17 March 1995 – Saffron Lane, Leicester, England.
Great Britain Lions 22 Ireland Fighting Irish 0
The Ireland Fighting Irish, playing in their first Full International went down 22-0 to the Great Britain Lions, who scored on two passing plays to Mark Cohen & Joe Greenidge before sacking the Irish QB for a Safety.
The GB Lions added a run from Nigel Flemming to make it 22-0 at the end.
The 1995 Irish squad was chosen after trials in November 1995. Tragically, Irish CoachDave Curran, died only hours after the trials in Belfast and Dublin. Coach Curran had been Offensive Co-Ordinator for the Ireland team, and had previously been a coach for 25 years in America, and had been Head Coach of both the Dublin Celts and Dublin Tornadoes, both multiple Shamrock Bowl winners.
This was the first International Match without Coach Curran, and took place in Leicester, on St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1995.
At Saffron Lane, Leicester, England | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
Irish Leprechauns | 0 | ||||
Great Britain Bulldogs | 22 |
Team | Scorers | Score |
GB | Mark Cohen 28 yd TD Rec from Ian Ure (XP no good) | 0-6 |
GB | Joe Greenidge 4yd TD Rec from ?? (Kevin Hurst XP Kick) | 0-13 |
GB | Safety – Dave Samuel sacked Irish QB in endzone | 0-15 |
GB | Nigel Flemming 9yd TD Run (Rex Harrisson XP Kick) | 0-22 |
GB Lions 22 Ireland 0 (Photo courtesy David Sweetman)[3]
Ireland Roster 1995
Player | Position | Team |
Offense | ||
Patrick Cullen | Quarterback | Craigavon Cowboys |
Brian Sutton | Quarterback | Dublin Tornadoes |
Eddie Goggins | Quarterback | Bath Gladiators (Eng) |
Phil McGowan | Running Back | Dublin Tornadoes |
Mark Banks | Running Back | Carrickfergus Knights |
G Woods | Running Back | Rockingham Rebels (Eng) |
Liam McManus | Running Back | Rockingham Rebels (Eng) |
Micky Coleman | Running Back | Rockingham Rebels (Eng) |
G Graham | Tight End | Carrickfergus Knights |
Padraig Reddington | Tight End | Dublin Tornadoes |
Mark Hafferty | Wide Receiver | Belfast Spartans |
Mark Rutherford | Wide Receiver | Dublin Tornadoes |
Leigh Kelly | Wide Receiver | London Rockets (Eng) |
Brian Dennehy | Wide Receiver | Dublin Tornadoes |
Neil Callahan | Offensive Line | Craigavon Cowboys |
Phil Woodyard | Offensive Line | Dublin Tornadoes |
Denis Soroghan | Offensive Line | Dublin Tornadoes |
Alan O’Brien | Offensive Line | Dublin Tornadoes |
Brian McEvilly | Offensive Line | Dublin Celts |
Richard Earl | Offensive Line | Redbridge Fire (Eng) |
Eamonn Dunleavy | Offensive Line | London Rockets (Eng) |
Gerry McManus | Offensive Line | Birmingham Bulls (Eng) |
Defense | ||
Terry Beattie | Defensive Line | Belfast Spartans |
John Jones | Defensive Line | Dublin Tornadoes |
Gareth Boyd | Defensive Line | Cardiff University (Wal) |
Martin Rogers | Defensive Line | Dublin Celts |
Tom Cregg | Defensive Line | Milton Keynes Pioneers (Eng) |
N McCabe | Defensive Line | |
R McCabe | Defensive Line | |
E Quinlavin | Defensive Line | |
Mark Harris | Linebacker | Carrickfergus Knights |
Danny O’Callaghan | Linebacker | Dublin Tornadoes |
Paul Clark | Linebacker | Dublin Tornadoes |
Robbie Walker | Linebacker | Carrickfergus Knights |
Kevin Duffy | Linebacker | Southern Seminloes (Eng) |
Mark Elsden | Linebacker | Rockingham Rebels (Eng) |
David McGrath | Defensive Back | Dublin Tornadoes |
Connor Leonard | Defensive Back | Dublin Tornadoes |
Andrew Mitchell | Defensive Back | Brighton B-52s (Eng) |
Tony Hennessy | Defensive Back | Rockingham Rebels (Eng) |
Paddy Paterson | Defensive Back | Craigavon Cowboys |
Erin Maxwell | Defensive Back | Carrickfergus Knights |
Mark Devlin | Defensive Back | Lurgan Area Raiders |
Coaches
Coach / Manager | Name |
Head Coach | Kurt Smeby |
Assistant Coach | Staurt Smith |
Assistant Coach | Mark Gayton |
Assistant Coach | Tom Smith |
Assistant Coach | Eddie Kelly |
Assistant Coach | Brian Sutton |
Assistant Coach | Francis Loughlin |
Manager | Doug Platten |
Manager | Dave Wakefield |
References
Internet Archive
[1] Dublin Tornadoes (1997) History of the Team [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/19970618100359/http://fiachra.ucd.ie/~alan/tornado.html [Accessed 20 March 2018]
Websites
[2] Britball Now (2016) 1992-1995 GB Lions [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/gb-lions-historical-index/1992-5-gb-lions.html[Accessed 12 November 2019]
[3] Britball Now (2016) GB Lions 22 Ireland 0 [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/_Media/1995gbvirelanddavidsweefz4_med.jpeg [Accessed 12 November 2019]
Newspapers
[4] Hubbuck, Colin (1994) “Irish Tragedy: Offensive boss Curran dies hours after national trials” First Down. November 5, 1994. pg. 22
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Cillian Smith, Michael Smith and Ralph Schmeer of the Irish American Football Association and Irish American Football Officials Association, and Sean Douglas, Dublin Rebels.
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish American Football Archive
Last Updated: 16 May 2020
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.