Dublin Rhinos 18 – 18 DCU Saints
March 30th, 2009 | | Game Reports
On a perfect day for American Football, DCU Saints kicked off their 2009 season with a 18-18 tied game with fellow Dublin rivals the West Dublin Rhinos.
Opening on Defence the DCU Saints started off strong forcing the Rhinos to punt, only for a nervous Saints offense to stutter on first drive and fumble back to the Rhinos. This pattern repeated itself in one form or another as the first quarter ended.
(Photos by Janice McConnell)
The superb tackling from the Saints defence carried on into the second half with players such as Vinny Flood, Conor Tyrell and Alex Trimble making great stops of any running game the Rhinos tried.The Rhinos were forced to punt. DCU again struggled on Offense and punted on first drive of the second quarter. Punter and Kicker Conor Buggle had a good day, often pining the Rhinos inside of their 20. After DB Alex Trimble intercepted and ran the ball back 50 yards, QB Cormac Eklof was intercepted by Rhinos Safety #23 who ran it back 85 yds for the first score. The point after was unsuccessful. Saints running game began to get some momentum thru RB Joe Carlyle and FB Lorcan Sherlock. Eventually running out of down, the Saints punted once more. On the following drive, the Rhinos started passing and QB #8 connected with his WR to score the Rhinos second score of the game. The extra point was batted down swiftly by LB Conor Tyrell. The half ended with the Saints trailing by 12 points.
Receiving in the second half, the saints started moving the ball well, WR Matt Sheehan opened up his rookie account with a fine 25 yd catch. Moments later WR Geoff Coleman hauled in a 30yd catch to bring the saints up to 9yds away from Rhinos endzone. TE Vinny Flood caught the next pass and danced his way into the endzone. The Saints went for two but were unsuccessful. Saints defense stood stout and forcing Rhinos to punt. Taking a vicious bounce backwards, the ball ended behind the point where it was kicked. With superb field position, QB Cormac Eklof connected with WR Sam Monson to bring the ball to the 2 yd. On the next play QB Cormac Eklof connected with Rookie TE Brian Gilbourne for the tying score. The 2 point conversion was unsuccessful. The score was 12-12.
The Saints were really starting to move now. Defence once again forced the Rhinos to punt and RB Joe Carlyle set the tone with another hard fought 10 yard run. On the next play QB Cormac Eklof connected with WR Sam Monson who juggled the ball safely into his grip and outstripped his pursuers’ for the Saints third TD of the day. The 2 point conversion was unsuccessful. The score was now DCU 18 – Rhinos 12.
When DB Alex Trimble intercepted the Rhinos QB and brought the ball back into the Rhinos half, it was looking promising for the Saints still playing with the wind to their back. However the Rhinos had different plans, intercepting on their goal-line and running the ball back 35 yds.
Rhinos started the fourth quarter on the half way after strong running from their FB #40. Using their TE’s they moved into the Saints redzone. Defence turned the over on downs but offense fumbled in the redzone and the Rhinos had possession again. To the fans on the day, it must have been very exciting. After the Rhinos QB #8 connected with another wide receiver to bring the ball to the 2 yd marker. Rhinos #40 bustled his way into the endzone to tie the game once more. The Rhinos tried to run in a 2 point conversion, Saints front 4 stood firm and stopped the Rhinos taking the lead.
The next 7 minutes of football proved to be an exciting affair but both defenses played well and the game ended with a 18-18 scoreline. First game out of the way and many players can be pleased with how they played The team now looks forward to a visit to Carrickfergus Knights on April 5th.