It was an historic first-ever meeting on this past Saturday, Dec. 13th, of the first two Algarve-based American-style football teams. The Algarve Pirates won this first-ever All-Algarve match 38 – 6, over the Algarve Sharks.
Fans of both teams enjoyed a hard fought match between the Algarve Pirates, and the newly formed Algarve Sharks.
The final score was 38-6 in favor of the Pirates. But the two teams both put on a fine display of the relatively new sport in Portugal, with the league preparing to begin its sixth season in January.
The Pirates are from the Barlavento-Western Algarve. The team practices on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and play their games in Mexilhoeira Grande near Portimão. They are now entering their third season in the Portuguese League (all amateur).
The newly formed Algarve Sharks are based in Faro with players from the eastern half, Sotaventa area, of the Algarve. Both teams can be found on Facebook.
The Pirates began their scoring on their first possession, after some successful running plays, when Pirate Quarterback Alexandre Ascensao threw a touchdown pass to Jacob Stevens. Max Ivanushkin (2), Fabio Lourenco (2) and Jorge Mendes each scored as well. The second half was a much more evenly-played match as only two of the Pirates’ scores came in the second half and the Sharks scored on their last possession, a historic event for any newly formed and growing team.
The Sharks first regular season match is scheduled for January 10th against the League Champion Lisbon Navigators, to be played in Faro.
The Pirates begin their season against the Sharks on Jan 24th in Mexilhoeira Grande, just west of Portimão and Alvor. Both teams continue to recruit and invite additional players to try out.
Algarve Pirates
E: algarvepirates@pobox.com
W: www.algarve-pirates.com
Algarve Sharks
E: algarvesharks@gmail.com
