Rise of the north?

ON Sunday the Carrickfergus Knights face their toughest test to date this season when they host the high-flying University of Limerick Vikings, who last week became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the Irish American Football league.

The Vikings overhauled the Cork Admirals with a 20-0 victory to give them a 5-1 record, guaranteeing them post-season games.

For the Knights tomorrow’s game at Woodburn Road, Carrick at two, is crucial for their season. After an initial loss they found their form two weeks ago in Dublin, and now need a string of wins to stay in the play-off hunt.

The Belfast Bulls are hoping that last week’s win also signals a resurgence in their fortunes.

In a 78 point 12 touchdown thriller the Bulls outgunned the Dublin City Marshalls.
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 fourth and goal in the fourth quarter and then intercepted them in the final seconds of the game to preserve a narrow 40-38 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. In addition to Carrick’s home game tomorrow (Sunday) the Dublin Rebels travel across the city to take on the Dublin City University Saints. In the NFL Europe it is still a three-horse race, with the Amsterdam Admirals nosing ahead holding a 6-1 record ahead of the tied Rhein Fire and Frankfurt Galaxy, both on 5-2. The remaining teams are lagging far behind with just three regular season games remaining. ENDS