American football: Minotaurs return to fray following two-year hiatus
The Westmeath Minotaurs are back in action after a competition break of over two years due to Covid-19 restrictions.
After finishing the 2019 season with a one point loss in the IAFL1 championship final, the club restarted their quest for a championship in 2020 and 2021 with start and stop training periods and a lack of competition that taxed motivation and club cohesion.
Throughout the restrictions the Minotaurs conducted team meetings and individual player/coach counseling online while members worked on their fitness at home. Thankfully, the senior team got back to physical training this June using the 15-player pod system.
While not ideal for a sport that puts 22 players on the field at one time, it was enough to prepare the Minotaurs for their first game in two years against the Meath Bulldogs in Athboy on August 22.
In Athboy, the Minotaurs dumped two years of frustration and pent up energy onto the pitch and thumped the Bulldogs 42-0 in a game where victory was never in doubt.
Accumulating nearly 400 yards in total offense, quarterback Joe Kinahan led a balanced attack that pounded the Bulldogs with a punishing running attack using running backs Andrew Paton and Cormac Fagan. When Fagan found open green grass the afterburners engaged and no one could catch him.
Paton sought out and relished contact on the way to earning multiple “pancakes” where a defender goes from standing vertical to on the ground horizontal instantly upon contact. Calls for syrup went out along the sideline.
This balanced offense went from a punishing ground attack to gashing huge chunks of yardage through the air. Kinahan linked up with his favourite target, wide receiver Jack Lynch on multiple occasions.
Lynch ended up with 118 total yards, a 23.6 yard average per reception, and two touchdowns. Kinahan logged an incredible 116.5 quarterback rating on the day.
The defense blanked the Bulldogs. They allowed only 82 yards of total offense for the Meath side. Team co-captain Steven Nally set the tone with an early quarterback sack that forced a fumble which fellow Athlone man Darren Sammon recovered.
Defensive end, Ros McAdden added to the woes of the Bulldog quarterback by racking up two more quarterback sacks. Veteran defensive linemen, Kevin Tempany, was in on eight tackles which included three tackles behind the Bulldog line of scrimmage. The Minotaurs swarmed the ball and suffocated nearly all Bulldog attempts to get anything going.
One great overall highlight was the performance of the team rookies in their first American football game ever; exemplified by Peter Dempsey. For the second consecutive time in a season opener, a rookie intercepted a pass in his first game. This time saw Dempsey snag the ball while reacting to an errant pass. He clearly drew upon man marking skills developed from his GAA training and applied them to American football pass defense with great effect.
Looking ahead
The Minotaurs take on Kildare’s Cill Dara Crusaders at the Mullingar Rugby Club on Sunday, September 19 at 2pm. Both teams look to go undefeated in this abbreviated covid shortened season. The Crusaders are coming off a close win against the West Dublin Rhinos last Sunday and are looking to keep the momentum going.
Minotaurs head coach Bill Dougherty summed up the team’s expectations: “This team expects to win because they know hard work pays off and they’ve put in the work. Everyone understands this shortened season is the beginning of the road back to the championship game in 2022.”