Panthers celebrate their promotion back to the Premier Division and Harp Bowl victory Photo by Eoghan Connelly
Panthers delight at winning Division One
A FINAL team display of dominance led by MVP, quarterback, Ray Burke, sealed the Panthers as Division One champions, propelling them back to the Premier Division and into history as Harp Bowl XI champions with a whopping 60-6 win over the NorthWest Vipers on the 18th of July in Dubarry Park, Athlone,.
The first meeting between the two sides was way back in March when the Panthers made the long journey to Derry to kick off their campaign.
The Panthers would walk out of that game with a 19-0 win but the Vipers, winners of 8 straight games on the way to the final, were determined to right their wrong. Especially with the newly acquired superstar, Ishmael Ahmed from Pennsylvania, USA.
It was the Panthers dealing the first blow with Conor Hoskins rushing in for the game’s first score with wideout Seán Goldrick adding the 2 point conversion from a beautiful deep pass from QB Ray Burke.
From there it was all South Dublin with the offence refusing to give the Vipers defence a break. Hoskins would add another on the ground.
Jacob Langille had 2 receiving touch downs on the day. while receivers Seán Goldrick and Jamie Leonard each added a receiving touchdown.
2 point conversions followed the touchdowns with Goldrick adding another and Hoskins and Leonard getting their names on the score sheet again.
QB Ray Burke and receiver Mick Duncan also made the score sheet with a 2 point conversion each.
The defence, following on from their dominance in the previous game vs the Westmeath Minotaurs, stuffed the Vipers offence keeping their key playmakers in check all game and only conceding 1 TD at the end of the game to aforementioned Vipers playmakers Ishmael Ahmed.
Not to miss out on the scoring either, Toby Keating and Chris Madden each intercepted vipers QB Mike Naulty, running it back the other way for 6 points each, while linebacker James O’Leary also added an interception to his stat sheet.
Linebacker Seán Carrick was able to force a fumble which was recovered by Sebastian Banguero Von Birgelen, with defensive end Anthony Burke also recovering a fumble in a historic defensive performance.
After a long and fruitful season, the Panthers will be returning to the Premier Division ready to return to throwing their weight around with the giants of Irish American Football and hopefully enjoying a Shamrock Bowl victory in the near future.
For now they will relish in the victory of being division 1 champions for the 2026 season.
