Ireland: Louth Mavericks off to strong start while Trojans go 2&0

Gaelic Gridiron | American Football | 04/02/2025

By Jimmy English

The weekend’s games were largely contained to the northern corner of the country, the lone outlier being the tilt between UL and the Panthers down in Limerick. And while Saturday barely saw a single touchdown, it was the total opposite the next day when both the Ty Henry led Mavericks and the Belfast Trojans absolutely torched their opponents. It’s still far too early to read into any of these results, but we are definitely beginning to see the season take on some sort of shape. Continue reading for a recap of each of this weekend’s fixtures!

UL Vikings 0 – South Dublin Panthers 0

I’d like to begin by issuing a heartfelt apology to James Kellett, who kindly volunteered to cover this game for us. It must have been three of the most boring hours of his life. It’s rare that a nil all draw occurs in American football. But it does happen. In fact, according to James the most exciting thing that happened in the first half was a dog running onto the field. Both sides are clearly having issues putting up points This is also the second week in a row that the Vikings have been held scoreless. To the credit of their defense though, it sounds like they put in an incredible shift. Defensive End Jack McLain accumulated a couple of sacks, while Chris O’Mahony had two forced fumbles, one of which occurred during the fourth quarter as the Panthers were driving down the field in an attempt to claim the win. I got called a fool a few weeks back for alluding to the Panthers as a side that needed to be wary of relegation, but if they don’t start getting results in the games that are winnable, it’s not going to end well.

Dublin Rhinos 8 – Northwest Vipers 0

Wild and windy conditions in Greysteel delivered a defensive battle between two sides who will surely be vying for playoff spots come late summer. Craig Usher eventually broke the deadlock with a rushing score for the visitors, and converted the 2 point attempt to escape with a slim 8 point victory. The Rhinos will be most relieved to win this one after the 37 point rollicking they endured a fortnight ago against Westmeath. A Matt Mays interception was the highlight of a dominant display for the Rhinos, who left points on the field in the form of two missed field goals and called back touchdowns. Both these teams are now tied at 1-1 on the season, and hovering in the lower middle section of the table but as has become my catchphrase thus far: there’s still a long way to go.

Louth Mavericks 44 – Wexford Eagles 0

For everyone who wondered what sort of effect that Ty Henry would have on the Mavericks: here’s your answer. But for the final score being disallowed, this would have been an absolute rout. And I’ll tell you another thing: these lads are not short of weapons! This is how it went down on offense: Ty Henry rushing touchdown, Fin O’Donovan rushing touchdown, Ty Henry passing touchdown to Alan Minto, Grant Schutte rushing touchdown, Fin O’Donovan passing touchdown to Brendan Simms and finally Ty Henry passing touchdown to Fin O’Donovan. *Deep Breathe*. The Mavericks are absolutely STACKED and after an ugly exit in the semi final last season, seem to be back on track and more determined than ever. In their defense, the depleted Wexofrd Eagles gave them as good a fight as they could. Luke Fitzpatrick claimed a pick 6 while Doran Taylor had a TD called back for a hold. Taylor also had a deep ball to the ever present Paddy Bissett to set up this score, which was ultimately negated.

It’s never easy when you’re playing with less than 20 men, some of whom didn’t leave the field all game long. It’s also worth noting the “ex Rebel effect” involved in this game, either playing or coaching (or both) and how that plays a factor as the season progresses. Fin O’Donovan was rightly awarded Mavericks offensive MVP during the postgame, and has a bright future ahead of him as a feature player in their set up. If you ask me, at this current moment in time Division one will come down to Louth and Kildare. But what do I know?

Belfast Trojans 42 – Craigavon Cowboys 0

This one was just an old fashioned beatdown. When I first saw this game on the schedule, I thought it would be a classic. Unfortunately that was not the case. The hosts were down 10 players, and knew going in it would be tough sledding. Belfast of course capitalised, seemingly scoring at will in the first half to give them a comfortable 35-0 advantage at the half. US import Rayshawn Boswell was the man of the afternoon, racking up a hattrick on the ground to go with scores from Oran Wilson and Tom Goodchild, who recovered a fumbled punt in the endzone. Maks Dimitrov added an interception for good measure ( his second of the season) and the game was over bar the shouting. The Trojans must have taken their foot off the gas in the second half, as they only scored once more on a Dom Lynn pass to the aforementioned Maks Dimitrov. An honourable mention as well must go to Oran Wilson for nailing all 6 of his PAT attempts. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Trojans may be the only team that can topple UCD this season (unless the Rebels do something big) and just need to get out of their own way. As for the Cowboys, they need to move on quickly and focus on games they can win. And maybe get the rest of their squad back.