ALL THINGS IRELAND: June 2010
GALWAY 0-26 WATERFORD 2-17...GALWAY'S 29-YEAR WAIT FOR AN ALL-IRELAND TITLE IS FINALLY, GLORIOUSLY OVER...

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

BLATTER ACTS ON ENGLAND ERROR BUT LAUGHS AT IRELAND MISTAKE

Sepp Blatter, the head of FIFA for 12 very long years has been exposed as a mediocrity by a world-wide audience following Frank Lampard's legitimate goal being dissallowed which led to England bowing out of the World Cup a bit earlier than their 'Golden Generation' expected.
Ireland were denied qualification for the World Cup in even more controversial circumstances when the the infamous 'Hand of Henri' went unseen by the referee Martin Hansen and his assistants.
At that time Blatter oppenly laughed at Ireland's call for a replay and disgraced himself in his attitude to Gallas's goal, saying FIFA could only abide by the referree's report.
But, now that it England who have suffered at the hands of another poor referring mistake, he has acted like a fawning lapdog to the English FA , saying, finally that he will look at introducing goal-line technology for gams in the future.
Funny, when it happens to Ireland, he makes a joke of it, but when it happens to England, he starts grovelling right away.
The Bollocks

Sunday, June 27, 2010

GALWAY EDGE PAST OFFALY IN LEINSTER THRILLER

Joe Canning and Ger Farragher hit injury-time points as Galway won an epic Leinster Hurling Championship semi-final replay over Offaly by 3-17 to 2-18.
Level in stoppage time, John McIntyre's side finished with a flourish as Canning landed the decisive score amid another brilliant comeback from Offaly.
Meeting for the second time in the space of six days, Galway's explosive start was rewarded with a burst of scores as Offaly failed to match the Tribesmen's passion early on.
Leading by 0-04 to 0-01 after 10 minutes courtesy of scores from Andy Smith, Damien Hayes, Iarla Tannian and Ger Farragher, Galway were in the ascendancy and they then bagged their first goal with a smashing move.
The game had just ticked into its 11th minute when Farragher found the excellent Hayes, who burst clear to rattle home an opportunistic goal.
Offaly were in deep distress, and the westerners grabbed a second goal in the 24th minute with Farragher again heavily involved. Ollie Canning started the move, Farragher kept the sliotar moving, and Joe Canning supplied a typically crisp finish to edge Galway nine points ahead.
Brian Carroll was effective for Offaly and struck over a couple of smartly-taken points, but Galway still went in at the break armed with a commanding 2-09 to 0-07 advantage.
They added two more points after the restart courtesy of Farragher and Hayes, but Offaly, rediscovering the sort of form they showed at Croke Park last Sunday, came thundering back.
Substitute Ger Healion announced his arrival into the game with a well-taken point and a goal shortly after in the 42nd minute.
It was a smashing encounter, but Galway remained composed, and Hayes swept home a 51st-minute goal that put them six clear again.
Referee Cathal McAllister then took centre stage in the 54th minute when controversially red-carding Galway midfielder David Burke for retaliation.
Offaly then hit an equalising goal in the 59th minute when Joe Bergin buried a shot from an acute angle as the match continued to excite.
It was tight and tense in the closing stages as the lead swapped hands, but Galway took the verdict to advance to their first ever Leinster decider. They will face reigning All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in a mouth-watering clash on July 4.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

FRANCE SHAMELESS IN QUALIFYING, SHAMFUL AT 2010

French coach Domenech was the last straw for me.
Refusing to shake the hand of the South African coach at the end of the match against the Bafana bafana, was bad form by the French again!
After the infamous Thierry Henry handball against Ireland in the World Cup play-off in November, a shadow has been cast against French football.
Redemption has come in the abject failure of France to get out orf their group, failing to win a game, indeed, scoring only one goal in the tournament by Malouda in their defeat to hosts South Africa yesterday.
What a waste of space the French have been, what goes around comes around, les blue!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

FRANCE GO HOME!

With their poor displays on the pitch and the acrimony off it, as an Irishman, one can only conclude that the French should never have got to this World Cup.
Following the infamous Henri handball against Ireland in the World Cup play-offs, most football people felt that the Frence did not deserve to be in South Africa at all and that Ireland should be there rightfully in their place.
Now, with the poor perfomances, the expulsion of Nicolas Anelka, the daft statement by the FFA read out by idiotic manager Domenech and the French players boarding a bus instead of training, the whole thing has descended into French farce.
They did not earn the right to be there and they know it.
They play the hosts South Africa today in a make or break decider for the next round and I, for one hope they don't win.
Off with their heads!

Monday, June 21, 2010

OFALY'S SHANE DOOLEY EARNS A DRAW AGAINST GALWAY

Galway and Offaly will meet again next Saturday after their thrilling Leinster SHC semi-final finished level at Croke Park.
Shane Dooley earned a replay for the Faithful County with a long range free in stoppage time.
Offaly stunned the pre-match favourites with three first half goals to open up a seven points lead, but Galway hit back with strikes in the second half from Joe Canning and Ger Farragher.
John McIntyre thought he had secured the win over his former county when Canning and Iarla Tannion drilled over late points, but Dooley scored twice at the death to rescue Offaly in front of a crowd of 25,260.
Galway reeled off the first four points of the game, but Offaly were ahead by the 15th minute.
Damien Hayes, Ger Farragher (2) and Iarla Tannion all swept over points to delight the Tribal following.
But it soon became evident that the Connacht side's defence could be exploited, and a fired up Offaly side did just that.
It was in the 12th minute that Shane Dooley cut in front the right, and when his shot was blocked, Joe Brady gathered to crash to the net from close range.
Offaly had the lead for the first time, but they weren't content to sit on it. They continued to press forward, and added points through Brian Carroll and Joe Bergin, before Shane Dooley cracked home a second goal on 20 minutes.
He turned his marker in alarmingly comfortable fashion before slotting low to the net from a difficult angle.
And when he added a free soon afterwards, the Faithful had turned a four point deficit into a four point lead.
Joe Canning finally escaped the shackles of David Kelly to slot his first point from play, but with Stephen Egan and Derek Moran solid at the back, there was little room to manoeuvre for the other Galway attackers.
Paul Cleary's booming clearance set up the third goal in the 26th minute for full forward Bergin, who rounded Shane Kavanagh to slot past Colm Callanan for a 3-4 to 0-7 lead.
Dylan Hayden and Brady swapped points with Farragher and Aongus Callinan late in the half, and Offaly turned around with a 3-7 to 0-11 lead.
But Galway made a devastating start to the second half. Farragher and substitute Niall Healy cut the deficit to three within two minutes of the restart.
Then came a 2-2 salvo in the space of four minutes. Cyril Donnellan knocked the ball back to Canning to smash to the net, and it was Farragher who finished to the net after Aongus Callanan's shot had been kept out by James Dempsey.
Offaly were reduced to 14 men when substitute Daniel Currams received a straight red card for a challenge on David Burke in the 46th minute, but they scored the next three points, through Dooley, Dylan Hayden and Bergin, to narrow the gap to a point.
There was nothing to separate the sides as they headed for a gripping final quarter, with Canning, for the second time, scoring exquisitely from a sideline cut, only to see Rory Hannify and Dooley bring the sides level.
Canning's long-range effort, and a second for Tannion, eased the Connacht side two clear in the dying moments, but Dooley emerged as the saviour, bringing his tally to 1-7.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

IRELAND LOSE TO ENGLAND AT THE JUNIOR WORLD CUP FINALS

The Ireland Under-20s suffered their second defeat at the IRB Junior World Championship in Rosario, going down to an English side that dominated possession and territory.

Replacement out-half Freddie Burns scored two second half tries to decide this Rosario clash, the second a late intercept effort as Ireland desperately tried to get back in touch.
Having led 16-11 at half-time, England kept the scoreboard ticking over and made Ireland work overtime in defence without showing much penetration.
James McKinney landed his third penalty of the afternoon to keep the Six Nations champions in the hunt at 19-14, but England stretched their advantage to 12 points when Burns spotted a mismatch close to the Irish posts and ghosted over for his first try.
Full-back Tom Homer, who kicked 21 points in all, added the conversion and another penalty before Burns intercepted a pass from Noel Reid as Ireland attacked near the English 22 and darted clear for the killer score which Homer converted.
It gave a flattering gloss to the scoreline as Ireland deserved to be closer, and they showed their mettle when hitting back, just four minutes later, with a well-taken try by replacement centre Eoin Griffin.
But England were the superior outfit on the day, gaining revenge for a 25-10 Six Nations loss to the Irish in Gloucester.
The result, coming on the back of last Sunday's 25-22 defeat to France, means Allen Clarke's youngsters are out of contention for a semi-final place.
Clarke had made three changes to the Ireland side that lost to the French, with Brendan Macken and Noel Reid forming a new centre partnership, Nevin Spence moving to the right wing and Brian Hayes included at the expense of Ben Marshall in the second row.
England boss Mark Mapletoft made a total of ten changes to his starting line-up, following their opening 48-22 victory over hosts Argentina. Runners-up in the last two Junior World Championships, the pressure is on for England to go one better.
They did not look like title contenders in the first half, and neither did Ireland as handling errors and nerves blighted the game. There was a blanket of tension over the pitch, both sides obviously determined to give no quarter.
Ireland got off to a positive start as English loosehead prop Lee Imiolek infringed at a third-minute scrum and McKinney landed the resulting kick from left of the posts.
But a break from big centre Tom Casson showed the power England possess and when Spence was pinged for not releasing after the tackle, Homer kicked them level.
The place-kickers landed their second shots at the posts soon after, with McKinney's effort coming after a solid Irish scrum and clever inside switch between UCD duo John Cooney and Reid.
Disappointingly, Ireland invited England onto them in the lead-up to their first try. Hooker Niall Annett was ruled to be ahead of the kicker as Reid tried to thump downfield. That set up an English scrum in the 18th minute and after a forceful Casson run, flanker Jamie Gibson did well to break Dominic Ryan's tackle and twist over under pressure from Reid.
Homer converted and then punished Jack O'Connell for a scrum infringement as England moved 16-6 ahead.
Ireland had been feeding off scraps, particularly their outside backs, and they showed their counter attacking ability in the 33rd minute when winger Simon Zebo burst into the English 22.
The Munster winger took an inviting pass from Macken and fended off the first tackler, setting up possession five metres from the whitewash, but the second phase saw Macken knock on in midfield.
The attack showed what Ireland could do and they were beginning to see more of the ball as the first half came to a close. A good tackle by Spence on Rory Clegg forced a penalty and Ireland set up a last-gasp attack.
In injury-time, Ireland moved the ball wide off a set scrum, McKinney and Macken fed Zebo the burst and the winger took contact before passing for the looping Macken to send full-back Andrew Conway over in the left corner.
It was simple but very effective and a score that was as much about the hard graft of Rhys Ruddock and his forward colleagues in the preceding minutes. McKinney failed to convert from the touchline, leaving Ireland just five points in arrears at the break.
Griffin and lock Ben Marshall were introduced on the resumption and Ireland continued to grow in confidence. They defended an early English raid before the eager Spence was called back for a forward pass after some neat link-up play.
England, however, benefited from some good continuity, using their forwards to gain ground through the middle and set up Homer's fourth successful penalty - this time from long range.
A late tackle by Casson on McKinney allowed the young Ulster out-half close the gap to 19-14, firing over from 28 metres out, and Ireland were beginning to enjoy a bit more territory.
Gibson and half-backs Clegg and Charlie Davies were causing problems at close quarters and England should have done better when presented with a two-man overlap and the Irish line within their sights. Instead, prop Imiolek's loose pass went straight into touch.
There was no such let-off for Ireland in the 66th minute when England, having enjoyed a decent spell in the opposition's 22, moved the ball to the right and left before Burns broke the defensive line and dived in under the posts for a crucial seven-pointer.
Homer missed a penalty but starved of possession, Ireland were leaking more penalties at ruck time. Their hugely committed defensive efforts were beginning to take a toll and the London Irish starlet kicked his fifth penalty to add to Ireland's frustration.
Ruddock sprung through a rare midfield gap in the 75th minute, getting his side on the front foot. But there was no reward for the hard-working Irish as England's disciplined defence held firm, and worse followed.
Reid's attempted pass to Zebo was gobbled up by Burns who had the pace to run in the try from distance, with Homer adding the extras.
Ireland had something left in the tank, with replacement scrum-half Michael Heaney's quick deliveries demanding a final push from the forwards.
Then metres from the English line, Griffin, standing at first receiver, used a Heaney pass to step off his left and dart over for a deserved try which Reid converted.
Ireland, who finished eighth in last year's tournament, will complete the pool stages with a tough tie against Argentina on Sunday evening.


(Reprinted from RTE Sport)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

GALWAY UTD DRAW WITH BOHS AT TERRYLAND

Bohemians twice came from behind at Terryland Park to claim a draw at the end of an absorbing game.
The Gypsies had Brian Shelley sent off for a foul on Karl Sheppard on 19 mins, and Stephen O'Donnell scored the resultant penalty for Galway.
Paddy Madden equalised on 70 minsfor the Gypsies, but then Galway
substitute Tom King nudged the Tribesmen ahead again.
But Madden punished a Barry Ryan error seconds later as the title
holders fought back to claim a share of the spoils.
It was a grim first half for the champions who lost Jason Byrne through injury and had Brian Shelley sent off before former Bohemians favourite Stephen O'Donnell steered Galway in front.
There was no denying that it was Galway who ruled most of the opening period as the Gypsies surprisingly failed to settle.
Despite Galway's passionate start Bohemians manufactured a 14th minute chance when Paul Keegan released Paddy Madden, but the young striker failed to hit the target.
Then drama occurred in the 19th minute when Shelley fouled Karl
Sheppard in the area, and referee Anthony Buttimer awarded a penalty.
Shelley was red carded and Stephen O'Donnell expertly converted the resultant spot-kick as Galway hit the front.
Galway might have added a second in first half stoppage time, but Rhys Meynell failed to hit the target following a splendid Gary Curran set piece.
After the interval Barry Ryan was alert to deny a Killian Brennan free kick as the Gypsies pushed for an equaliser.
Then on 65mins Paddy Madden thumped over from 20 yards as the Gypsies attempted to find a way back into the game.
And Pat Fenlon's team levelled on 70 mins when Ken Oman headed Killian Brennan's free-kick into Madden's path, and the youngster crashed the visitors back on terms.
Galway substitute Tom King guided the Tribesmen ahead again on 74 mins when squeezing the ball over the line following a Curran corner, but despite the concession Bohemians recovered rapidly.
A moment of hesitancy from Barry Ryan was ruthlessly punished by Madden as the Gypsies restored parity.
Galway can consider themselves unlucky not to have won the game after that freak goal by Madden, but at least the earned a point for their efforts and did well against Pat Fenlon's Bohemian's.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

IRISH JUNIOR TEAM UNDONE BY FRANCE AT WORLD CUP

France replacement Gilles Bosch kicked a late penalty at the Estadio El Coloso del Parque to snatch a 25-22 victory over Ireland in the opening Pool B match of the IRB Junior World Championship 2010 in Rosario on Saturday.

Only two minutes earlier Ireland had seemingly snatched the first draw in the tournament's history after James McKinney curled a conversion in from the right touchline to level the scores at 22-22.
Simon Zebo's score in the corner had given McKinney the pressure kick, the wing having been on hand to touch down after breaks from full back Andrew Conway and centre Eoin Griffin took Ireland to within inches of the French line.
However, replacement Brian Hayes was penalised for a high tackle and Bosch calmly stepped up to slot the penalty between the posts and break Irish hearts to give France a winning start to the Junior World Championship in Argentina.
Bosch had already played his part in getting France back into the lead after three penalties from the boot of McKinney had turned a 12-3 half-time deficit into a 15-12 advantage for Ireland within 15 minutes of the restart.
France replacement Romain Taofifenua was held up over the line by some desperate Irish defence, but they did not have too long to wait before number 8 Antoine Erbani powered over from close range for the game's first try.
Bosch added the conversion and a quickfire penalty to push France out to the seven point advantage, only for the Under 20 Six Nations champions to come back firing to level the scores.
Ireland had started the match the better, spending much of the opening quarter camped around the French 22, but were unable to turn their territorial advantage into points on the scoreboard.
Fly half James McKinney's first penalty attempt from just inside the France half fell well short in the fifth minute, before Ireland contrived to waste good attacking opportunities through passes going astray or giving away penalties.
France were more clinical, taking their chances when they came through the reliable boot of Jean Marc Doussain, the fly half opening the scoring with an 18th minute and then adding another five minutes later after seeing a drop goal attempt charged down in between.
McKinney finally got Ireland on the board with a 27th minute penalty from infront of the posts after France were penalised for being offside by South African referee Jaco Peyper.
The fly half missed another six minutes later that would have tied the scores at 6-6 and the miss proved costly with Doussain continuing his perfect record with two penalties to stretch France's advantage, the first a great kick from the touchline.
Ireland could have gone in trailing only by only six points at half time, but McKinney missed with another penalty attempt with the last act of a first half that had largely seen both sides cancel each other out.