South Dublin Panthers beat Westmeath Minotaurs to book their place in the final
Photo by Charisse Mae Ducao
South Dublin Panthers charge into Harp Bowl Final
THE South Dublin Panthers defeated Westmeath Minotaurs by a dominant 56-7 scoreline on Saturday July 4th at the Trinity Sports Grounds.
The win booked themselves a place in the Harp Bowl which they will contest for alongside the North West Vipers on July 18th.
The result was a statement win for the Panthers’ season on route to the Division 1 Championship final.
Both teams entered the fixture having beaten each other in the regular season with Panthers’ winning the home fixture 20-9 and Westmeath levelling the series with a 26-12 win in Mullingar.
This time had much more at stake with a place in the Harp Bowl final on the line with each team determined to show they deserved their shot at premiership promotion.
It didn’t take long for scores to get on the board with Conor Hoskins touching down on the Panthers’ first play. Rushing 70 yards for the touchdown he would add four more throughout the game and cover over 200+ yards on the ground delivering one of the most electric performances of the season.
The Panthers offence proved unstoppable on the day with quarter Ray Burke running the show while wide receivers Jacob Langille, Shane Brady and running back James O’Leary all getting on the scoresheet.
O’Leary travelled 95 yards for a particularly memorable score towards the end of the game.
The defence also shone throughout the match, forcing the Westmeath offence to turn over the ball five times throughout the game and only conceded one touchdown all game from opposition quarterback Brandon Atwell.
Interceptions by Mick Duncan, Eoin Neville and the aforementioned Hoskins and Langille nullified the passing attack.
Neville and Jamie Leonard did an excellent job recovering Westmeath’s fumbles to keep the defence dominant throughout the game.
This performance from the Panthers was the apex of their season and they have one game left to go against the Vipers.
They defeated the Vipers earlier on in the year in the season opener and will be looking to replicate the feat on July 18th at Dubarry Park in order to become the 2026 Division 1 Champions.
