Barry's Blog

ALL IRELAND FOOTBALL CHMPINSHIP KILDARE 0-16 0-19 GALWAY WICKED WALSH STEADY'S  SHIP Galway were rocked early on by the loss of former U-21 star Michael Daly to an apparent leg injury. The wing-forward fired two points in the first eight minutes but pulled up in the process of scoring his second and appeared to tweak a muscle. That scored left Galway 0-03 to 0-01 ahead though Kildare fought back to level terms at 0-03 apiece, setting in train a tit for tat scoring encounter. Comer and Shane Walsh were marked men in the Galway attack though both still contributed 0-05 in the opening half, 0-03 from play. Johnny Heaney lobbed over a beauty too and the Tribesmen closed out the first-half scoring with three in a row to lead 0-11 to 0-10. But Kildare led on a number of occasions themselves and played their part in an epic opening half. Daniel Flynn and Paul Cribbin kicked some stunning long range scores though six wides in the half cost them. Galway opened up ...

WIMBLENDON MENS SINGLES Djockovic from Serbia beat Anderson from South Africa 3-0 WOMENS SINGLES Kerber from Germany beat Serena Williams from the USA 2-0

ALL IRELAND HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERS KILKENNY 1-22 0-27 LIMRICK GALLANT GALANE Seamus Flanangan hit back for Limerick one minute later but Kilkenny were the dominant force. James Maher scored their second point and that was followed by Reid’s first from a free. Kilkenny went 0-04 to 0-01 in front when Reid popped over his second free. Limerick were wasteful in attack and Kilkenny ran up a 0-07 to 0-03 lead with Hogan on target with his third and Colin Fennelly scored a first point. But Limerick almost goaled through Aaron Gillane in the 13th minute and the warning signs were definitely there. Graeme Mulcahy scored first and Diarmuid Byrnes’ inspirational effort really drove Limerick on. Maher scored his second point Gillane scored either side of a big Declan Hannon point and the sides were level 0-08 to 0-08. TJ Reid and Kyle Hayes traded points after Limerick should have scored a certain goal but Flanagan’s heavy pass was cut out by Kilkenny goalkeeper ...

GAELIC FOOTBALL CHAMPIONHSHIP SUPER 8S KERRY 1-10 1-13 GALWAYN SUPER SWEENY Both sides struggled to control the greasy ball and deal with the difficult surface, mistakes and poor shooting punctuated the opening quarter. It wasn’t until the 13th minute that Shane Walsh opened Galway’s account, from a free awarded for a foul on Ian Burke, but they were unable to make serious inroads into a defence that had Killian Young quickly rediscovering his form following a lengthy lay-off, and David Moran dropping back in support. Gareth Bradshaw and Sean Andy O Ceallaigh were solid at the back for the Tribesmen, but could do nothing to curb the class of teenager David Clifford as he swung over a classy point after Young had pressed into a pocket of space. The Tribesmen pushed ahead for the first time in the 17th minute when Paul Conroy added to Ian Burke’s score, with wing back Johnny Heaney pressing with positivity ion both cases. A game that had lacked intensity and exciteme...

FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL   FRANCE 4-2 CROTIA PERFECT POGBA Antoine Griezmann gets what might well have been his first touch of the game and wins a free-kick on the back of a fairly innocuous challenge by Marcelo Brozovic. It’s about 30 yards from goal, well right of centre. From the aforementioned free-kick, Antoine Griezmann whipped the ball into the penalty area, where Croatia were defending far too deeply. Back defending, Mario Mandzukic rose highest to get the touch that sent the ball past Danijel Subasic and inside the far upright France win a corner, which Griezmann curls into the penalty area. Blaise Matuidi tries to get on the end of it, but doesn’t make decent contact with his head. France’s players claim Ivan Perisic, who was marking Matuidi, handled the ball and it’s going to VAR! Antoine Griezmann nonchalantly rolls the ball past Danijel Subasic into the bottom left-hand corner and France re-take the lead. Paul Pogbas   first shot from the edg...

WIMBLENDON SEMI FINALS Kerber from Germany beat Ostapenko from Latvia 2-0 Serena Williams from the USA beat Goerges from Germany 2-0 My Champion is Serena Williams as I think her experience will pull her through

FIFA WORLD CUP SEMI FINAL CROTIA 2-1 ENGLAND MIGHTY MANDZUZIC Lingard spinning in delicately from the right to feed Alli, who is bundled over by Modric, just in front of the D. A free kick in a very dangerous position! Kieran Tripper scores his first goal for England, and what a strike! He takes the free kick, whips it over the wall, and back down into the top right. Subasic had no chance! Trippier joins Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker as an English semi-final scorer! Croatia had been turning up the pressure, and now they’ve got their reward! Vrsaljko, deep on the right, curls towards the far post. Walker stoops to head clear, but Perisic nips in from behind, and high-kicks a first-time flick into the left-hand portion of the net! England fail to clear a high ball down the left. Perisic beats Trippier to a header to the left of the D. Mandzukic meets the dropping ball, and flashes an unstoppable low shot across Pickford and into the bottom right. https://www.thegua...

MENS SINGLES QUARTERS Isner from the USA beat Ranoic from Canada 3-1 Anderson from South Africa beat Federer from Switzerland 3-2 Nadal from Spain beat Del Puatro from Argentina 3-2 Djockovic from Serbia beat Nishikori from Japan 3-1

WOMENS SINGLES QUARTER FINALS Goerges from Germany beat Bertens from the Netherlands 2-1 Ostapenko from Latvia beat Cibulkova Slovakia 2-0 Serena Williams from the USA beat Giorgi from Italy 2-1 Kerber from Germany beat Kasatkina from Russia 2-0

WIMBLEDON  MENS SINGLES TENNIS LAST 16 Ranoic from Canada beat Mc Donald from the USA 3-1 Isner from the USA beat Tsitsipas from Grease 3-0 Nishikori from Japan beat Gulbis from Latvia 3-1 Djokovic from Serbia beat Khachanov from Russia 3-0 Anderson from South Africa beat Monfils from France 3-1 Nadal from Spain beat Vesely from the Czech Rep 3-0 Federer from Switzerland beat Mannarino from France 3-0

WIMBLENDON LADIES SINGLES LAST 16 Kasatkina from Russia beat Van Uytvanck from Belgium 2-1 Cibulkova from Slovackia beat Hsieh from Tywan 2-0 Giorgi from Italy beat Makarova from Russia 2-0 Goerges from Germany beat Vekic from Croatia 2-0 Ostapenko from Latvia beat Sasnovich from Belarus 2-0 Bertens from the Netherlands beat Pliskova from the Czech Rep 2-0 Kerber from Germany beat Bencic from Swizerland 2-0 Serena Williams from the USA beat Rodina from Russia 2-0

GAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP LAOIS 1-11 0-19 MONAGHAN MAGIC MC MANUS Shane Carey, Jack McCarron and McManus all helped themselves to scores in the first-half as Laois found their defence under siege. Karl O'Connell, nominally a Monaghan wing-back, featured prominently in attack and curled over two eye catching scores with the outside of his right boot. Laois, in contrast, had to fight so hard for any score they got and trailed by 0-07 to 0-01 after 16 minutes. Their first point from play didn't arrive until the 24th minute and even then Evan O'Carroll had to conjure a clever dummy to get clear of his man. Monaghan defended with 15 behind the ball at times but had the guile and quality to launch a number of sumptuous counter-attacks which troubled Laois. Two things gave Laois hope; Brody's performance in goals and a goal that they scored through Paul Kingston approaching half-time. Laois improved in the second-half and outscored Monaghan by 0-07 to ...

LEINSTER HURLING FINAL REPLAY GALWAY 1-28 3-15 KILKENNY MIGHTY MANION Galway’s early dominance was underlined by a 13th minute goal, a move originating from an inspirational catch and surge out of defence from Daithi Burke. It culminated in Jonathan Glynn’s shot finding the net, despite Eoin Murphy getting a hurley to the sliothar. Galway profited from direct deliveries to Glynn in the opening quarter and were 11 points to the good in the 19th minute, before moving 12 points clear approaching the break. Ger Aylward goal, booted home and award despite the suspicion he had over-carried, gave Kilkenny some hope before the interval as they went in trailing 1-16 to 1-7 and then Brian Cody’s side produced a second-half fightback of terrific spirit. Half-time substitutes Colin Fennelly and Richie Hogan both whipped home goals, with the latter’s effort cutting the deficit Kilkenny faced to a single point, 1-20 to 3-13, by the 54th minute. That was when Galway kept their he...

FIFA WORLD CUP QUARTER FINALS URGUAY 0-2 FRANCE VA VA VARNE After Paul Pogba had outmuscled Vecino and powered up the field, Antoine Griezmann found the ball at his feet on the edge of the Uruguay penalty area. He tried a shot, which Muslera had covered. Trying to parry instead of catch the ball, the goalkeeper could only watch in horror as it slipped through his hands and dropped over the line. France had a free-kick wide on the right, which Antoine Griezmann took. With a stuttering run up, he swung the ball into the penalty area, where Raphael Varane had made a run, got the flick and sent the ball skimming past Fernando Muslera and inside the far post. https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2018/jul/06/world-cup-2018-quarter-finals-uruguay-france-live MY OPINION The goalkeeper from Uruguay will be remembered for that mistake for quite a while but this has showed the class that France have and the fact that they still have that sense of style that is needed. Th...