DCU Saints Recruitment
September 1st, 2008 | | Team News
DCU Saints are now recruiting for the 2009 season.
Experience is not necessary but beneficial.
Training begins in late September.
Contact committee members for details
2008 Schedule Released
December 27th, 2007 | | Team News
The IAFL has just released the upcoming schedule for the 2008 season. There are 9 teams in the League this year and we have remained in the IAFL Central Division with the Dublin Rebels and the Dublin Rhinos, a new team this year. Every team has 8 games, 4 at home and 4 away and we play the Rebels and the Rhinos twice. The Shamrock Bowl is scheduled for August 10th.
For each one of our games, we will put up a post-game report with scoring summaries and links to the IAFL game report. We’ll also try to include photos if we can! Our home games will be played at ALSAA beside Dublin Airport and we’d welcome as many people to attend as possible.
We’ve posted the list of our games and the post-season games on our Schedule page but a full schedule for all teams is available on the IAFL website at www.iafl.info.
Training for 2008 season begins
November 5th, 2007 | | Team News
Pre-season training for the 2008 IAFL season has begun at DCU.
Training is held at the DCU Sports Grounds on the Ballymun Road every Sunday from 11am to 2pm.
Anyone who is interested in becoming involved with the DCU Saints is encouraged to attend practice or to contact chair@dcusaints.com.
DCU Saints review of the year
November 5th, 2007 | | Team News
Strong progress proved to be the theme of the 2006-2007 season for the DCU Saints. The team started strongly but suffered through the loss of players to both injury and other commitments before rallying and securing the team’s first shutout in a well-deserved end of season victory.
David Rothwell, a legend of the IAFL, was appointed head coach and set to work improving skills levels, technique and establishing a strong team spirit. He was ably assisted by Ben Cook, a former All State offensive lineman, who came out of retirement to help coach the offensive and defensive lines as well as lining up at defensive tackle in a much improved Saints defence. Carsten Wunderlich provided the offence.
The team saw continued progress from players like Willie Coyne, Carl Rushe, Eoin Fox, Daiwyn Naidoo, Darrin Wilson and Liam O’Tailliuir. Dutch native Harmen Zweers proved a physical asset at tight end and first year players like Geoff Coleman (WR), Colin Duignan (DT) and Peter Stewart (OG) shone.
The team began brightly against the champion Dublin Rebels but lost heart breakingly by a score of 8-0. The Rebels had won every game by at least 30 points the previous season and it helped set the tone for an aggressive yet disciplined defence. Scott Quigly, Bobby Blankenship and Austin Ragans had stand out performanace for the Saints before having to return to the United States.
DCU Saints then fought bravely against the Dublin Dragons but offensive struggles meant they couldn’t secure a win and the team lost by 6-0.
Next up was the Carrickfergus Knights, traditionally a very strong team. Both sides were missing players with many having to play draining ironman football in sweltering conditions but the Saints emerged victorious by a scoreline of 20-12. Daiwyn Naidoo stepped in at QB for the game and performed strongly, throwing for a TD to Ed Prendergast with Geoff Coleman securing the two-point conversion from another Naidoo pass. Naidoo also ran for a TD off a delayed QB draw, which was the longest running play of the season for the Saints.
After that injuries began to bite the Saints, who lost their top three QBs alone after the second game against the Dublin Rebels. The Rebels strong running game proved effective against a depleted Saints defence and they ran out 46-0 winners.
In the College Bowl against UL, the team was missing more than half of its players but performed strongly in the first half to trail by just 10-2 against the team that would go on to win the Shamrock Bowl. The half time result could have even been closer except for a superb interception by a Vikings cornerback with the Saints camped on the UL three yard line and time running out in the first half. The lack of numbers began to tell in the second half and UL began to rack up the scores, eventually emerging comfortable winners.
The team next travelled to Cork but the Admirals proved far too strong and won comfortably.
For the final game of the season, against the Dragons, the Saints were down to just 16 players including Shane Maguire who was limited to kickoffs in his first game back from serious injury. The defence featured seven players playing out of position and the offence was led by Carl Rushe at QB, who had never played there competitively and was fifth string at the position as he usually played tight end on offence when required. Rushe performed admirably however, leading the offence down the field and finding favourite target Harmen Zweers for consistent yardage. Rushe eventually scored on a QB sneak to leave the Saints leading 6-0 at half time.
The Saints defence was also performing admirably, with Rushe and Eoin Fox shutting down the outside run and David Rothwell and Kris Konieczny anchoring the middle of the line. In the second half a punt return from Willie Coyne, aided by a beautiful block by Konieczny secured the victory.
It was an important win for the Saints, highlighting the progress made during the year, and achieved with almost every player playing ironman football on the day.