DUBLIN CITY MARSHALS 38-40 BELFAST BULLS

Venue: Victoria Park, Belfast.

Scorers:
1st Quarter: BEL: Bjorn Blythe 60yd pass from Mike Calo (0-6); DCM: Jess Palmer 53yd pass from Seth Larson (6-6); BEL: Charlie Campalani 11yd run (6-12); DCM: Dave O’Neill 51yd pass from Larson (12-12).
2nd Quarter: BEL: Gareth Millar 2yd run (12-18); DCM: Dave O’Neill 19yd pass from Larson (18-18); BEL: Gary McIlkerney 8yd pass from Calo, Calo 2xpt (18-26); DCM: Seth Larson 1yd run (24-26).
3rd Quarter: BEL: Charlie Campalani 5yd run, Millar 2xpt (24-34); DCM: Seth Larsen 4yd run (30-34); BEL: Gary McIlkerney 33yd pass from Calo (30-40); DCM: Dave O’Neill 20yd pass from Larsen, Larsen 2xpt (38-40).
4th Quarter: No scoring.

The Belfast Bulls defeated the Dublin City Marshals in a 12 touchdown thriller at Victoria Park in Belfast. Both teams scored on their opening offensive plays of the game and kept up the high tempo right the way through the game. The Bulls defence stopped the Marshals on 4th and goal in the fourth quarter and then intercepted them in the final seconds of the game to preserve a narrow 2 point win. Gary McIlkerney and Charlie Campalani had two touchdowns each for the Bulls and the Marshals Seth Larson had 4 touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns.

The game got off to an explosive start when Bulls quarterback threw a 60 yard touchdown pass to receiver Bjorn Blythe on the first play from scrimmage. Then after the kick-off the Marshals also scored on their first play from scrimmage thanks to a 53 yard pass from Seth Larson to Jess Palmer. The scoring continued when Bulls running back Charlie Campalani scored on an 11 yard run following a long drive by the Bulls. Again the Marshals responded quickly. On their next series, Larson hit rookie receiver Dave O’Neill with a 51 yard pass for the 4th touchdown of the game so far to make the score 12-12.

Belfast continued to move the ball early in the second quarter with quarterback Mike Calo picking up some crucial first downs as he scrambled. The Bulls put together another solid drive and Gareth Millar scored on a short yardage play to put them back in the lead. The Marshals then put together one of their best drives with receiver Darien Bell making some nice catches as they moved downfield. The levelled the score again with another Dave O’Neill touchdown reception. The Bulls responded with another solid drive and when in scoring range, Calo hit receiver Gary McIlkerney for a 8yd touchdown pass. Calo then scored a crucial 2 point conversion. However, the Marshals were not finished matching the Bulls touchdown count. They got a first and goal thanks to a long catch and run by Darien Bell and then Larson scored on a quarterback sneak up the middle from 1 yard out to make it 26-24 at halftime.

Both teams contributed another four touchdowns in the third quarter. After stopping the Marshals on their opening series, Calo led the Bulls downfield to a 5 yard touchdown run by Campalani. Gareth Millar scored the two point conversion which may have been the games decider. As with the Bulls previous scored, the Marshals responded on their next possession. Using a series of passes, they got a first and goal. Larsen scored his second touchdown of the game from 4 yard out. Shortly after the kick-off, the Bulls scored again, this time on a 33 yard pass from Mike Calo to Gary McIlkerney to pull 1 points ahead. However, the Marshals came back at them again. Larson rallied the team downfield and threw a 20 yard touchdown pass to Dave O’Neill. Larson’s conversion pulled the Marshals within 2 points of the Bulls.

Even though there was no scoring in the final quarter, it still had more than its share of excitement. The Marshals got into the Bulls half with just over 4 minutes remaining and then got a first and goal thanks to a pass interference call in favour of Darien Bell. The Bulls defense held them for on 3 consecutive plays before stopping Larson running in for a touchdown on 4th and goal. The Bulls were then forced to punt with less than 2 minutes remaining to give the Marshals one final shot at winning the game. However, an interception by Mark Helferty with 19 seconds remaining sealed a narrow 40-38 victory for the Bulls.

VIKINGS QUALIFY FOR PLAY-OFFS

CORK ADMIRALS 0-20 UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK VIKINGS

Venue: UL Sports Ground, Limerick.

Scorers:
1st Quarter: Vikings: 26 yard run by Chris Bassitt + Bassitt 2xpt (0-8 ).
2nd Quarter: Vikings: 31 yard pass from Jeremiah Sexton to Michael Toomey (0-16).
3rd Quarter: No Scoring.
4th Quarter: 10 yard pass from Jeremiah Sexton to Michael Toomey (0-20).

The Vikings guaranteed themselves a place in the semi-finals thanks to a 20-0 win over Munster rivals the Cork Admirals in Limerick. The Admirals offense took the opening posession and proceeded to move the ball to the Viking red-zone behind strong running from Marcus Gates and Alain Pezoran. A stop by the Vikings defensive line on fourth and short however prevented the Admirals from scoring. The Vikings scored their first touchdown of the game on their next possesion thanks to a 26 yard run by running back Chris Bassitt who also got the conversion. The remainder of the first half was an even affair, both defenses played well during this period. Shortly before the 2 minute warning Vikings QB Sexton connected with Michael Toomey for a 31 yard score. Following the score the Admirals managed to drive to Vikings territory before a David Lomasney pass, which would have cut the Vikings lead to 14-6 was dropped in the endzone by Keith O'Callaghan. Time ran out in the half before the Admirals could put any points on the board. For most of the second half the Admirals moved the ball well on offense, with Marcus Gates and Alain Pezoran running well and Keith O'Callaghan, Shane Galway and Willy O'Brien catching passes from David Lomasney. The Vikings defense, led by Liam Ryan and Glen Carr, stopped any Admirals drives once they reached the Vikings red-zone. The Vikings final score came midway through the fourth quarter Toomey catching a 10 yard scoring pass from Sexton.

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