UL Vikings 0 UCD 28
UCD’s American football team gave the UL Vikings a tough time at Maguire’s pitch to bring the Varsities Crown back to the capital last Saturday.
It wasn’t long into the first quarter when UCD’s quarterback Tadhg O’Connor handed the ball to a strong Niall Coogan, who ran straight through UL’s defence to score the first touchdown of the day.
Things went from bad to worse for the Vikings when UCD Wide Receiver Charlie Higgins ran it in for a second touchdown just a few plays later.
The UL defensive line regained composure in the second quarter and showed great heart in each tackle, leaving the halftime result at 0-14 in favour of the visitors.
In the third quarter, a great ball thrown over the top by Tadhg O’Connor was caught by the pacey James O’Hara, who ran over half the pitch to score UCD’s third touchdown.
The third quarter was, however, halted for over seven minutes following a disagreement between the referee and the Vikings coaching staff.
Thomas Quigley wrapped up the game for UCD with a routine touchdown in the fourth quarter, bringing the Varsities Crown up the M7.
“Obviously, the result didn’t go our way,” Vikings’ Defensive Coordinator William Campbell said after the game.
“But it was to get all the new players and younger players reps, and we did that — we got everyone out onto the pitch, so pretty good in my books”.
The club are still actively searching for new student recruits throughout the winter break, particularly lineman at both offensive and defensive ends of the field.
“Defence played well,” he added. We had a lot of new players who had never played football and don’t have any experience, so I was really happy with how they came out, tackled and played.”
The Vikings return to regular season action after Christmas with their eyes firmly set on the top prize — the Shamrock Bowl.