Barry's Blog

FA PREMIERE LEAGUE BURNLEY 2-1 SPURS BANG BARNES Westwood whips the corner in from the right. Wood rises highest, six yards out, and plants a header flush in the top-left corner! The ball comes down off the bar and over the line, Lloris with no chance! Rose steals a couple of yards at a quick throw-in on the left, in order to set Kane scampering free! He’s got the beating of Mee, holding his man off as he enters the box. Kane draws Heaton and slips a cute finish across the keeper and into the bottom right!   But then Aurier faffs about while dribbling upfield, allowing Gudmundsson to drive into the box from the left. He shoots ... he scuffs ... but the ball dribbles diagonally towards Barnes, at the far post. He’s six yards out, and can’t miss! https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2019/feb/23/burnley-v-spurs-premier-league-live MY OPINION Results like this against mid table Burnley is why people are saying that Spurs cannot put up a challenge for the ti...

6 NATIONS ITALY 16-26 IRELAND MAGNIFICANT MURRAY Farrell almost powered his way over the line but is held up short but Roux thrusts himself over the whitewash. Sexton then hits the conversion through the posts. Italy almost get a try of their own but Campagnaro is penalised for trying to restart play having been tackled. Luckily for them it goes back for a penalty to the hosts and Allan smashes it through the sticks. Well well well ... the kick-off is completely missed by the Italian forwards and then it bounces off another, allowing Stockdale to take hold of the ball and sprint through the space to touch down. Poor from Italy. Sexton sends the conversion just wide. Padovani receives a pass to his feet when in space on the right wing, which is a shame as if it was into his hands he would have been one-on-one. On the upside, they then get a penalty for offside, which Allan converts. Hayward shows some quick feet to defeat the Ireland defence after the visitors lost ...

EUROPA LEAGUE DRAW LAST 16 Chelsea v Dynamo Kyiv Going to Ukraine would not be the most favourable tie for Chelsea. But Dynamo Kiev are comfortably in second position I   would think this would be an easy enough win for Chelsea mayby 4-2 agg Arsenal v Rennes Rennis are in a similar position to Arsenal where Europa league looks possible while Champions league looks impossible at the moment Arsenal though have the experience to get by this tie for me I say 3-2 Valencia v Krasnodar Valencia are not doing very well in L Liga which is a bit of a problem for them. Krasndor are doing very well in the Russian league second at the moment this could be an interesting but will depend on what happens i8n Spain. I say Valencia on away goals Zenit St Petersburg v Villarreal Zenit are sitting on top of the Russian league while Villarereal are having serious problems getting out of the relegation zone in Spain and it is for this reason I think the Spaniards will focus on survi...

6 NATIONS PREDICTIONS FRANCE V SCOTLAND This looks like an interesting tie but I think that home advantage will do the difference France by less than 7 WALES V ENGLAND England look to be the strongest this season and I think they will get the win here no bonus point for England 1 for Wales ITALY V IRELAND If Ireland play to their top standard this should be easy for them

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 32 ARSENAL 3-0 BATE agg 3-1 MIGHTY MUSTAFI Aubameyang bombs down the right and crosses low. There’s no red shirt nearby, but no worries, because Volkov, facing his own goal, hangs out a leg and slices the ball into the bottom left, his keeper wrong footed and given no chance. Xhaka sends the set piece towards the penalty spot, where Mustafi rises above a dozy Baga and plants a header into the bottom left!   Xhaka whips the corner towards the far post. Scherbitski comes off his line to punch, but makes an awful balls of it, flapping at thin air. Sokratis, only just on, heads home from a couple of yards. https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2019/feb/21/arsenal-v-bate-borisov-europa-league-live MY OPINION Arsenal are back on track now in the Europa League with this win as it was a huge shock the fact that they got beaten in the first leg. I do wonder what exactly made it so easy in this match while it was so difficult in the fir...

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ATHLETICO 2-0 JUVENTOS GLORIOUS GIMENEZ Morata wins a header. Mandzukic tries to flick clear but the ball slams off the prone Bonucci and sits up for Gimenez, who slams home from the middle of a melee, into the bottom left A free kick out on the right is hoicked into the mixer by Griezmann. Mandzukic, facing his own goal, tries to hook clear, but only sends the ball towards Godin, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Godin flicks goalwards from a tight angle, the ball breaking off Ronaldo and into the net https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2019/feb/20/atletico-madrid-v-juventus-champions-league-last-16-first-leg-live MY OPINION I think that this tie is over and there is very little the Italians can do but it took a very long time for them to do. They look solid at the back and did not look like they would concede. They are a bit behind Barca in the league at the moment but that looks not to be over. . Juventus seem to have thei...

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16 LYON 0-0 REAL LYON HOLD ONTO 0-0 DRAW Usually so proficient in front of goal, Barca's Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Phillipe Coutinho were all denied by Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes. Lyon had chances, too, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen brilliantly tipped Martin Terrier's long-range shot onto the bar. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47282943 MY OPINION |This result gives Lyon a real chance to win this match as it was one where most people thought Real would score at least one and they can use this to try to push PSG in the next couple of years. With the quality Real have they know now if Lyon score 1 they must score 3 LIVERPOOL 0-0 BAYERN KLOPP FRUSTRATED WITH GOLDEN CHANCES Sadio Mane missed a handful of first-half chances, most notably dragging a shot on the turn wide from inside the penalty area when unmarked. Joel Matip also failed to convert Roberto Firmino's cross from six yards. He cuts in from the right and p...

FA CUP LAST 16 QPR 0-1 WATTFORD CAPOUE CREACKER Holebas’s cross from the left is headed behind for a corner. Holesbas sends it towards Kabasele at the back post, but Leistner heads it behind for another corner on the far side. The outswinger reaches Cleverley at the edge of the box. His mis-hits his volley but the ball runs to Capoue, who sweeps a low shot through seeral bodies and into the net from 10 yards! https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2019/feb/15/qpr-v-watford-fa-cup-fifth-round-live MY OPINION This has been a very nervy match for Watford as they won a match that they felt from the start they deserved to win. QPR were able to push on but not get that vital chance to get the equaliser. It actually might help QPR get out of the relegation struggle but Watford can believe still cas push for 7 th in the Prem and the FA cup BRIGHTON 2-1 DERBY LOVELY LOCIDIA Bissouma, who has been Brighton’s most lively player, plays a one-two with Jahanbakhsh on the lef...

WORLD CLUB  CHALLENGE WIGAN 8-20 SYDNEY ROOSTERS MIGHTY MORRIS Morris crossed twice early to silence a raucous DW Stadium crowd but Wigan struck back through a smart Tom Davies finish midway through the first half. However, Morris completed a hat-trick of tries with just over half an hour gone to pile the pressure on the hosts. Sio Siua Taukeiaho's 60th-minute penalty gave the Roosters breathing space only for Liam Marshall's try to set up a thrilling finale before Daniel Tupou sealed victory for the Australian side. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/47217076 MY OPINION I think that this was a massive disappointment for Wigan as this was a game ruined in the first quarter where the Roosters were able to kill of Wigan before they got started. I think that Wigan must learn but this should be made into a larger tournament

PRO 14 EDINBURGH 34-17 DRAGONS JUMPING JOHNSTONE Edinburgh struck after eight minutes as van der Walt fed Johnstone, who broke one tackle then wrong-footed three more defenders before diving over and leaving the creator to add the conversion. Dragons squared matters four minutes later when a slick handling move stretched the home defence and James Benjamin fed Morgan, who accelerated past a floundering tackle to dot down in the corner. Lewis banged over the kick. But the response was instant. Darcy Graham sprinted deep into Dragons territory then released Johnstone for his second score of the evening, with van der Walt again converting. The Welshmen struck back almost immediately. Edinburgh attempted to run the ball from inside their own half but Morgan latched onto a pass from Dean and raced in between the sticks. Lewis was on target with the straightforward conversion then banged over a 40 metre penalty to edge Dragons in front for the first time. Twice Edinburgh o...

Night one Chris dobby 6-6 Mensur Suljuvic Gerwin Price 7-4 Daryl Gurney Rob Cross 6-6 Peter Wright James Wade 7-4 Ramond Van Barneveld Micheal Van Gerwin 7-4 Micheal Smith Night Two - The SSE Hydro, Glasgow Peter Wright 6-6 Michael Smith Rob Cross 7-4 James Wade Raymond van Barneveld 6-6 Gerwyn Price Daryl Gurney 7-3 Glen Durrant Mensur Suljovic 3-7 Michael van Gerwen