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Second half blitz see’s Mayo clinch Connacht title

Mayo has completed back-to-back Connacht titles since 2012, beating Galway at Croke Park after a second-half blitz saw them lift a rare honour in the capital.

Capturing their 48th SFC Connacht title, moving two ahead of Galway in the process.

The game itself showcased both teams at their best and their worst. Mayo looked lethargic throughout the first half, while Galway produced some cunning, quick and clinical football that saw them lead 2-05 (11) to 0-06 (6) points at the interval.

Like many times before in Croke Park, Mayo was blitzed with two goals, after conceding from Shane Walsh and Damien Comer, giving them a five-point lead.

James Horan’s side looked in trouble as the players walked off the pitch into the tunnel, where a mass brawl between Mayo captain Aidan O’Shea and numerous Galway players give the second half even more excitement.

A monumental change of events occurred after the break, with Mayo storming out, outscoring Galway by 1-03 to 0-00 in the third quarter, defending ferociously to keep the Tribesmen without a score from play in the entire second half – only popping up a free in the 61st minute.

Mayo’s forward line was difficult to deal with throughout the game, Ryan O’Donoghue ran the Galway backline ragged – striking the ball into the back off the net from the penalty spot, which got the comeback underway.

There were huge team performances from Padraig O’Hora and Conor Loftus, who both got sustained heavy knocks in the second half. O’Hora had to be stretchered off after two sublime turnovers that turned into scores.

Man of the Match Matthew Ruane was influential in his performance, topping off his role with a great solo run, which saw him run through the heart of the Galway team before cooly slotting the ball past Conor Gleeson in the Galway goal.

Captain Aidan O’Shea helped out in a big way, tracking back constantly – starting the game in midfield before being deployed in the full-forward line.

Getting on the end of some long balls – catching the ball to set up the penalty and creating many of his team’s scores in the second half.

After the water break, Galway will deem themselves unlucky after a dropping ball saw Damien Comer get a flick onto the crossbar before Mayo could clear their lines.

O’Donoghue also had a second goal controversially ruled out for a foul in the buildup.

Substitute James Carr could have finished the game off in fashion – when an open space in the middle of the Galway goal saw him go one on one with Gleeson, popping the ball over the bar.

All in all, Mayo have a lot to work on if they want to compete with Dublin and Kery, although, based on their second-half performance, they can be an issue for any team.

Ripping Galway to bits with their movement and their overall ferocity – particularly in attack.

Galway’s brave performance ultimately lacked the cutting edge in the final quarter and was outrun by an immense Mayo steam train.

In the All-Ireland semi-finals, the men from the West will be back in Croke Park in three weeks to face the Leinster champions, Dublin or Kildare.

Mayo Scores

Mayo: Rob Hennelly (0-01, 0-01 45); Lee Keegan, Padraig O’Hora, Michael Plunkett; Patrick Durcan (0-01), Oisin Mullen, Stephen Coen; Matthew Ruane (1-02), Conor Loftus (0-02); Bryan Walsh, Aidan O’Shea, Diarmuid O’Connor; Tommy Conroy (0-02), Darren McHale (0-01), Ryan O’Donoghue (1-03, 1-00 pen, 0-01f).

Subs: Eoghan Mclaughlin for Walsh (h/t), Kevin McLoughlin (0-01) for McHale (h/t), Jordan Flynn for Loftus (45-51), Rory Brickenden for O’Hora (57- f/t, blood), Enda Hession for Plunkett (64), James Carr (0-01) for O’Shea (68), Conor O’Shea for O’Connor (76).

Galway Scores

Galway: Connor Gleeson; Sean Mulkerrin, Dylan McHugh, Liam Silke; Kieran Molloy, Sean Kelly, Johnny Heaney; Paul Conroy (0-02), Matthew Tierney (0-04, 3 frees); Peter Cooke, Cathal Sweeney (0-01), Paul Kelly; Robert Finnerty, Damien Comer (1-00), Shane Walsh (1-01).

Subs: Finnian O’Laoi for Finnerty (17), Jack Glynn for Sean Kelly (26), Michael Farragher for Sweeney (51), Eamonn Brannigan for Paul Kelly (57), Johnny Duane for Walsh (72).

 

 

Ireland Lose Second Successive Game At Olympics v USA

Ireland suffered a second successive defeat at the Olympics with a 19-17 defeat to the United States of America.

The USA moved from side to side to spread the Irish defensive line thin and enjoyed the lion’s share of the early possession.

Perry Baker got the first score of the game under the posts after dodging Ireland captain Billy Dardis’ tackle just two minutes in with Madison Hughes converting.

Ireland suffered a disastrous restart after their pod could not recover the ball and it fell for Hughes who made no mistake and dotted down for a second.

The number 10 could not make add the extra two this time around.

The States’ Danny Barrett proved to be a huge ball-carrying threat and constantly pushed the Irish line backwards.

A rare Irish possession was squandered after Hugo Lennox failed to release outside the American 22.

Lennox made up for his error with a lovely catch after an offload from Foster Horan to get Ireland’s first points.

Dardis could not get his conversion between the posts, leaving his side 12-5 down at the break.

An inventive Irish lineout led to a fascinating passage of play that finished with Terry Kennedy inviting Sevens ‘original’ Harry McNulty to get Ireland’s second try of the game.

Billy Dardis missed his second chance to put an extra two on the board and Ireland failed to go level as a result.

A huge carry from forward Brett Thompson opened the Irish defence up once again and Stephen Tomasin added the nation’s third and also scored the conversion.

Jack Kelly’s injury may have been a factor in Thompson’s huge carry.

Ireland found themselves in the American 22 but a poor lineout spelt the end of the game for Anthony Eddy’s men.

Foster Horan got the try he deserved after some strong carries but it was too little, too late.

The side now has a mountain to climb if they are to progress to the quarter-finals, with Kenya the final obstacle for the national sevens side on Tuesday, July 27th at 3 am.

Mona McSharry: First Irish swimmer in Olympic Final since 1996

’It’s the second fastest second 50m that Mona has ever done!’ – Olympian Nicholas Quinn speaking on Mc Sharrry’s performance

For the first time in 25 years, Team Ireland will have a swimmer in an Olympic final.

Mona McSharry booked her spot in the Tokyo 2020 100m Breaststroke final on Monday morning.

The 20-year-old from Grange in Sligo touched the wall in fourth place in her semi-final. She swam a time of 1:06.59 to qualify for the Olympic final in 8th place.

Michelle Smith in 1996 was the last time an Irish swimmer achieved this accolade.

Coming in ahead of her in her semi-final were World Record-holder Lily King from the US, Tatjana Schoenmaker from South Africa, who set an Olympic Record in the heats, and Martina Carraro from Italy, who holds the World Record in the 50m Breaststroke.

McSharry was ranked 11th coming into the event and has now moved up three places in the rankings, finishing 9th in the heats and 8th in the semi-finals. Her lifetime best, the Irish Senior Record, is 1:06.29.

The Sligo native is now based at the University of Tennessee, and was the 2017 FINA World Junior Champion and LEN European Junior Champion in 100m Breaststroke. She was also a medallist.

McSharry said:

“I’m over the moon. I knew it was going to be tough. I’m just so happy to get another opportunity to race tomorrow.

“It was 0.2 slower (than the heats), but considering I got to bed quite late last night, and I was a bit groggy this morning, I’m not surprised about that. I’m happier with how the race felt, so I’m hoping I can pull the two together and swim a fast time (in the final).

 

She added: “It’s been amazing. Yesterday I was having lunch by myself and some other Irish person I didn’t know, Philip, a rower, came over and sat beside me and the two of us had lunch together.

“That’s really nice if you don’t have your swimming teammates there, to be able to look around and see other Irish people and sit with them and chat. That’s the great thing about the Irish spirit as well, we are very close as a nation.”

The 100m Breaststroke final takes place on Tuesday morning at 03:17 Irish time. Team Ireland has two swimming heats still to come on Monday.

 

Olympic Canoe: Last second heartbreak for Ireland’s Jegou

Team Ireland had Ballyvaughan canoer Liam Jegou in action this morning at the Kasai Slalom Centre

Jegou came into today’s C-1 Canoe Slalom in high spirits, full of confidence from his good run in the qualifying round that saw him in the top 15 places.

He was to be the fifth person down the artificial rapids stream after Swiss athlete Thomas Koechlin.

Jegou would have to make it through 25 gates in total without making missing one and with as few errors as possible.

He started his one and only attempt very fast and controlled, swerving through each gate. He made good time on the double reverse gates leaving him in a good place on the second half of the race.

After 22 gates he looked on course for a great time until a poor mistake mistake ruined his run. He misjudged the rapid waves as his oar struck the side of the gate and he failed to get his head cleanly between the gates.

This would result in a 50 second penalty and he knew his tournament was over. The dejected Jegou missed another gate in disappointment as he crossed the finish line.

The errors would leave him last in the semi-finals but it was very close to being another great run.

The 25-year-old still has many more great years of canoeing ahead of him. He has already won gold at the 2019 C-1 World Cup event in Pau and finished sixth at this years World Cup.

For those of you that are more interested in the canoeing, France’s Martin Thomas and Australia’s Daniel Watkins finished top two in the semi finals then.

The final took place less than two hours later in which Slovenia’s Benjamin Savsek took home gold in a staggering time of 98.25. The Czech Republic’s Rohan and Germany’s Tasiadis would take silver and bronze respectfully .

The women’s semi-final and final will take place tomorrow morning at 06:00 in the Kasai Slalom Centre.

Olympic Boxing: Disappointment for Irvine and Walsh in first bouts

Team Ireland had two more boxers competing on Day 3 with captain Brendan Irvine and Michaela Walsh in action

Men’s Flyweight (48-52kg) – Round of 32

Brendan Irvine (Ireland) v Carlo Paalam (Philippines)

This is Irvine’s second appearance at an Olympic Games after being taught a lesson back in Rio 2016. He is one of the more experienced boxers from Ireland and that is why he was named captain of the Tokyo 2020 boxing team.

He also lead Ireland out during the opening ceremony as flag bearer with medal hopeful Kellie Harrington.

The 25-year-olds first fight would come against Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam. The young boxer from the Philippines was competing at his first Olympic Games and he wanted to make it count.

Irvine had a timid start and lost narrowly lost the first round unanimously by all five of the judges scores.

The Belfast boxer fought back in the second round back splitting the judges votes with two in favour of him. He knew that he would have to put it all in for the final round.

Both fighters went at it hard in round three, Irvine managed to split the judges votes again. Sadly, it was not enough and the Irish boxer lost the bout with the judges score of 4-1.

Women’s Featherweight (54-57kg) – Round of 16

Michaela Walsh (Ireland) v Irma Testa (Italy)

This is Michaela Walsh’s first showing at an Olympic Games. The 28-year-old is also attending Tokyo 2020 with her younger brother, boxer Aidan Walsh.

This was Walsh’s first bout in this Games as she was given a bye in the Round of 32. Her opponent, Italian Irma Testa defeated Russian Liudmila Vorontsova in the last round.

These two boxers last faced each other in the European Qualifier final which Testa won.

Testa was the physically bigger fighter with a longer reach than Walsh and it showed throughout the fight as she needed to be fast on her feet the dodge the Italians strikes.

The judges were split with three siding with Walsh after the first round. The Irish boxers swerving and ducking had frustrated the Italians.

The cagey affair continued into the second round with some strong back and forth between the fighters.

Testa unanimously won the second round so Walsh now knew that everything would come down to the final clash of gloves.

Both athletes fought vigorously until the final bell with some powerful punches thrown in the last few seconds.

Unfortunately, it was not enough for Walsh as the judges sided 5-0 for Testa and her Olympic dream was over.

She now becomes Ireland’s third boxer defeated in Tokyo 2020 with Kurt Walker our only winner in the men’s featherweight division.

 

Boxing on tomorrow, Tuesday, 27th July

Men’s Welterweight (63-69kg) – Round of 16 – 03:30

Aidan Walsh (Ireland) v Albert Mengue Ayissa (Cameroon)

Ireland 7s’ Adam Leavy Joins List of St Michael’s Olympians

Ireland Men’s Sevens player Adam Leavy, alongside teammate Jack Kelly, became the latest Olympians and the first batch of rugby Olympians that St Michael’s College in Dublin has nurtured when they faced South Africa on Monday morning.

Leavy is part of a conveyor belt of talent over at St Michaels that includes Kelly, his brother Dan Leavy and James Ryan.

The school’s list of past Olympians includes a rower and a tennis player and the 25-year-old is honoured to put his name amongst theirs.

“Myself and Jack Kelly will be the third and fourth Olympians that have gone through the school which is amazing – it’s an amazing title to have to my name,” said Leavy.

The Sevens star could have crafted an Olympic career out of shot-putting but became more involved with rugby instead as he grew up.

He feels that the Ireland side’s chemistry will help them throughout their Olympic campaign.

The squad includes five ‘originals’ and many others that have been involved for several years.

“[The programme] has only been together for six years or so now, a lot of us have been in it since the start. I would have joined back in 2017 so there’s a huge amount of gelling in the squad and the connection will definitely stand to us.”

The tight-knit and accepting group will compete in their first Olympic Games in Tokyo this year.

Their hard work over the years paid off in June when they beat France in June at the Stade Louis II in Monaco to book their spot in Japan.

“Monaco was a crazy, crazy experience. Personally, all the emotions kind of hit me at once. I think I broke down at one stage – my brother was slagging me saying the hayfever was at me.”

Qualification was this Ireland side’s main focus since initially missing out in 2019 and to achieve it without their families there annoyed the former St Michael’s student.

Their families will not be able to get over to Tokyo either but Leavy understands that the restrictions are for the best.

On top of the games that lie ahead, against South Africa and the USA, Leavy is prepared for the downtime that this Ireland side will have.

“I have a few anime things on the hard drive, [I’ll] get involved with the culture and learn a bit of Japanese while I’m at it.”

The group will be able to keep each other company, as they have done many times before, perhaps through anime nights courtesy of Leavy.

Their chemistry can help them on and off the pitch as it has shown to do in the past.

With the side constantly improving, they can only go forwards at the Olympics, no matter how they do.

“[Our relationships are] definitely going to stand to us in a big way when we’re in the troughs.”

Ireland face the USA in the second round of pool games on Monday, July 26th at 10:30 am.

Ireland Ship 3 In 4th Quarter As Netherlands Win 4-0

The Ireland Women’s hockey team shipped three goals in the final quarter of the game against the Netherlands in their second pool game at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, losing 4-0.

Kathryn Mullan made her two-hundredth appearance for Ireland but Sean Dancer’s side couldn’t get the win against their European rivals.

After winning their first-ever game at the Olympics against South Africa, the World Cup runners-up endured their first loss in their second-ever game after the Dutch pressure persevered in the fourth quarter.

The Netherlands midfield had a stranglehold on the Irish attack from minute one at Oi Stadium, snuffing out any potential counters and maintaining their dominance.

Felice Albers opened the scoring for the Dutch after a counter of their own exposed holes left in the Irish defence.

Hannah Matthews rushed up to end the counter early but her gamble did not pay off and Albers coolly slotted past goalkeeper Ayeisha McFarren.

The first Dutch goal was expected to open the floodgates but the heroics of McFarren and Elena Tice frustrated the World Champions.

Ireland were the better side at the beginning of the second quarter after Dutch midfielder Laurien Leurink was shown a green card for a foul on Shirley McKay.

Their woman advantage did not last long as Hannah Matthews received the same punishment after bringing an end to a Dutch counter illegally.

The Irish grew tired in the final quarter and the reigning world champions took advantage of this.

Malou Pheninckx pounced on a fortunate ricochet from a penalty to slot a second and kill the tie.

Leurink made amends for her earlier discrepancy when she added the Netherlands’ third of the game before Frederique Matla got the goal she had deserved all game to put some gloss on the scoreline.

Ireland will face Germany in their next game in Pool A of the tournament at 4:15 am on Wednesday, July 28th.

Ireland Suffer 33-14 Defeat To SA On Olympic Debut

The Ireland Men’s Sevens side suffered a 33-14 defeat to South Africa in their Olympic debut at Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo on Monday morning.

The Pool C match-up was Ireland’s first-ever at the Olympic Games but Anthony Eddy’s side was not granted a fairytale beginning.

The South Africans looked composed in defence and were clinical in attack, forcing Irish errors and pouncing on them.

The Blitzboks lived up to their name by doing so and Ireland found it hard to stop them with their energy and skillset.

Ireland’s top try scorer Jordan Conroy appeared to injure his arm in the opening minute of the game and found it hard to put his stamp on the proceedings in Tokyo Stadium.

The Blitzboks’ Zain Davids opened the scoring with a nice step to put himself in clean air.

It only took four minutes for the South Africans to add a second try after a cross-field kick found Impi Visser who dotted down out wide.

Justin Geduld converted both of the Rio 2016 Bronze medallists first-half tries to give them a 14-0 lead.

Ireland’s Gavin Mullin reeled the Boks back in after exploiting a gap in their defensive line at the end of the first half – an otherwise high-quality blockade.

Billy Dardis added the extra two points to give Ireland some confidence heading into the second-half.

However, a second cross-field exploited space behind the Irish defensive line in their own 22 at the beginning of the second half, with Justin Geduld getting a try and converting it too.

Terry Kennedy burst through the South African defensive line to keep the game within reach for the boys in green with Dardis converting.

However, a controversial try was awarded against Ireland after Chris Dry was judged to have grounded the ball after a TMO check but the replays showed that there may have been a loss of control.

This took the game beyond the Irish with only minutes remaining and some fast feet by Jc Pretorius almost sent the Blitzboks in for a fifth try, which they later got via Stedman Gans.

Justin Geduld missed his final conversion but the result was sealed with victory for South Africa in the opening round.

Ireland will play the USA in their second game in Pool C at 10:30 am.

Jack Kelly: “I don’t think you can put anything above the Olympics.”

Ireland Men’s Sevens Star Jack Kelly sees the Olympics as the height of professional sports and is excited to become an Olympian with the rest of the national sevens side.

Kelly says the team is absolutely delighted to take part in the Men’s Sevens tournament in Tokyo this summer.

The 23-year-old believes the Olympics are like nothing else and said before leaving for Japan that the feeling of competing at one is still sinking in.

“[There was] a lot of months and weeks during lockdown where not much was going on and now everything’s happening at a hundred miles an hour. It’s a very exciting time for us,” said Kelly.

The side worked hard since losing out on the first European spot in 2019 and the collective goal that they shared helped them to stay focused throughout the pandemic.

The chemistry they honed for several years and hard work since their loss in Colomiers came together in June when they dismantled France in Monaco to book their tickets to Tokyo.

Kelly felt that these factors played a big part in their historic victory at the Stade Louis II Stadium.

Their celebrations were muted because of the coronavirus but the team were able to share some drinks on their hotel floor that night to commemorate the occasion.

“I think we’re quite a close squad…it was definitely a great moment and I think the fact that we couldn’t actually go out and we did just stay together was better for us because it made it all that bit more special.”

The strong chemistry that the side has will be important when there’s downtime, where they will keep each other company and respect each other’s privacy at different times – for example, when Jack wants to read or watch one of his downloaded Netflix movies.

The lads in the squad have also been contemplating getting the famous Olympic tattoo as a way to remember their achievement this year.

“I think, in terms of tattoos, it’s probably one of the more ok ones, you know, one of the ones that my parents wouldn’t be too angry at.”

However, their focus lies on their opening games on Monday, July 26th, when they will face South Africa and the USA.

Kenya is also part of their pool at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The St Michaels graduate believes that Ireland can beat both sides, as they have done before, provided they put the work in during the game.

Kelly does not feel like they have weapons that Anthony Eddy’s Ireland will not be able to deal with and that, with focus, they can impose dominance with weapons of their own, such as Jordan Conroy.

“We know that we’ve got a job to do when we’re out there.”

Click here to see the scheduled times for the Ireland Sevens’ first two games.

Watch video match highlights of Kerry easily beating Cork

Watch video match highlights of Kerry easily beating Cork in the 2021 Munster Football Final

 

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