Panthers, Knights kick off Irish season with gritty road victories

The 2026 Irish American Football season officially kicked off on opposite ends of the country over the weekend, with the Belfast Knights making a long trip down south to face the Cork Admirals while roughly five hours northwest in Derry the South Dublin Panthers were taking on the Vipers. In situations like this the home teams would typically have an advantage. But on Sunday, that was not the case as both the Knights and Panthers emerged victorious on the road to start their season off with wins.

Belfast Knights 20 – Cork Admirals 0

In Cork, the Knights took an early 7 point lead courtesy of a Ben Wright rushing touchdown and Daithi McShane extra point – an advantage they would sit on until the fourth quarter when Wright struck again on the ground to extend their lead. Harry Salt added a rushing touchdown of his own a few minutes later to seal the shut out. A stellar defensive effort kept Cork out of the endzone, as the home side seemed to have trouble holding onto the ball – Ian Donnell and Robbie Alexander scooping up a fumble each while Isaac Searle nabbed an interception. Spencer McDowell made an impact as well, earning himself a sack. It would have been a long bus ride back to Belfast if the Knights were on the other side of this score line, but instead it’s the home side left to wonder what they could have done differently.

South Dublin Panthers 19 – Northwest Vipers 0

Prehen Playing fields appears to be the new Viper Pit, but despite a significant home field upper hand the Vipers were unable to fend off the Panthers in latter’s first Division One outing. The visitors were up 13-0 at half time and tacked on another six points in the third quarter to ensure victory. Conor Hoskins resumed his fine form of last season with a pair of rushing touchdowns while Daire Hurley caught a pass from Conor Murphy for a score as well. Murphy wasn’t the only veteran Panther on the field, as Mick Duncan made a resurrection like appearance from the past to snag two interceptions on defense. Chris Madden also added a third take away for good measure. The Vipers were competitive throughout and by all accounts the scoreline does not reflect how the game unfolded, but the visitors were able to capitalize on their opponents mistakes and this made all the difference.

It seems that rumours of the Panthers demise were indeed greatly exaggerated, and earning tough wins like this is a great way of keeping the doubters silent.

It’s still early days however for all teams, and there’s a lot of football yet to be played. But the Knights and Panthers can be proud of their performances this past weekend and hopefully carry the momentum into their next fixtures!

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This story originally appeared in Gaelic Gridiron.