Club History of the Westmeath Minotaurs

• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2019
• 2020
• 2021
• 2022

2022

2022 Senior. Return to regular competition, post-pandemic. Friendly win vs Phila. Blue Flame. 7 wins/1 loss Regular Season. Semi win & Division 1 Championship win. Total Win/Loss 10/1. Season had 4 forfeits due to Trinity and Wexford Eagles dropping from competition. 

Head Coach Bill Dougherty, Defensive Coord. Paddy Lally; Offensive Coord. Conor Brennan

Captains: J.O. Coyne, Steven Nally, Joe Kinahan, Niall King.

Westmeath Minotaurs mark tenth anniversary season (from Westmeath Independent/Examiner)

The Westmeath Minotaurs American Football Club celebrate their 10th competitive season in 2022. The original players first took the field in 2013 and predictably struggled to establish themselves within the Irish American Football Association.

With little to no experience of playing or coaching American football, low player numbers, almost no equipment, and limited financial resources, wins were hard to come by. It’s a ten-year story of perseverance and resilience.

It’s not easy to keep getting up after repeatedly getting knocked down. The saying repeated often by coach Conor Brennan rang true early on, and still does: “We never lose, we either win or learn.”

The club certainly learned much over ten years. The cumulative result of a lot of hard work is a club with a senior kitted championship game appearance, a flag football championship, over 50 club members, numerous supporting alumni, proper training equipment, and resources that will sustain the club into the future. Most importantly, the club has confidence.

Club Chairman Ros McAdden wants to set the bar a bit higher in 2022 with plans for some major and supporting events. To give back to the community, the club is organizing a charity game for St Patrick’s Day weekend against a team from the United States. The opponents are the Philadelphia Blueflame.

The Blueflame is the Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments’ combined team which focuses on raising money for charity while playing the game they love. The supported charity for the game on March 19 is the Lakeland Area Retreat and Cancer Centre, or LARCC.

As long as Covid restrictions allow, the club will also host a pub quiz in February supporting LARCC. The Blueflame is also raising funds for LARCC back in Philadelphia. This game is the first of the season that will no doubt challenge the Minotaurs and be a great experience. After the Blueflame game, the sights are set on returning to the final and bringing home a championship to Westmeath.

Training for the 10th anniversary season starts next Sunday, January 9 at the Mullingar RFC from 10am to 12pm.

Later in the month on Saturday, January 23 from 9 to 11am at the Athlone Regional Sports Centre is the club’s Rookie Day. Everyone is welcome and no experience is required. If you can’t make Rookie Day, you’re welcome at any of our training sessions throughout the year.

MINOTAURS TRIUMPH OVER PHILADELPHIA IN CHARITY GAME

Westmeath Minotaurs American Football Club hosted the Philadelphia Blue Flame last weekend in the

Sergeant Patrick McDonald Memorial Game all in aid of LARCC (Lakeland Area Respite & Cancer

Centre). Through the combined effort of both teams, a superb total of €6003.83 was raised for this

fantastic local charity. The Philadelphia Blue Flame team travelled to Ireland for the week all the way from the United States to honour and remember their fallen comrade. The team consists of serving policemen from the State of Pennsylvania. The charity game was held at Pairc Chiarain Athlone on Saturday March 19th. The visiting team arrived with a garda escort to the pitch and took to the field led by a piper. The national anthems were followed by the coin toss performed by Patsy McDonald, mother of Sergeant Patrick McDonald. 

The game got underway with ferocious defensive performances from both sides resulting in the 1st

Quarter ending with no score. This was to change in the 2nd Quarter when an excellent punt from Niall

King pinned the Blue Flame inside their 10-yard line. The Blue Flame, under pressure so close to their

end-zone snapped the ball inaccurately and as it rolled out the back of their end zone the Minotaurs were up 2-0. The Minotaur’s Offensive stalwarts closed out the second quarter with a perfect throw from QB Joe Kinahan to receiver Jack Lynch. Lynch secured the pass with a fantastic catch under pressure for 18 yards and a touchdown. We entered half time with the Minotaurs leading 8-0 after an unfortunate missed extra point. Scoring recommenced in the 4th quarter with an outstanding 63 yard interception return by Free Safety Niall Folan for a second Minotaur touchdown. Cornerbacks Peter Dempsey and Jordan Lacey paved the road for Niall with some courageous open-field blocking. Jay Bruton’s extra point was good, leaving the score 15-0 to the Minotaurs. The Blue Flame weren’t finished yet though, and on their next possession they marched the football right down the field despite the Minotaurs’s best efforts. From the 2-yard line the Blue Flame Quarterback took the ball into the endzone on a QB Sneak to get their first touchdown of the day. Blue Flame then went for 2 and scored leaving the scoreboard 15-8 to the home side. The subsequent on-side kick attempted by the Blue Flame was in vain and with the clock rolling down they failed to regain possession. The game ended 15-8 with Westmeath Minotaurs lifting the Sergeant Patrick McDonald Memorial Trophy.

MVPs were named as QB Joe Kinahan and Linebacker Steven Nally, who stole the show with 3 sacks and

9 tackles(5 for a loss) on the day. Minotaurs next play Wexford Eagles at 2pm on April 3rd 

(Mullingar RFC), as they begin their 2022 hunt for a division championship!

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After the big win against the Blue Flame the team celebrated in Mullingar’s pubs and clubs. The Blue Flame were present at the celebrations and a good time was had by all. When leaving from Dublin Airport, Joe Hansbury, emphasized that he wanted the Minotaurs to travel to Philadelphia for St. Patrick’s Day 2023. The club committee resolved to organize this trip at a club meeting in March 2022. 

Following the St. Patrick’s day win, the team was disappointed by two forfeits by the Wexford Eagles. The Eagles withdrew entirely from competition just before the second forfeit leaving a giant hole in the 2022 schedule. The reason for the collapse of the Eagles was low player numbers. 

Between March and late May there was only one game played. The Minotaurs come away 13-0 victors against a very tough Vipers outfit. The Minotaurs offense started the game with a perfect drive that seen QB Joe Kinahan find several receivers before finding number one target Jack Lynch in the corner of the endzone for an opening drive score. The Minotaurs offense would then struggle against a stingy Vipers defense for the rest of the game. This meant our defensive outfit had to step up and did they ever. Our defence was outstanding again seeing Peter Dempsey and Niall Folan come away with 2 interceptions each. A fourth down stop late set the Minotaurs up with a chance to score to put away the game. We handed the ball to Jay Bruton who cut back left behind blocks by Dermot Corroon and Jo Coyne to power in a 15 yard touchdown to seal the win. The ensuing pat would be blocked which seen a viper player scooping it, seeming to be on the way for a score Jack Lynch showed incredible heart to chase him down keeping the Vipers off the scoreboard and guaranteeing the defense a well deserved shut out. The coaches will feel we left a lot of points out there offensively but are happy with a win against such a tough team. We now have a 5 week break before our next game so the Minotaurs will return to training this Sunday at the Mullingar rugby club and get back to work straight away.

The Minotaurs came away from Derry with a hard fought 24-7 victory. We got off to an unusually bad start which seen us a score down early on followed by a fumble on offence. Luckily we were able to find our feet and levelled up the score with a Jack Lynch catch from Joe Kinahan throw after some fantastic running by Rafa Monterio. Unfortunately a injury to a viper seen the game halted and in jeopardy. Luckily the game continued which seen us continue to grow into the game. We found ourselves 17-7 up after a Jay Bruton field goal (who also kicked 3/3 xps) and another Jack Lynch touchdown catch from a Joe deep ball. Peter Dempsey was able to snag another interception to take his season tally to 3 in 2 games which resulted in a Joe QB sneak to finish off the scoring. We thank everyone from the vipers for another great game and wish their injured player a speedy recovery. We now turn our attention to the Vikings next Sunday in Limerick.

The Minotaurs come away from Limerick with a hard fought 16-0 win in what was dirty conditions. Joe Kinahan found Jack Lynch on the very first offensive play of the game for a long touchdown to open up the scoring with Jay Bruton converting the PAT. Then the rain started and slowed the game right down. Both teams played fierce defense all day with several fumbles on both sides. A fumble by the Vikings in good field position allowed Jay Burton to score a field goal to put us up 10-0 in the third. Jason Owens then recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter that gave the Minotaurs an opportunity to finish off the game. After some hard running to chew up the clock, Joe rolled out of the pocket to find tight end Conor Dougherty for the game sealing score. The defense then went back on the field to continue their stout form by turning the ball over again to allow us to kneel out the game. Massive thanks to the Vikings for a bruising game and the opportunity to play on a fantastic pitch. We have now secured a spot in the playoffs for the third season in a row.

MINOTAURS WIN AND SECURE NUMBER ONE SEED

The Minotaurs bet the Crusaders today by a scoreline of 34-7. The Minotaurs defense forced a quick three out to set up the offense to score on our first drive with another Joe Kinahan to Jack Lynch first drive touchdown, their third of the year. The Crusaders struck straight back with a big passing score that set a fire under the Minotaurs defense who were relentless after it. Jason Owens scored on a 50 yard pick six for our second score of the day, the highlight of a another fantastic game for our secondary which seen several interceptions including three for Peter Dempsey and one each for Adam Corcoran and Niall Folan. Offensively the game was marred by plenty of flags but the Minotaurs still managed to move the ball consistently. Andrew Paton and Rafa Monterio combined for over 100 yards and a score for Andrew. Joe Kinahan powered over another rushing score before finding Dermot Corroon for another touchdown pass to round out the scoring. Shaun Dalton also had a stellar day with multiple catches, rushes and returns. This leaves us undefeated at the top of the table with a record of 7-0 due to another team forfeiting their season. While this is disappointing we stay focused on the task on at hand with the visit of the Vikings next week who are looking for revenge after our shut out victory in Limerick.

Westmeath Minotaurs set for championship game

Westmeath Minotaurs American Football Club are set to make their second Bowl appearance in a row having won last week’s semi-final. The Minotaurs will now play University of Limerick Vikings in the Belfast decider on July 31.

Last week’s semi-final versus the Donegal/Derry Vipers was never in doubt as the Minotaurs finished the day with a score of 41-6. The Minotaurs started scoring early with two touchdowns from backs Andrew Paton and Jay Bruton. The half ended with an outstanding interception from safety Niall Folan on the goal-line to foil the Vipers 2-point conversion.

The second half opened with a pick-six from Peter Dempsey leaving him on a record eight interceptions so far this season. The Minotaurs followed again with a second couplet of touchdowns from running backs Andrew Paton and Rafa Monteiro. Niall Folan drove in the final nail with another pick-six to finish off the scoring. Kicker Jay Bruton was in fine form again making 5/6 PATs.

Westmeath Minotaurs claim first championship victory

The Westmeath Minotaurs American football team proved victorious over University of Limerick Vikings in their close-fought Belfast final last Sunday.

After falling to a 6-13 deficit at half time, the Minotaurs gave an exemplary second half performance to leave it 16-13 after a nail-biting conclusion.

The Vikings started the game in possession until linebacker Steve Baker stripped the UL fullback and the ball was recovered by Jason Owens. The highlight of the Minotaurs drive that followed was a 25-yard pass from QB Joe Kinahan to Dermot Corroon. This left the Westmeath side in prime position for a field goal, but the ball sailed wide and the score remained 0-0.

The Vikings did score on their next drive however, their touchdown pass connecting from five yards out to put them up seven. Catastrophe followed on the next Minotaur possession as key player and captain Joe Kinahan injured his ankle and was out for the game.

The Minotaurs were boosted though, first by quarterback Dermot Corroon and then by veteran coach and quarterback Conor Brennan after his 40-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jack Lynch. Jay Bruton treaded the posts and it was back level at 7-7.

The Vikings’ running game provided a defensive challenge for the Minotaurs as they scored again on their next drive to leave them ahead 6-13. That score would prove to be their last though, and on the last UL possession of the half, the Minotaurs’ defense forced them to punt, leaving it a one score game.

After half-time, the Minotaurs were back in possession. The drive started with disaster with a sack on quarterback Conor Brennan leaving them at second and 30. That setback proved irrelevant for a cruising Minotaur offense.

After two passes in quick succession, the Minotaurs were back at first and 10 and in position for a field goal. The field goal was no good though and after all their work the Minotaurs would need to come back again.

And they did. On the next Minotaur drive they surged forward, with a key third and 10 conversion from quarterback Conor Brennan to Jack Lynch. From 30 yards out, Running back Andrew Paton followed up with two bruising runs as he flattened Limerick defenders on his way to another touchdown. Limerick blocked the PAT and it was 13-13 going into the final quarter.

On the next kickoff, Jay Bruton struck a low, skipping ball that threw the Vikings into confusion and allowed a speedy Jordan Lacey to swoop in and recover it. Thus, the Minotaurs stole possession again and made it count with a field goal scored to leave it 16-13. The Minotaurs had the lead for the first time.

In the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, it was left to the Minotaurs defense to decide the game. UL took to the field knowing any score would do to give them a win or extra time. The Westmeath defense were their typical relentless selves and after several kamikaze tackles and an excellent pass broken up by defensive back Jordan Lacey, it was all over.

Following the game, the Minotaurs were presented with the new AFI Division 1 Trophy, while RB Andrew Paton was awarded with match MVP after a fantastic performance.