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European Baseball: Irish hearts broken in final

Ireland’s baseball team were outscored and outclassed by a better Slovakian team for the second time in two days

Both Ireland and Slovakia qualified for the final after finishing in the top two places of a group that also had Finland and Hungary. The winner of this final would qualify for the European Champions in Italy this year.

Frank Andrews needed to lift his team back up after a demoralizing defeat to Slovakia yesterday.

Ireland (2) v Slovakia (12), Bratislava

Smithers was reinstated at pitcher, he brought back the form he had in the Finland game, claiming three strikeouts in the first round.

Ireland started brightly this time but couldn’t find a good bat after filling the bases. After the first inning, the game remained scoreless.

Jakub Izold caught a sweet single for Slovakia which was enough for them to get their first man home. Smithers’ game had a low point as he let the bases fill before they got another run from an error.

Another misunderstanding between Smithers and Tim Shea led to a third point for the Slovaks. Defensive woes continued as Slovakia managed the fourth point before the end of the second.

Ireland had no response with three outs leaving the score at 4-0 to Slovakia going in the top of the third.

Smithers and the defense steadied the ship holding their opponents out for the third inning.

In the fourth inning, Slovakia wanted more points on the board and a brilliant home run by Mario Brunograf (that may have smashed a neighbor’s window) added three more to the scoreboard. Slovakia finished with two more men home giving them a nine-point lead.

The Slovakians showed their defensive class to get a double knockout leaving Ireland scoreless again after the fourth inning.

The score was 9-0 to Slovakia after the fourth

The classy defending continued with six outs in a row between the teams in the fifth.

David Gallagher got the games first single in two innings when Mike McGee finally brought some Irish magic with a home run to get Ireland two points.

In the seventh inning, Ireland swapped in Brendan Scott at pitcher, but he couldn’t stop Slovakia getting a score on his first pitch. The Slovakian attack became relentless with them next grabbing a double for two more scores. Defensive mistakes re-emerged in the Irish with McGee now at pitcher and Slovakia finished the inning with a ten-point lead.

The score now 12-2 to Slovakia

Ireland would need scores in this eighth inning to keep this game alive. JP Dolan started with a single but that is all the Irish could muster.

With the deficit too much for Ireland to climb the game was called at the top of the eighth inning. Slovakia left as deserved winners with a score of 12-2, qualifying for the European Championships in Piemonte.

It was a sad end to a good tournament for Irish baseball

As Slovakia lifted the trophy, Ireland could only wonder what could’ve been after their two comfortable wins in the opening games.

To finish on happy note, Ireland’s Smithers won the award for best pitcher at the competition. Hopefully, Ireland can build on these performances to go one step further in the next tournament.

Euro 2020: Ukraine v England, Team News, Betting, Prediction

Here is all you need to know about Saturday’s Euro 2020 quarterfinal battle between Ukraine and England

This be the last quarter-final of the competition and RTE 2 will be showing the match at 20:00, today, Saturday 3rd July, and on RTE Player.

Both nations will have to travel the same distance to the game in the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy.

Ukraine has been a relatively decent side in the competition with a narrow loss to the Netherlands and wins over Austria and Sweden. Their Round of 16 victory will give them confidence but they needed a red card and 121st-minute winner to do it.

Andrey Shevchenko’s team has some very talented players but there is no doubt that this will be their biggest challenge to date.

England has now cemented itself as one of the biggest favourites of the competition with France, Portugal and the Netherlands all knocked out. They also managed to professionally defeat Germany by two goals.

They are now on the ‘easier’ side of the knockout rounds, but this valiant Ukraine team will throw everything at them

These countries very rarely face each other with their last game being a 0-0 draw in World Cup qualifying in 2013. They also faced off in Euro 2012 with England won 1-0.

Both squads are very different from the ones nearly ten years ago, expect fluid passing and attacking chances for both sides, but more for the English.

Predicted Line-ups

Ukraine

Formation

3-5-2

Predicted Starting 11

Buschan (GK), Zabarnyi, Krivtsov, Matviyenko, Karavaev, Sydorchuk, Stepanenko, Malinovsky, Zinchenko, Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk

Injuries/Suspensions

Biesiedin, Popov, Zubkov

England

Formation

3-4-3

Predicted Starting 11

Pickford (GK), Maguire, Stones, Walker, Shaw, Henderson, Rice, Trippier, Sterling, Kane, Grealish

Injuries/Suspensions

None

 

Betting

With the English believing that the trophy is ‘Coming Home’ they are also this games favourites with odds of 2/5 to win in normal time.

A stalemate after 90 mins, needing extra time has odds of 10/3.

Ukraine would give a great payout with odds of 8/1 to win in 90 mins making them major underdogs.

 

Score Prediction

Zinchenko and Ukraine have been entertaining to watch at some instances of this Euros, but this will be a bridge too far for them. They have been lucky in the tournament to get all this way, but England’s quality will beat them.

This will be another good confidence booster for Gareth Southgate’s men with a chance for Raheem Sterling to add a few more goals to his tally. Expect a 3-0 victory for the three lions.

Euro 2020: Czech Republic v Denmark, Team News, Betting, Prediction

Denmark will take on the Czech Republic in Saturday’s Euro 2020 quarterfinal and here is all the information you will need to know about it

This be the third quarter-final of the European Championships and RTE 2 will be showing the match at 17:00, today, Saturday 3rd July, and on RTE Player.

Denmark will have a slightly longer journey to reach the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan for the match.

The Czech Republic is now the lowest-ranked team remaining at the Euros being 40th in the FIFA World Rankings. But with the magic this team has created in the competition already rank does not matter.

The Czechs produced the upset of the tournament by beating the Netherlands 2-0 in the Round of 16. They will be relying on striker Patrik Schick to continue his great form in front of the goal as he aims for the tournament’s golden boot.

Denmark have been the team that every neutral has supported in this competition and they also have the talent and quality to garner that support.

After narrowly making it out of their group on the last day, they comprehensively beat Wales in the Round of 16, 4-0. This team likes to attack scoring nine goals in their last three games, Tomas Vaclik will be busy in the Czech goal.

The last time this pair faced each other was a friendly in 2016 which ended 1-1. Both teams struggle to dominate in this fixture with three of their last four games ending in draws.

Denmark and Czech Republic both like to have rigid defenses with strong ball winners in the attack. This game will come down to a little spark of creativity that can break open a backline.

 

Predicted Line-ups

Czech Republic

Formation

4-2-3-1

Predicted Starting 11

Vaclik (GK), Coufal, Boril, Celustka, Kalas, Holes, Soucek, Masopust, Darida, Sevcik, Schick

Injuries/Suspensions

Pavlenka

Denmark

Formation

3-4-2-1

Predicted Starting 11

Schmeichel (GK), Vestergaard, Kjaer, Christensen, Maehle, Delaney, Hojbjerg, Wass, Poulsen, Braithwaite, Damsgaard

Injuries/Suspensions

Cornelius, Eriksen

Betting

Denmark is the clear favorite in this tie with odds of 11/10 to win after 90 mins.

The odds of this game needing extra time are 21/10.

The Czech Republic is the underdog with odds of 11/4 to win.

 

Score Prediction

Both teams have made it further in the competition than they would have hoped to be, so be sure that neither of them will want to lose this. Nerves will be high, and this might turn into a slow and cautious game.

At least extra time will be needed to split the two teams with Denmark having the advantage of just a bit more experience. A low-scoring game that will end 1-0 to Denmark after 120 minutes.

European Baseball: Ireland humbled by hosts Slovakia

The Irish baseball team faced their toughest opponents in Slovakia, losing in a game that relied on a busy third inning

Ireland had already got the wins needed for the qualification final after their first two comfortable victories against Finland and Hungary. Slovakia had also qualified so this was to be an interesting game, who would show their cards and who wanted to win more.

Today they faced a much tougher opponent in Slovakia who beat also beat the Finnish and Hungarians in their first two games. Slovakia also has the advantage of being the home team with the competition being hosted in Bratislava.

Slovakia (15) v Ireland (5), Bratislava

Ireland started the game with some nerves, it didn’t help that Slovakia had a very capable pitcher, knocking three Irish batters out comfortably.

Brendan Scott was chosen to start pitcher for this game, and he continued the strikeouts. A quick first inning ended with no singles, just outs.

Ireland pushed on in this inning getting all three bases filled with two outs, but the Slovakians caught Brendan Power before he could make it home.

The home team batting improved as well but they only managed a single. Going into the top of the third, the quality pitching contest heated up.

After a quiet start, the third inning would set the tie alight.

Fionn Gallahar-Hall and captain Leo Farrell managed a lovely double steal at the start of the round. Ireland got the bases loaded again and a Jamie Cuevas hit got the two base stealers home for the first two points of the game.

Patrick Mitchell, Cuevas, and Power followed them home after some questionable Slovakian catching and defending.

An early double by Adam Zacko left Slovakia in a fruitful position with two on the bases, they capitalized with Grandzadonsky getting their first point. A double by Gotshall next let two more Slovakians make it home.

Slovakia got four more men home due to some poor Irish defending errors before a brilliant triple by Brunegraf got two more points for the Slovakians. They added one more to get their tenth of the round.

The third inning finished at 5-10 to Slovakia.

Ireland needed to bounce back but they found it hard against some strong Slovak pitching with Farrell only making it to third base.

Scott had troubles with his pitching in the last inning and tried to steady the ship at the bottom of the fourth. Power also improved with some clean defensive catches.

The game continued in the same vein with Ireland and Slovakia failing to score in the fifth and sixth innings.  The boys in green switched pitching duties to Liam Shier.

It took until the bottom of the seventh inning for the game to liven up a bit again. Another new pitcher Patrick Mitchell was struggling to get into the game and let a Slovakian walk home. Next another great hit by Mario Gotshall sent three more Slovakians to home base.

The inning ended 5-14 to Slovakia.

Matt Dutton tried to give Ireland some energy in the eighth with a good double and then stealing third, but they couldn’t find a finishing touch to grab some points.

The game slowed as the clouds covered the field in Bratislava. Slovakia had the first two bases filled for Brunegraf to hit a great double and put the game out of Ireland’s reach.

With too much of a deficit for Ireland to overcome in one inning, the game was called one round early with a scoreline of 5-15 to Slovakia.

 

This Irish performance lacked any real energy and bite, it’s a good thing that the final tomorrow is the game that counts. The winner of the final will get a place at the European Baseball Championships in Piemonte, Italy.

Frank Andrews will have to pick his team up and give them some belief for their next meeting with Slovakia.

The final will be streamed live on YouTube at 15:00 with Ireland in need of some home support.

Ireland in Longines FEI Nations Cup action in Rotterdam

Irish Show Jumping team is in five-star Longines FEI Nations Cup action in Rotterdam today.

Team manager Michael Blake has named Shane Sweetnam, Bertram Allen, Michael G Duffy and Eoin McMahon for Ireland’s Longines FEI Nations Cup team.

Ireland have been drawn fourth to jump in the 10-team contest.

Cork’s Shane Sweetnam will partner Karlin Van’t Vennehof.

Wexford’s Bertram Allen is aboard the Irish Sport Horse Pacino Amiro.

Mayo’s Michael G Duffy rides the Irish Sport Horse Lapuccino 2.

Clare’s Eoin McMahon partners Chacon 2.

Ireland finished fifth in their opening Longines FEI Nations Cup in Europe Division 1 at La Baule in France. The Irish team was third last time out at Sopot in Poland.

Rotterdam is the last Nations Cup in Europe Division 1 before the 2021 final in Barcelona for which Ireland have already qualified.

The Longines FEI Nations Cup of The Netherlands starts at 4pm Irish time with live coverage on FEITV.

Champions Cup 2021/22 Pool Draw Date Announced

The date for the 2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup pool draw has been announced.

The draw will take place at 9 pm on Wednesday, July 21st and is staged in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It will be streamed live on HeinekenChampionsCup.com and will include the winners of the three domestic leagues involved in the competition – Top 14 and Champions Cup holders Stade Toulousain, Gallagher Premiership winners Harlequins and Pro14 winners Leinster.

The draw will consist of eight teams from the three leagues mentioned above, as it did last season.

The teams who have qualified from the three leagues will be listed from one to eight for the draw, with number one being the champions.

The clubs will first be placed into four tiers based on their rankings, before being drawn into two pools of 12 – Pool A and Pool B.

Clubs from the same league in the same tier will not be drawn into the same pool.

Tier 1 will have numbers one and two on the qualifiers in it with Tier 2 having numbers three and four.

Tier 3 will have numbers five and six while Tier 4 will have numbers seven and eight.

The Tier 1 and the Tier 4 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league, will play one another home and away during the pool stage.

Tier 2 and Tier 3 sides that are in the same pool but not from the same domestic league will do the same.

Once the draw is concluded, clubs will know their pool stage opponents and EPCR will begin work on the fixture schedule with an announcement of exact dates, venues, kick-off times and TV coverage following as soon as practicable.

The 2021/22 tournament will be played over nine weekends with four rounds of matches in the pool stage starting in December when Stade Toulousain begin the defence of their title.

The eight highest-ranked clubs from each pool will qualify for the knockout stage which will consist of a Round of 16 on a home and away basis, quarter-finals and semi-finals, with the final in Marseille on 28 May 2022.

2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup qualifiers

Gallagher Premiership: 1 Harlequins, 2 Exeter Chiefs, 3 Bristol Bears, 4 Sale Sharks, 5 Northampton Saints, 6 Leicester Tigers, 7 Bath Rugby, 8 Wasps
Guinness PRO14: 1 Leinster Rugby, 2 Munster Rugby, 3 Ulster Rugby, 4 Connacht Rugby, 5 Scarlets, 6 Ospreys, 7 Cardiff Rugby, 8 Glasgow Warriors
TOP 14: 1 Stade Toulousain, 2 Stade Rochelais, 3 Racing 92, 4 Union Bordeaux-Bègles, 5 ASM Clermont Auvergne, 6 Stade Français Paris, 7 Castres Olympique, 8 Montpellier Hérault Rugby

Pool Draw tiers

Tier 1: Harlequins, Exeter Chiefs, Leinster Rugby, Munster Rugby, Stade Toulousain, Stade Rochelais
Tier 2: Bristol Bears, Sale Sharks, Ulster Rugby, Connacht Rugby, Racing 92, Union Bordeaux-Bègles
Tier 3: Northampton Saints, Leicester Tigers, Scarlets, Ospreys, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Stade Français Paris
Tier 4: Bath Rugby, Wasps, Cardiff Rugby, Glasgow Warriors, Castres Olympique, Montpellier Hérault Rugby

Leinster’s Hugh O’Sullivan joins London Irish

Leinster Rugby scrum-half Hugh O’Sullivan has agrees a move to London Irish.

O’Sullivan made 30 appearances in the blue of Leinster, which included appearances in the Guinness PRO14, the Heineken Champions Cup and the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup.

A two-time Leinster School’s Senior Cup winner with Belvedere College, O’Sullivan progressed through the Leinster Rugby Academy.

O’Sullivan “really excited” about Exiles move

O’Sullivan has expressed his delight at the opportunity to play for The Exiles, stating:

“I am delighted to have signed on with London Irish. I’m really excited to begin working under the likes of Declan Kidney and Les Kiss. I’m looking forward to contributing to the squad effort as best I can. It will be an excellent opportunity to develop my game while playing in the competitive league that is the Premiership.

“I can’t wait to get going in pre-season and to link up with my new teammates. I’m eagerly awaiting what will hopefully be a successful season for the Club.”

Declan Kidney on signing O’Sullivan

Former Ireland Grand Slam-winning coach Declan Kidney, now Director of Rugby at London Irish, said of O’Sullivan’s signing:

“Hugh will add great competition in the scrum-half position and will be joining an already hungry group of players vying for the starting 9 jersey. He has picked up some good experience in Ireland with Leinster, and we look forward to seeing his progress continue with us at London Irish.”

Lions v Sigma Lions: Preview, Betting, And Lineups

The British and Irish Lions start their tour of South Africa on Saturday against the Sigma Lions in Johannesburg.

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports and kick-off will be at 5 pm British Standard Time.

Warren Gatland and his selectors have made 14 changes to their Lions starting lineup with Josh Adams being the only survivor from the game against Japan.

Eight players are set to make their debuts for the side at Ellis Park – Luke Cowan-Dickie, Gareth Davies, Zander Fagerson, Chris Harris, Jonny Hill, Louis Rees-Zammit, Sam Simmonds and Hamish Watson.

Stuart Hogg will captain the team after joining up with the side following Exeter Chiefs’ loss to Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership final.

Scotland fans will also get to see the duo of Ali Price and Finn Russell play alongside each other in the famous red shirt.

Ireland fans will have to wait until Gatland taps into the wealth of talent on the bench to see an Irish player.

The side they will face – their namesake Sigma Lions – will want to put on a show to welcome the British and Irish Lions to South Africa after 12 years away.

The Lions, who were called the Emirates Lions at the start of the week, were the opponents in the British and Irish Lions’ second game on the 2009 tour.

Their 2021 team will be hoping to do much better than the 74-10 drubbing that side received.

Willem Alberts, who played in that fixture, is unavailable for the side due to injury.

Their Pro14 Rainbow Cup South Africa campaign ended without a win after their last game was cancelled because of a COVID scare.

A poor Super Rugby Unlocked campaign in 2020 was a sign of things to come as they finished below Pro14 castaways Cheetahs.

Their side will be without anyone called up to the South Africa squad, including star player Elton Jantjies.

Warren Gatland’s side is heavily favoured in this matchup.

Betting

British and Irish Lions 1/25

Draw 70/1

Sigma Lions 13/1

Predicted Lineups

British and Irish Lions:

Stuart Hogg (captain); Louis Rees-Zammit, Chris Harris, Owen Farrell, Josh Adams; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Wyn Jones, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Jonny Hill, Courtney Lawes, Hamish Watson, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Zander Fagerson, Iain Henderson, Sam Simmonds, Gareth Davies, Bundee Aki, Elliot Daly.

Sigma Lions: EW Viljoen; Jamba Ulengo, Manuel Rass, Burger Odendaal, Rabz Maxwane; Jordan Hendrikse, Dillon Smit; Nathan McBeth, PJ Botha, Ruan Dreyer, Ruben Schoeman, Reinhard Nothnagel, Sbusiso Sangweni, Vincent Tshituka, Francke Horn (captain).

Replacements: Jaco Visagie, Sti Sithole, Carlu Sadie, Ruhan Straeuli, Emmanuel Tshituka, Morne van den Berg, Fred Zeilinga, Dan Kriel.

 

 

Euro 2020: Belgium v Italy, Team News, Betting, Prediction

Here is all you need to know about today’s Euro 2020 quarterfinal between Belgium and Italy

This be the second quarter-final of the tournament and RTE 2 will be showing the match at 20:00, today, Friday 2nd July, and on RTE Player.

This game takes place in between the two countries in the Munich Stadium in Germany.

Belgium comes into this game with five straight wins, topping Group B and beating Portugal 1-0 in the Round of 16.

The Belgians made a problem for this game are the injuries to two of their main players, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne. Both players are doubtful for this game after both picked up leg injuries in their win against Portugal.

Italy outshines their opponents having won their last 12 games but are yet to face a Euros title contender in the competition. Their most challenging game was the Round of 16 win over Austria needing extra time.

The Italians will come full force into this game hoping that their strike force of Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile will keep scoring.

These two last faced each other at the last Euros in 2016 when Italy beat the Belgians in a group stage match 2-0.

These are two of the ‘teams to beat’ at the Euros and hopefully, this game will become a clash of the titans.

Predicted Line-ups

Belgium

Formation

3-4-2-1

Predicted Starting 11

Courtois (GK), Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Meunier, T. Hazard, Witsel, Tielemans, Mertens, Carrasco, Lukaku

Injuries/Suspensions

  1. Hazard, De Bruyne, Mignolet, Castagne

 

Italy

Formation

4-3-3

Predicted Starting 11

Donnarumma (GK), Spinazzola, Florenzi, Chiellini, Bonucci, Veratti, Jorginho, Barella, Insigne, Immobile, Chiesa

Injuries/Suspensions

None

Betting

Italy looks to be narrow favorites with bookmakers’ odds of 13/10 to win.

For those who can’t choose who will win in 90 mins, a draw has odds of 2/1.

Belgium is the slightest of underdogs in this match with odds of 23/10.

 

Score Prediction

This is probably Belgium’s last chance with their golden generation, but it seems like they will not overcome this hurdle. With injuries to key players and with Italy have some of the best forms in recent football history, the Belgians will need courage and luck to win.

The Azzuri defense may know Lukaku very well but they won’t manage to keep him scoreless. Instead expect the full-time score to be 3-1 to Italy but Belgium will keep pushing until the end.

Euro 2020: Switzerland v Spain, Team News, Betting, Prediction

Switzerland face Spain in the quarterfinals of Euro 2020 and here is all you need to know about it

This be the first Euro 2020 quarter-final and RTE 2 will be televising the match at 17:00, today, Friday 2nd July and also on RTE Player.

Both sides have to travel a long distance to St Petersburg Stadium in Russia for this game.

Switzerland comes into the match with a mixed bag of form but with great confidence after coming back to beat the World champions France on penalties. They also have Steven Zuber on the wing who has the most assist so far in the Euros.

One major worry for the Swiss is that they will be without their captain Granit Xhaka for the game. The Arsenal man will most likely be replaced by young Bundesliga player Denis Zakaria or Newcastle defender Fabian Schar.

Although being involved in one of the games of the tournament so far, the 5-3 win over Croatia, Spain have only won one match comfortably in their last six games.

Spain has no injury concerns, but they hope that striker Alvaro Morata has his confidence in front of goal back. He scored his second goal of the competition in the last game to make up for his penalty miss in the group stage.

These teams faced each other twice in last year’s UEFA Nations League with their latest match ending in a 1-1 draw in Basel.

This game could be full of surprises with both teams being very unpredictable at the Euros so far.

Predicted Line-ups

Switzerland

Formation

3-4-1-2

Predicted Starting 11

Sommer (GK), Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez, Widmer, Feuler, Zakaria, Zuber, Shaqiri, Embolo, Seferovic

Injuries/Suspensions

Xhaka

Spain

Formation

4-3-3

Predicted Starting 11

Simon (GK), Alba, Azpilicueta, Laporte, Garcia, Pedri, Busquets, Koke, Torres, Sarabia

Injuries

None

 

Betting

Spain is the bookies’ heavy favorite for this tie with odds of 8/13.

A draw after 90 mins seems very possible with the bookmakers’ odds of 27/20.

Switzerland are given a very slim chance of progressing with odds of 9/2 to win.

 

Score Prediction

Spain is hoping to replicate their 5-0 win over Slovakia, but it will not be so easy with the Swiss.

Switzerland showed that they can have a strong, rigid defensive structure and that they can come back from certain defeat.

This is not a strong Spain side so expect that this game will go to extra time. Spain will only overcome the Swiss with their greater squad depth to bring on talented substitutes. It will be a tight and stubborn affair with a final scoreline of 2-1 to the Spanish.

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