Composite Table 2017-18

FFI Tournaments 2017-18		Regular	Bowls	All Games
Ulster & Connacht	P	W-L-T	W-L-T	W-L-T	Pct
Craigavon Cowboys	10	6-4-0	0-0-0	6-4-0	.600
Coleraine Elks	5	1-3-1	0-0-0	1-3-1	.300
Galway Warriors (C)	1		0-1-0	0-1-0	.000
Belfast Trojans	3	0-3-0	0-0-0	0-3-0	.000
MIdlands
Westmeath Minotaurs (B,B,B,C)	10	9-1-0	3-1-0	12-2-0
Louth Mavericks	7	1-6-0	0-0-0	1-6-0	.143
Meath Bulldogs	5	0-4-1	0-0-0	0-4-1	.000
Maynooth University Hurricanes	5	0-5-0	0-0-0	0-5-0	.000
Edenderry Eagles	2	0-2-0	0-0-0	0-2-0	.000
Dublin & Munster
Dublin Bay Raptors (B)	10	8-2-0	0-1-0	8-3-0	.727
University College Dublin (B,B)	7	5-2-0	1-1-0	6-3-0	.667
South Dublin Panthers	10	7-2-1	0-0-0	7-3-1	.750
University College Cork Raiders	10	3-6-1	0-0-0	3-6-1	.350

Note: The above Table is a composite table, adding the records of each of the teams for the five tournaments. Pct = Winning Percentage over entire season. Teams are Ranked by 1. Number of Wins. 2. Winning Percentage. 3. Number of Losses.

The 2017-18 Flag Football Ireland Season was intended as a break from the League in order to grow the game – it seems to have worked – from 7 teams in the League in 2017 – there were 19 in 2018, and in 2019 there were 25 teams. Westmeath Minotaurs won three of the Bowl Games, including the last one, the Simon Bowl in Dundalk, triumphing 20-13 over Dublin Bay Raptors.

The Tournaments featured a European Team from a US Air Force Base in Germany – Kaiserslautern Screamin’ Eagles – making it an International Tournament like the Celtic Bowl of 2015. I was also Co-ed – men & women could both play.

Bowl Games

Date	Winners		Runners-Up
	Michael McCormick Cup		Mullingar
08.10.2017	Westmeath Minotaurs	W	Galway Warriors	L
	Friendly		Westmannstown
14.10.2017	Dublin Bay Raptors	26	South Dublin Panthers	18
	Pink Panther Bowl		Westmannstown
28.10.2017	University College Dublin	W	Westmeath Minotaurs	L
	Jigsaw Bowl		Maynooth
25.11.2017	Westmeath Minotaurs	W ^	University College Dublin	L
	Simon Bowl		Dundalk
27.01.2018	Westmeath Minotaurs	20	Dublin Bay Raptors	13

Michael McCormack Memorial Cup, 8 October 2017, Mullingar

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
*Westmeath Minotaurs
*Galway Warriors
*Edenderry Eagles

Reference: [1][2][4]

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Final
	Westmeath Minotaurs	W	Galway Warriors	L

Report

____________________________________________________________

Westmeath Minotaurs (Winners) & Galway Warriors (Runners-Up) Michael McCormack Memorial Cup 2017 [3]

Westmeath Minotaurs beat Galway Warriors in the Final in the Michael McCormack Memorial Cup they hosted. [1][2]

Pink Panther Bowl, 28 October 2017 Westmanstown

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pct
*University College Dublin	3	3	0	0			1.000
Westmeath Minotaurs	4	2	2	0			.500
Craigavon Cowboys	4	2	2	0			.500
South Dublin Panthers	4	3	1	0			.750
UCC Raiders	4	2	3	0			.400
Dublin Bay Raptors	3	1	2	0			.333
Maynooth University Hurricanes	3	0	3	0			.000

Table Compiled from Results

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Winners Bracket		Round 1
28.10.17	Maynooth University Hurricanes	0	UCC Raiders	28
28.10.17	South Dublin Panthers	13	Dublin Bay Raptors	6
28.10.17	Westmeath Minotaurs	12	Craigavon Cowboys	30
	Winners Bracket		Semi-Finals
28.10.2017	University College Dublin	17	UCC Raiders	12
28.10.2017	South Dublin Panthers	13	Craigavon Cowboys	25
	Winners Bracket		Final
28.10.2017	University College Dublin	13	Craigavon Cowboys	6
	Losers Bracket		Round 1
28.10.2017	Maynooth University Hurricanes	18	Dublin Bay Raptors	34
28.10.2017	Westmeath Minotaurs	20	UCC Raiders	6
28.10.2017	South Dublin Panthers	22	Maynooth University Hurricanes	20
	Losers Bracket		Round 2
28.10.2017	Dublin Bay Raptors	18	UCC Raiders	26
28.10.2017	Westmeath Minotaurs		South Dublin Panthers
	Losers Bracket		Semi-Final
28.10.2017	UCC Raiders	6	South Dublin Panthers	15
	Losers Bracket		Final
28.10.2017	Craigavon Cowboys		Westmeath Minotaurs
	Pink Panter Bowl		Winners Bracket v Losers Bracket
28.10.2017	University College Dublin	W	Westmeath Minotaurs	L

[3][4][5][6]

Tournament was Double-Elimination with a minimum of 3 games per team

Jigsaw Bowl, 25 November 2017 Maynooth

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pct
Group A
*University College Dublin	2	2	0	0	40	12	6
South Dublin Panthers	2	2	0	0	39	21	6
Louth Mavericks	2	0	2	0	14	34	0
Maynooth University Hurricanes	2	0	2	0	19	45	0
Group B
*Westmeath Minotaurs	2	2	0	0	67	7	6
Dublin Bay Raptors	2	2	0	0	50	24	6
UCC Raiders	2	0	2	0	13	44	0
Meath Bulldogs	2	0	2	0	18	73	0

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Final
25.11.2017	University College Dublin	L	Westmeath Minotaurs	W ^

[10]

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Group A
25.11.2017	University College Dublin	14	Louth Mavericks	6
25.11.2017	South Dublin Panthers	19	Maynooth University Hurricanes	13
25.11.2017	Maynooth University Hurricanes	6	University College Dublin	26
25.11.2017	Louth Mavericks	8	South Dublin Panthers	20
	Group B
25.11.2017	Westmeath Minotaurs	25	UCC Raiders
25.11.2017	Dublin Bay Raptors	31	Meath Bulldogs	18
25.11.2017	UCC Raiders	6	Dublin Bay Raptors	19
25.11.2017	Meath Bulldogs	0	Westeath Minotaurs	42

[7][8][9][10]

Westmeath Minotaurs won the second Flag football tournament of the season in Maynooth, winning both group games and then defeating UCD in the final. After the group stage where each team played twice there was a straight final due to the fading light as the tournament was behind schedule. This left both the Dubliin Bay Raptors and South Dublin Panthers bitterly disappointed as they would be knocked out on points difference despite winning both of their group games like UCD and the Minotaurs.

The Final went into overtime with Westmeath emerging winners with a Niall King touchdown catch. Jack Lynch proved the standout on the day catching 7 TD passes as well as returning an interception for a touchdown.

Westmeath Minotaurs – Jigsaw Bowl Champions 2017

Marie Curie Cup, 2 December 2017, Portadown

Date	Team 1		Team 2
	Group
02.12.2017	Craigavon Cowboys	58	Louth Mavericks	21
02.12.2017	Coleraine Elks	31	Louth Mavericks	21
02.12.2017	Craigavon Cowboys	44	Coleraine Elks	18

[5][6][7]

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
*Craigavon Cowboys	2	2	0	0	102	39	6
Coleraine Elks	2	1	1	0	49	65	3
Louth Mavericks	2	0	2	0	42	89	0

Venue

Match	Venue
Marie Curie Cup	Kernan Playing Fields, Portadown (Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon)

Craigavon Cowboys won the tournament they hosted in aid of Marie Curie, defeating both the Louth Mavericks and Ulster University Coleraine Elks. the elks would win their first ever match since they were resurrected, 31-21 against Louth Mavericks, who gave them a good game, for second place in the three-team cup.[9]

Simon Bowl, 27 January 2018, Dundalk

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Group
*Dublin Bay Raptors	3	3	0	0	77	19	9
*Craigavon Cowboys	3	2	1	0	78	52	6
University College Dublin	3	1	2	0	38	66	3
Coleraine Elks	3	0	2	1	34	65	1
Meath Bulldogs	3	0	2	1	8	51	1
Group
*Westmeath Minotaurs	3	3	0	0	91	27	9
*South Dublin Panthers	3	2	1	0	47	32	6
UCC Raiders	3	1	1	1	38	48	4
Louth Mavericks	3	1	2	0	47	59	3
Belfast Trojans	3	0	3	0	21	60	0

Time	Home Team		Away Team
	Semi-Finals
2:30	Dublin Bay Raptors	W	South Dublin Panthers	L
2:30	Westmeath Minotaurs	W	Craigavon Cowboys	L
	Final
3:15	Westmeath Minotaurs	20	Dublin Bay Raptors	13

Time	Home Team		Away Team
	Group
10:45	Craigavon Cowboys	27	UCD	13
10:45	Coleraine Elks	8	Meath Bulldogs	8
11:30	Dublin Bay Raptors	25	Craigavon Cowboys	13
12:15	UCD	19	Coleraine Elks	12
12:15	Meath Bulldogs	0	Dublin Bay Raptors	25
1:00	Craigavon Cowboys	38	Coleraine Elks	14
1:45	UCD	6	Dublin Bay Raptors	27
	Group
10:45	South Dublin Panthers	13	Belfast Trojans	6
11:30	UCC Raiders	7	Westmeath Minotaurs	35
11:30	South Dublin Panthers	21	Louth Mavericks	13
12:15	Belfast Trojans	6	Westmeath Minotaurs	27
1:00	Westmeath Minotaurs	29	Louth Mavericks	14
1:00	UCC Raiders	13	South Dublin Panthers	13
1:45	Louth Mavericks	20	Belfast Trojans	9
	Inter-Group
1:45	UCC Raiders	18	Meath Bulldogs	0

Westmeath Minotaurs won their second straight Flag Bowl Tournament with a 20-13 victory over the Dublin Bay Raptors in the Final. Held in aid of the Simon Communities Charity for the Homeless, the Minotaurs won all five games, racking up 91 points in three group games behind QB Dermot Corroon
with Jack Lynch and Jason Owens on Offense and Chris Gilbert and David Walsh on Defense also having outstanding days.

The Dublin Bay Raptors won the other group in fine style also, winning all three games, and making sure to rack up the points also after the disappointment of the Maynooth Tournament, winning all three of their games like the Minotaurs.

After despatching the Panthers and Cowboys in the Semi-Finals, the Raptors and Minotaurs would meet undefeated in the Final, in what was a tense game. The Minotaurs would win their second Bowl in a row 20-13 after MVP Conor McGroarty of the Raptors was stopped yards from the line as time ran out.

Friendlies

Date	Home Team		Away Team
14.10.2017	South Dublin Panthers	18	Dublin Bay Raptors	26

Venues

Tournament	Venue
Pink Panther Bowl	Westmanstown RFC, Co. South Dublin (Host: Panthers)
Jigsaw Bowl	Maynooth University, Co. Kildare (Host: Maynooth University Hurricanes)
Simon Bowl	Dundalk IT, Co. Louth (Host:Louth Mavericks)
UCC Bowl	UCC, Cork City (Host: UCC Raiders)

[18][20]

Awards

_________________________________________________________

Bowl	MVP
Pink Panther
Jigsaw	Jack Lynch (Westmeath Minotaurs)
Simon	Conor McGroarty (Dublin Bay Raptors) [17][18]

Jack Lynch – Jigsaw Bowl MVP 2017 [9]

Conor McGroart – Simon MVP 2017

References

Logos

[1] Irish American Football Association (2017) IAFA Logo [Internet] Available from: http://www.americanfootball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/IAFA.jpg [Accessed 1 May 2017]

[2] Flag Football Ireland Facebook Page (2017) Photo October 25 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/FlagFootballIreland/photos/pcb.2083533201870491/2083532171870594/?type=3&theater [Accessed 28 October 2017]

Social Media

Michael McCormick Cup

[3] Westmeath Minotaurs | Facebook (2017) Post October 18, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/westmeathminotaurs/posts/1696470917031634 [Accessed 9 March 2018]

[4] Galway Warriors | Facebook (2017) Post: October 9, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/GalwayWarriorsFootball/photos/a.1369377569785381/1561283250594811/?type=3 [Accessed 26 May 2019]

[5] Galway Warriors | Facebook (2017) Photo: October 9, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://scontent-dub4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22448113_1561283250594811_7091649429993987275_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_ht=scontent-dub4-1.xx&oh=0088d4d51831dcb15aa8b6e21c6acef6&oe=5D6139B6 [Accessed 26 May 2019]

[6] Edenderry Eagles | Facebook (2017) Post to page by Ken Farrell, September 6, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/341452022587512/permalink/1422419601157410/ [Accessed 9 March 2018]

Websites

Pink Panther Bowl

[7] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post October 24 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2024612384475865 [Accessed 28 October 2017]

[8] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy October 28 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1738886779752358&set=p.1738886779752358&type=3&theater [Accessed 28 October 2017]

[9] South Dublin Panthers Facebook Page (2017) Post October 28 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/southdublinpanthers/posts/856969844481750 [Accessed 28 October 2017]

[10] UCD American Football Facebook Page (2017) Post October 30 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/UcdAmericanFootball/posts/1346543658789249 [Accessed 29 January 2018]

Jigsaw Bowl

[11] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy November 28 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2040665322870571 [Accessed 28 November 2017]

[12] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy November 28 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2040665626203874 [Accessed 28 November 2017]

[13] Westmeath Minotaurs Facebook Page (2017) Photo November 25 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/westmeathminotaurs/photos/pcb.1745556515456407/1745556455456413/?type=3&theater [Accessed 28 November 2017]

[14] Westmeath Minotaurs Facebook Page (2017) Post November 25 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/westmeathminotaurs/posts/1745556515456407 [Accessed 29 January 2018]

Marie Curie Cup

[15] Craigavon Cowboys Facebook Page (2018) Post December 2, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/CraigavonCowboys/posts/1729161883760667 [Accessed 9 March 2018]

[16] Craigavon Cowboys Facebook Page (2018) Post December 2, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/CraigavonCowboys/posts/1729220250421497 [Accessed 9 March 2018]

[17] Craigavon Cowboys Facebook Page (2018) Photo December 2, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/CraigavonCowboys/photos/a.733872649956267.1073741832.701486486528217/1729278603748995/?type=3&theater [Accessed 9 March 2018]

[18] Craigavon Cowboys Facebook Page (2018) Photo November 29, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/CraigavonCowboys/photos/gm.2054850618070078/1722021407808048/?type=3&theater [Accessed 9 March 2018]

[19] Ulster University Elks American Football Facebook Page (2018) Post December 2, 2017 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/UUCAF.Elks/posts/1487981657986410 [Accessed 9 March 2018]

Simon Bowl

[20] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy January 28 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2070560146547755″> [Accessed 28 January 2018]

[21] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy January 28 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2070560266547743 [Accessed 28 January 2018]

[22] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy January 28 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2070560406547729 [Accessed 28 January 2018]

[23] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2017) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy January 28 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2070560499881053 [Accessed 28 January 2018]

[24] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook Page (2018) Post to Page by Enda Mulcahy January 28 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2070560576547712 [Accessed 28 January 2018]

[25] Westmeath Minotaurs Facebook Page (2018) Post January 27 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/westmeathminotaurs/posts/1813957288616329 [Accessed 29 January 2018]

[26] Flag Football Ireland Facebook Page (2018) Photo January 27, 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/FlagFootballIreland/photos/pb.1583160178574465.-2207520000.1520237570./2130974623793015/?type=3&theater [Accessed 5 March 2018]

[27] Flag Football Ireland Facebook Page (2018) Post January 29, 2018 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/FlagFootballIreland/posts/2130976280459516 [Accessed 5 March 2018]

[28] Dublin Bay Raptors Facebook (2018) Post to page by Todd Zboyan, 15 October 2018: [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/dublinraptors/posts/2020663898204047 [Accessed 31 January 2021]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Todd Zboyan, Decy Maher, Ken Jackson & Brianna Wallace, Tom Gallagher, Anton “Pippo” O’Grady and Jonathan Spielberg, Sean Douglas, Jonathan Spielberg, Joe Grey (Dublin Bay Raptors).

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American & World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 31 January 2021

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2018-2021

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.