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Fitzpatrick Cup 2017 – Review

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A last-minute pitch change and some early rain didn’t deter participants at the weekends annual Fitzpatrick Cup hosted by the University College Cork (UCC).

With 8 men’s and 3 women’s teams in action it was always going to be a great day of Aussie Rules action.

Despite the muddy pitches, Group A got off to a flying start with UCC 1 and Irish Uni’s claiming early victories. Group B started in similar fashion with Oxford 1 and Mixed ARFLI showing their class.

Mixed ARFLI went through the Group stages undefeated but were unable to progress as they were acting as a top-up team after a disappointing late withdrawal from reigning champions, University of Birmingham.

The standings following the Group stages:

Group A
Team Played Win Loss Draw Points For Against Percentage
UCC 1 3 3 0 0 12 152 18 844.44
Irish Uni’s 3 2 1 0 8 84 59 142.37
Cambridge 3 1 2 0 4 37 83 44.58
Oxford 2 3 0 3 0 0 9 122 7.38
Group B
Team Played Win Loss Draw Points For Against Percentage
Mixed ARFLI 3 3 0 0 12 129 37 348.65
UCC 2 3 2 1 0 8 79 73 108.22
Oxford 1 3 1 2 0 4 47 82 57.32
Maynooth 3 0 3 0 0 34 97 35.05

 

The women’s competition was hotly contested with Maynooth claiming two early victories to sit atop of the table following the Group stages. They were closing matched-up with UCC and were scheduled to play in the grand final later in the afternoon after finishing second.

The standings following the Group stages:

Women
Team Played Win Loss Draw Points For Against Percentage
Maynooth 2 2 0 0 8 46 14 328.57
UCC 2 1 1 0 0 16 19 84.21
Oxford 2 0 2 0 0 15 44 34.09

The Men’s semi-finals pitted UCC 1 against Oxford 1 and Mixed Uni’s against UCC 2 to determine who would be playing off in the Grand Final.

UCC 1 lifted another level to easily account for a valiant Oxford 1 outfit with the final score reading 77 to 12.

The other semi-final went down to the wire with UCC 2 eventually getting over the line in a 1-point thriller. Final score in that game read 24 to 23.

The women’s final was between Maynooth and UCC after they finished in the top 2 of the division. Only 4-points separated these two teams in the Group stages and with Irish Banshees Head Coach, Pat Leavy watching from the side-lines it was always going to be a tight contest.

The first half proved just that with possession hotly contested and the scoreboard reflecting accordingly. UCC got the better of the second half and overran the previously undefeated Maynooth women claiming the Fitzpatrick Cup with a score line of 30 to 8.

It was destined to be a UCC clean sweep of the Fitzpatrick Cup but it was yet to be decided which men’s team was going to take the spoils. UCC 2 were the obvious underdogs but the chance to knock off their older rivals in UCC 1 meant that they were primed and ready to go.

The first half was a thriller with both teams putting it all on the line. A couple of quick goals got UCC 1 out to a 3-goal lead going into half-time. UCC 2 scored the first goal of the second half and the crowd was calling for an upset.

The more experienced heads of the UCC 1 boys proved too much to overcome for the 2s with some late goals blowing out the score line, 50 to 14. A well-deserved clean sweep for all involved at the UCC Aussie Rules program.

Special congratulation to John Enright who came away with the Golden Whistle for his excellent performance both on the pitch but also off it for arranging the umpire squad and formalizing the umpiring appointments.

Player of the Tournament for the men went to Paul Murphy of UCC 1 which topped of a great week for him after being named in the first five Irish Warriors to be selected for the International Cup in August.

Best on Ground in the final for the women went to UCC’s Eimear Sexton for her ferocity around the contest throughout the entire game.

Extra special thanks to all the volunteers who assisted in putting on a fantastic day of football along with the organising committee at UCC for making sure the day ran smoothly.

The countdown to the Fitzpatrick Cup 2018 is on!

Women’s Champions – UCC Crusaders

Men’s Champions – UCC 1 

For more event photos jump click through the following links

https://www.facebook.com/pg/AFL.Europe.Ltd/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1393565570663928

https://www.facebook.com/pg/AFL.Europe.Ltd/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1393598833993935

 

Cambridge Team Preview – Fitzpatrick Cup 2017

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In the lead up to the 2017 Fitzpatrick Cup to be held in Cork, Ireland on the 4th February we’ll be taking a look at each side attending the annual universities tournament. Next up in the previews are the boys from Cambridge University.

Cambridge have been off the pace in the past two Fitzpatrick Cup’s and will be hoping to improve on past results come February 4.

Fitzpatrick Cup history

Struggled in 2016, looking to improve on that in 2017.

Players to watch?

Mossy Harrington (Old but wily as a fox), Alex Westin Hardy (He’ll snap you in half if he catches you) and Mike D’Angelo (never gives up).

So, who’s in charge?

Chris Jacob – Club President – American – Beard – All Round nice guy.

Aims for the tournament?

Winning a match (or half of one).

Who’s got the X factor?

Nick Walpole, a gun forward with good hands and a solid right boot.

How’s the preparation going?

Good, solid training sessions over the last couple of months, combination of skills sessions and PT have really seen the team gel on and off the field. A couple of the newer guys have really developed well and it will be exciting to see how the team performs. Also, full English breakfast following team training.

What are your teams main attributes?

Cohesion, effort and discipline.

Fitzpatrick Cup 2017

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The 2017 AFL Europe calendar kicks off with a bang on Saturday 4th of February with the 4th edition of the Fitzpatrick Cup being hosted by University College Cork (UCC).

The ‘Fitz’ is a relatively new addition to the AFL Europe schedule with it first being run in 2013 to tie in with the International Rules Series held in Dublin between Australia and Ireland.

Four teams took to the field that day with Oxford, Dublin City University (DCU), UCC and Magherfelt College competing in the inaugural competition. The Chairman of the AFL Commission, Mike Fitzpatrick, was in Dublin for the event and attended the tournament named after him.

Since then the competition has boomed with each tournament growing stronger and stronger. The following year saw five teams compete in Birmingham, with six facing off the year after that. 2016 saw further growth with the introduction of the women’s competition enhancing the tournament profile.

This year sees the competition move to Cork, Ireland, and has eight men’s and three women’s teams pulling on the boots and competing to become the Intervarsity Champions of Europe.

Head organiser, Eoin O’Sullivan, along with the rest of the UCC organising committee have worked tirelessly putting together this year’s premier universities competition and are expecting it to be the biggest and most successful tournament yet.

In the men’s competition, it’ll be the University of Birmingham who’ll be looking to claim their third straight ‘Fitz’. They’ll be coming up against home side and runners up from 2016, the UCC Bombers, who’ll be looking to impress and go one better in front of a home crowd.

For the women, it’ll be a very close field with UCC, Maynooth and Oxford locked in to compete in the women’s second instalment of the competition. It’ll be the home-side, UCC, who’ll have the home crowd advantage and could prove the clincher in tight games.

The 2017 ‘Fitz’ is shaping up to a the biggest and best yet with the standard of football from the youthful university students sky rocketing each year.

Be sure to stay tuned into the AFL Europe website and social media for more details and previews over the next month.

https://www.facebook.com/events/369288496783296/

Teams:

UCC 1

UCC 2

University of Birmingham

Oxford University

Cambridge University

Maynooth 1

Maynooth 2

Irish Mixed Universities

Honour Roll:

2013/14 – UCC

2014/15 – University of Birmingham

2015/16 – University of Birmingham

Details:

Saturday 4th February 11am to 4pm

UCC Farm sports grounds, Curaheen, Cork City

After-Party at the Mardyke Complex

 

Around the Grounds

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AFL Canada making the trip over the Atlantic in 2017!

AFL Europe and AFL Canada announced plans for the men’s and women’s Canadian Development teams to travel to London in May 2017. Both tournaments will be taking place from the 19th to 21st of May with a round robin fixture set in place.

To read more about the tournament click through the link below.

AFL Canada comes to London!

Coyotes sit atop the CNFA ladder

The CNFA ladder is starting to take shape. Following the weekends fixtures, the Cergy-Pointoise Coyotes are sitting on top for the 2016/17 season. The ASP Tigers have jumped into second position in front of the ALFA Lions who are in third with a game in hand. The Bordeaux Bombers have played 4 games and round out the top-four places. The two Parisian sides are yet to hit their straps but are in 5th and 6th  as the Toulouse Hawks and new-comers, the Blagnac Aviators, are battling it out for the wooden spoon.

The next few rounds before Christmas are incredibly important for setting up sides 2nd half of the year and will go a long way to determining the make-up of the top 4.

cnfa

AFL Europe Footy Show kicks off! AFL Europe Footy Show kicks off! AFL Europe Footy Show kicks off!

Monday night was the first instalment of the AFL Europe Footy Show after a 2-year hiatus. Despite a few technical issues and an annoying echo, we were able to put together a 45-minute show full of entertainment. Special guest, Oliver Howard, discussed his aims and objectives as the new Chairman along with general discussions on all things footy.

Improvements to the quality of the stream (and the general presenting) will occur over the course of the first few shows. Massive thanks to everyone who tuned in. We’ll announce when the next show is scheduled well in advance.

If you’d like to listen to the recording from the first show, click through the link below.

AFL Europe Footy Show – Listen Here

 

Old vs New: Alumni take the win over the Students at UoB

It was a battle between old and new at the weekend for the University of Birmingham Aussie Rules Football Club. And it was the old boys who had the last laugh against the current students in their annual hit-out. A great initiative by the team at UoB keeping their alumni in the mix with all things Aussie Rules at the Uni. The final score in the match was 137 to 95 in favour of the Alumni.

uob

New President in the DAFL

The Danish Australian Football League (DAFL) will be under the guidance of a new president in 2017. Thore Lauritzen was elected to take over the job from Simon Malone after his 2 years of great service. Thore has been an integral member in the DAFL community over a number of years. He is the captain of the national side, coach of the Farum Cats as well as being crowned best afield in this year’s DAFL Grand Final.

Congratulations on the appointment Thore and all the best in your new role.

dafl

1st Round of the Rebel Shield goes to the Bombers

The first leg of the Rebel Shield took place on Friday evening at Mardyke Arena in Cork. It was the students, the UCC Bombers, who claimed the spoils over their cousins, the Leeside Lions. The hit-out was great prep for the Bombers who are gearing up for the upcoming Fitzpatrick Cup in early 2017.

The Lions will also take valuable match practice from the game as they look for a serious assault on the 2017 Champions League in April next year.

The return fixture should be hotly contested between these two clubs with the difference not too great to overcome for the Lions.

ucc

International Rules set for two-test hit out in 2017

After a year off, the International Rules series between the AFL and GAA has been set for November 2017. Following the two one-off tests in 2014 and 2015, the 2017 instalment will feature a two-test series at yet to be determined venues.

Australia will play host to the series and will present a side made up entirely of All-Australian players, as has been the case in the previous two series.

Check out the full press release from the Official AFL website.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-11-22/international-rules-series-returns-with-australia-to-host-two-tests