do. Well, it's not like they're going to be cheering many wins this year...

Pirates win on the road against Lancashire

Lancashire Wolverines 7 - East Kilbride Pirates 39

The Pirates continued a strong start to the season with a win on the road against a disciplined Lancashire Wolverines team.

The visitors started strongly, putting together a four play drive that resulted in the first score of the day, with running back Iain Dick taking the ball over the goal line. Mark Murphy converted, giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead early in the game.

The visiting defense held the Wolverines to a 3-and-out, which was very much the theme of the day as the Pirates, despite having a few starters missing, asserted their will on the home team and minimised their threat for much of the game.

IAFL-1 Weekend Round-up

With no Shamrock Bowl Conference controversy to overshadow it, the IAFL-1 got the full glory this weekend as two close, competitive matches gave fans plenty to enjoy!

                                

Waterford Wolves 20-12 Meath Bulldogs

The Wolves welcomed the in form Meath Bulldogs to Waterford but would send them away rueing missed chances and mistakes as the home side snatched the win in the dying seconds of the game. In poor conditions all scores were scored on the ground as both teams abandoned the air attack in favour of the run.

A tight first half was split only by a long Eddie McMahon rushing score and Meath took a 6-0 lead in to half time. The quarterback grabbed another rushing score in the second half but it would be the Wolves that would be celebrating at the end of the game.

QB Walsh hands off to RB O'Keefe - Photo by Greg Barrett

Growth of American Football in the UK

A mini-documentary on the growth of American Football in the UK featuring Swindon Storm. Don't let the growling put you off...

GB Lions Junior Announcement

An email sent out over the weekend by GB Junior Lions Head Coach Damien Anderson announced the cancellation of the summer camps. The email said:

Gentlemen,

It is with deep regret that I must inform you that the GB Junior July Camp has been cancelled. 

The schedule had seen the GB Juniors meeting for camps in July and Sept with the planning of a game in October.

The Coaching staff requested the pre-arranged funds to book the facilities but the National Program Committee (NPC) decided that funds were no longer available to the team, and they wanted to re-assess the team needs. 

The Coaching staff are working with the NPC to make sure that the end of year events can take place and once this has been confirmed invitations will be sent out.

The Junior Lions Coaching staff are disappointed with the news but are still committed to the program, end of year events and the future competitions.

To date the open practice sessions have been a success,  and have shown there’s a vast amount of talent out there.

Taking positives from the cancelled July date we will have more time to scout games and add/remove players to the current list of potential camp invites.

The GB Lions Coaching staff thank all players for attending the practice sessions to-date and apologize for the cancelled camp, but this was out of our hands.

If you have any further questions or comments please feel free to Email me directly.

Coach Anderson

GB Lions Junior HC

BAFANL Week Ten Scores

Premiership North

Nottingham Caesars 7-64Yorkshire Rams

Lancashire Wolverines 7-39 East Kilbride Pirates

Birmingham Bulls 0-20 Coventry Jets

Premiership South

London Warriors 59-6 Ipswich Cardinals

Peterborough Saxons 22-34 East Kent Mavericks

Sussex Thunder 27-52 Cambridgeshire Cats 

National League North

Clyde Valley Blackhawks 14-13 DC Presidents

Dundee Hurricanes 12-41 Gateshead Senators

National League Central

Lincolnshire Bombers 6-26 Leicester Falcons (SAT)

Merseyside Nighthawks 22-8 Staffordshire Surge

National League South

Farnham Knights 6-8 Oxford Saints

Swindon Storm 6-20 Solent Thrashers

Gloucester Centurions 22-17 Cornish Sharks 

Double Coverage Shamrock Bowl Conference Awards

It’s been an interesting season covering the Shamrock Bowl Conference this year. The regular season came to wraps this weekend past and teams will be either preparing for their playoff campaign or already looking forward to next year.

IAFL-1 Preview

So the Shamrock Bowl Conference gets a rest this weekend as they gear up for the Wildcard Playoff matches but the competitive IAFL-1 still sees some action!

Photo by Ariane Boudias

Waterford Wolves @ Tullamore Phoenix – Tullamore Rugby Club – 09.06.13

By Greg Barrett

Sunday saw the Waterford Wolves visit Tullamore Phoenix in week 11 of the IAFL Division 1. Both teams were off the back of losses from their previous games and were determined to set things right. The Wolves from the moment they arrived were focused on the game and only the game. Waterford again brought a strong crowd with them to cheer them on and the now ever present Radio DSBC to cover the game. There were two notable absentees from the Waterford starting line-up, with Eoin Reinhardt and Paul Coady replaced by Aaron Walsh Quarterback and Denis Walsh Tackle respectively.

The visitors won the coin toss and elected to defer and thus started the battle. The first quarter was a tit for tat affair with both teams feeling each other out, but it was Tullamore that got the points on the board first forcing the Wolves offence back and ultimately getting the safety to give them a 2 point lead, for the fans we feared the worst, the offence just wasn’t getting it done, but as they came off the field their heads were not allowed to drop as their team mates gathered around them to pep them up. It worked.

In the second quarter the offence came to life with some outstanding blocking opening the way for running backs #21 Kevin Butler and #22 Ger O’Keeffe to start having an impact, quarterback Aaron Walsh led the Wolves down the pitch for Butler to finally take it all the way to the bank, running in from 6 yards. Waterford took the lead 6 to 2 into halftime.

The Waterford Wolves Offence take to the field.