YOUNG IRELAND LOOK ASSURED IN SWEDISH DRAW

The Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualification hopes received a much needed boost after a 0-0 draw against Sweden in Stockholm.

Giovanni Trapattoni's men had the better of the first-half exchanges with Shane Long wasting their best chance, blasting over when he had time and space in the box.

But the away point, against the team considered to be their main rivals for a play-off place in Group C, sets Ireland up perfectly for Tuesday's home game against Austria.

Manager Trapattoni brought in James McCarthy, originally dropped in favour of Paul Green, after Glenn Whelan failed to recover from an ankle injury.

The 74-year-old also sprung a surprise in handing a start to Jon Walters ahead of Robbie Brady, who he had claimed was not psychologically ready.

Ireland threatened early with James Mc CLean and Robbie Keane beating their markers on the left wing, while Shane Long twisted and turned Andreas Granqvist, but blasted over from 16 yards when the goal opened up.

Sweden won a couple of corners, but were generally off the pace around the pitch.

However, David Forde - making his competitive debut - was tested by Tobias Hysen's volley midway through the half, and had to be alert as Kim Kallstrom's free kick made its way across a crowded penalty box untouched.

If Ireland's plan was to keep Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the periphery, then it was working, with the temperamental PSG striker dropping deep for some action and looking none too pleased with his team-mates when they failed to deliver the ball to his liking.

Still, the ex-Juventus man almost snuck a goal when his shot from an unlikely angle deflected off Seamus Coleman. Forde was stranded but the ball rolled the right side of the post from Ireland's point of view.

Just before the break, Green, honest and hard-working throughout, went in the book for a late challenge on Alexander Kacaniklic, but the Boys in Green were not allowing the hosts to create in the final third and the majority in the 49,436 in attendance at the Friends Arena began to whistle their frustration.

Long and West Brom team-mate Jonas Olsson were enjoying a private battle, clashing on a number of occasions, as Ireland again began the half brightly.

Even when Clark and Green misplaced passes, Erik Hamren's side couldn't take advantage and Coleman made a magnificent tackle as Ibrahimovic threatened on the edge of the box.
Moments later, Larsson fired wide from 18 yards after another poor clearance by Clark, who was preferred to Sean St Ledger in central defence.

Up the other end, Ireland were struggling to create any clear-cut chances. Captain Keane beat the offside trap but over-hit his cross and then Olsson miscued a clearance but the ball evaded Walters.

With legs tiring, Trapattoni introduced Wes Hoolahan for Keane, Andy Keogh for McClean and Conor Sammon for Long.

Hoolahan did his best to get on the ball but through-balls for Keogh and Sammon were overplayed.
Sweden almost claimed what would have been three undeserved points deep into injury time.
The ball dropped for Rasmus Elm is the box, but O'Shea, who was given the Irish man-of-the-match award by the home judge, was on hand to soften the strike and Forde guided it over the bar.

The goalkeeper then caught the resulting corner and with that Ireland had their point, and Trapattoni, who came in for a lot of criticism ahead of the game, had made his.

(c) RTE Sport

Johnston inspires Ireland to brink of World Cup

Johnston inspires Ireland to brink of World Cup:

A sensational bowling spell from Trent Johnston coupled with a disciplined batting effort ensured Ireland won their second World Cup qaulifying encounter against the United Arab Emirates in Sharjah.
The win takes the Irish six points clear at the top of the World Cup qualification table, tantalisingly close to yet another appearance on the world stage. With four games remaining in the tournament, such is the strength of their run-rate that one win in their double-header fixtures against The Netherlands (in July) or Scotland (in September) would see the Irish on the plane to Australia in 2015.
Former skipper Johnston (4-25) was at his inspirational best, taking the early wickets of Shakoor and Asif, and then returning to remove the dangerous Swapnil Patil and Khurram Khan, both of whom made 30.
In the process Johnston became Ireland's 3rd most successful bowler after overtaking his former team-mate and current Irish selector, Kyle McCallan. Johnston's haul now stands at 257 wickets, with only Dermott Monteith (326) and Jimmy Boucher (307) in front of him.
Shaiman Anwar (39) added 60 for the 6th wicket with Rohan Mustafa (19) as the Emiratis rallied to 140 for 5, but another spectacular catch by William Porterfield broke their stubborn resistance.
Alex Cusack (2-40) was passed fit just before the start of play in an unchanged Ireland side, while the other wicket takers were John Mooney (2-46), George Dockrell (1-28) and Paul Stirling (1-37).
A final UAE score of 196 was felt to be 20-30 runs short of par at the half-way stage, and thus it proved in the final analysis.
Ireland captain William Porterfield had talked before the match about the need for batting discipline, and he led by example, top scoring with 77 in a thoroughly professional team performance.
The batting solidity blunted the UAE enthusiasm, with partnerships the whole way through the innings, never allowing their opponents any momentum. Porterfield shared in stands of 29 with Paul Stirling (13), 48 with Ed Joyce (22) and 47 with Niall O'Brien (20).
The Irish captain was dismissed with the total on 138 for 4, but any concerns his team-mates had were quickly dispelled as Gary Wilson overcame a shaky start to make an unbeaten 39, The Surrey batsman shared an unbroken 5th wicket partnership of 61 with Kevin O'Brien (25*) as the vital win was secured with 14 balls to spare.
Johnston was delighted with both his own personal form and that of the team as they took one step nearer to automatic qualification. "It was a great performance and fantastic to get four points. It was very hard to come here and get two wins from these guys. They were unbeaten in four games at home, so we probably have one foot on the plane to Australia. We haven’t spoken about it yet but Simmo (Phil Simmons) will want us to go out and win those four remaining games and finish on 25 points (out of 28) - That’s our goal."
With the tournament 22 months away, Johnston who turns 39 next month admitted it was just too much to ask for him to be there in a playing capacity: "I won’t be on that plane unless Phil wants a bowling coach or something like that. It’s too far away. "My only concern is to get the guys on that plane and come back here in December and win the five-day (Intercontinental Cup) final," the veteran seamer added.
"I’m still enjoying it and whether it’s four wickets or no wickets if we win games that's all I want to be part of. It’s great going out to play cricket with these guys and we’ve been pretty successful for a long period of time and hope it can continue."
A beaming Ireland captain William Porterfield was delighted with the way the team approached a potentially difficult run chase: "It was nice to come through the way we did. It was something we wanted to address after Monday and we did that and came home pretty comfortable in the end."
Was it a nervous Irish dressing room as the overs began running out? "No nerves at all. Their total just below par on that deck but we got out of what we wanted. If you had given us 197 to chase at the start of the day, we would have taken it and 46 off the last 10 with six wickets left, we would have snapped your hand off. We showed great professionalism today to see it through."
On the form of Gary Wilson who yet again was there at the end to bring the team home: "It’s great to see Gary seeing the job through. He’s played well in the last three games. I probably should have been there with him but we still had Kevin and John Mooney to come so more exposure we can get in these scenarios the better it going to be for ourselves."
The skipper was full of praise for Johnston who was the stand-out bowler on both sides: "Trent just keeps going. You know exactly what you’re going to get when you throw him the ball. To come through nearly nine overs on the bounce in that heat was a special effort. "Trent leads from the front and it’s great to have him in the side. The more games he can play for Ireland the better it will be and the easier for me as skipper. Alex Cusack and John Mooney also did well in that heat."
The Warwickshire batsman is keen to get qualification sewn up as quickly as possible, but is determined to win all the remaining fixtures; "You want to win every game you play for Ireland. We can probably qualify in Holland with one win - two wins for sure - and that’s what we’ll be aiming to do. We know what potentially there will be at the end of it and are going for it."

Well done to Ireland's Cricket Team, they deserve much more coverage by the National Media.

IRELAND 13-13 FRANCE

Frederic Michalak's nerveless late conversion after Louis Picamoles' crucial try saw France secure a 13-13 draw with Ireland - the second year in a row these sides have tied in the RBS 6 Nations.

Leading 13-6 going into the closing stages, France No.8 Picamoles took a quick penalty and forced his way over for a try before Michalak was on target with the conversion on 74 minutes.

 

Ireland, who lead at half-time 13-3 thanks to captain Jamie Heaslip's try and eight points from fly-half Paddy Jackson, could not trouble the scorers in the second half and remain with just one win in this year's competition.

 

France, on the other hand, stopped the rot and have their first point of the competition, but their winless run in the RBS 6 Nations now stands at seven.

 

Ireland set about executing their game plan from the off and even from the outset, they pinned France back in their own half.

Conor Murray's box kicks were a feature of the match and that gave Ireland the territory and forced the French to concede penalties as the half wore on.

 

Michalak demonstrated early on that the Irish defence could not afford to relax however, his chip to the left appeared to release Maxime Medard but the bounce beat the flying winger.

 

But on ten minutes, a superb kick through the French defence from Brian O'Driscoll left France full-back Yoann Huget with no option but to kick the ball into touch just a few metres from his try-line.

 

Ireland, dominant at the lineout, had just displayed their mauling credentials and they performed both expertly as captain Heaslip barged his way over to open the scoring.

 

Jackson, who was on target with just one kick from four on his senior debut against Scotland last time out, made no mistake with the conversion.

 

On 16 minutes, France did earn themselves the chance to respond after Ireland were penalised at the scrum but Michalak pushed his kick wide.

 

As the first half wore on, Ireland's long kicking continued to be a feature of the game, Rob Kearney's trusty left boot keeping France on the back foot.

 

Jackson then missed from the tee when France came over the top on 23 minutes and France got themselves off the mark on 27 when again Cian Healy was called up by referee Steve Walsh at the scrum.

 

Ireland continued to kick for territory and they won another penalty soon after when France brought down a maul, this time Jackson making no mistake from the right.

 

And just two minutes later, the 21-year-old Ulster fly-half again bisected the posts from a similar position to give his side a 13-3 lead.

 

France were presented with the chance to bring themselves to within a score of their opponents on the stroke of half-time when Ireland were offside but Michalak was wayward with his penalty effort.

 

After the break, Ireland then found themselves on the receiving end of a penalty following a scrum but Jackson did not quite have the distance from the tee.

 

As the rain continued to lash down, mistakes kept on coming but Ireland were able to string some phases together in the French 22, only to run down a blind alley before Kearney fluffed his lines with a drop goal attempt.

 

On 54 minutes, France brought themselves back into the match when scrum-half Morgan Parra took over the kicking duties and nailed his first effort from 40 metres on the angle.

 

Just a few minutes later Parra had another effort but it was missed by a distance, ensuring Ireland who could not quite pin France back as much as they had done in the first half, still led by seven.

 

Whereas France's replacements appeared to hinder them against England, this time around they had the desired effect and Mathieu Bastareaud made a considerable impact from the bench.

 

With ten minutes remaining France went through numerous phases - and Huget might have spotted the overlap on the right rather than going himself - before Bastareaud bulldozed his way towards the line.

 

But some fine defence from Ireland, who lost centre Luke Marshall to injury, saw France concede the penalty and the hosts withstand the pressure.

 

O'Driscoll, in what may be his last appearance for Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, also made his exit as a result of injury as Ireland were left clinging on in the closing stages.

 

And France finally found their way through when Picamoles took a quick penalty and barged his way over before Michalak, retaking kicking duties, notched the conversion.

 

That prompted O'Driscoll to re-enter the fray and Ireland stepped back onto the front foot and a kick to the corner was chased down by Earls, only for Picamoles, who also had Vincent Debaty aiding his cause, to get their first and avert the danger.

 

Ireland replacement Eoin Reddan was then carried off with a serious leg injury as Ireland's depleted ranks searched in vain for the winning score, ensuring the hosts remain without a win in three.

 

Let us all hope that Brian O'Driscoll stays on a bit longer than Declan Kidney.

CONNACHT BEAT ZEBRA IN GALWAY

CONNACHT 23 ZEBRE 19

 

Dan Parks kicked a late drop goal and penalty to guide Connacht to a Pro12 win over battling Zebre in Galway.

Tries from Eoin McKeon and Gavin Duffy helped Connacht lead 14-3 but Leonardo Sarto's try helped cut the margin to a point by half-time.

Parks and Buso swapped penalties before a 71st-minute penalty from Gonzalo Garcia had the Italians within touching distance of their first ever Pro12 win.

But the six late points from the boot of Park saw the Italians denied.

Brimming with confidence after their recent wins over the Ospreys and Cardiff, Connacht took an early lead against the Pro12's basement club.

Duffy's charge set up number eight McKeon's try with Parks adding the extras.

To their credit, Zebre fought back with Sinoti Sinoti threatening the Connacht line and fly-half Buso missing a couple of penalty chances.

Connacht appeared in control as a threaded Parks pass set up Duffy to step inside Sinoti before sprinting past a flat-footed Alberto Benettin to score under the posts, with the fly-half adding the conversion.

However, Sinoti's break on the half hour set up a try for Sarto with Buso's conversion cutting Connacht's lead to a point after he had slotted a penalty a couple of minutes earlier.

Parks replied for Connacht after the restart but Zebre began to take a degree of control after home replacement prop Ronan Loughney had been yellow carded for two successive offences.

A third successful Buso penalty was followed by a long-range kick from centre Gonzalo Garcia which put Zebre 19-17 ahead.

However, a Parks drop-goal restored Connacht's lead and Mauro Bergamasco's late sin-binning allowed the ex-Scotland international to seal the Irish team's win with another penalty.

CONNACHT (14) 23

• Tries: McKeon, Duffy
• Cons: Parks 2
• Pens: Parks 2
• Drop Goals: Park

ZEBRE (13) 19

• Tries: Sarto
• Cons: Buso
• Pens: Buso 3, Garcia