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McAnarney scores winning goal for Meath

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:27:23 +0000

04/02/2012 – 21:25:31
Meath 1-15 Monaghan 1-9

Centre-back Shane McAnarney raided forward to score the clinching goal in Meath’s opening Division 2 victory over Monaghan in Navan.

Top scorer Stephen Bray (0-6) and Cian Ward set up the chance for McAnarney who slotted home to punish a wasteful Monaghan side.

With James Turley netting after 22 minutes in Navan, Monaghan were only 0-10 to 1-6 behind at the break.

But Meath were much more clinical and won out despite having Paddy Gilsenan sent-off for a second bookable offence.

Meath manager Seamus McEnaney was facing his native county at Pairc Tailteann and his charges were determined to win the first of four home games in the league campaign.

The Royals shaded the opening half, looking a little sharper than the visitors with Bray (0-4) and Graham Reilly (0-3) profiting from some accurate deliveries into the forward lines.

However, Monaghan were able to keep pace thanks to Turley’s deflected goal and some good shot-taking from Eoin Duffy and captain Darren Hughes.

The Farney men hit the front when Hughes burst forward and provided the assist for Neil McAdam’s opener. Bray quickly levelled and then fired over again from the 30-yard range.

McEnaney’s men were guilty of overusing the short hand-passing option at time, and Dessie Mone worked the ball into space for Vinny Corey to draw Monaghan level at 0-2 apiece.

Paul Finlay missed two frees for the Ulster outfit, the first in very kickable range, and scores from Reilly and Brian Meade sandwiched Duffy’s first of the night.

Monaghan goalkeeper Mark Keogh did well to save a shot from Donncha Tobin, who had been put through by Cian Ward, and Meath were left stunned when Turley managed to find the net.

Keogh’s opposite number David Gallagher was given little chance when a driven low shot from Turley, who burst clean through, took a deflection and moved Monaghan 1-3 to 0-4 ahead.

But, as often happens, the concession of the goal seemed to inspire the Royals and they scored five of the next six points with Reilly (0-2), Bray (0-2) and Ward all on target.

Donal Morgan offered Monaghan’s only response as they were punished for coughing up possession far too easily.

They regained their poise just before the interval though, with Finlay picking out Duffy for his second point and skipper Hughes landing a terrific free from 50 metres out.

Paddy Gilsenan’s late score for Meath, created by Bray, was enough saw them maintain their lead heading into the second period at the start of which Joe Sheridan was introduced for his first appearance of 2012.

Although defences were on top when play resumed, points from Bray (free) and the in-form Gilsenan put three between the sides at 0-12 to 1-6.

Monaghan were beginning to struggle in attack and after wides from Finlay and Corey, Sheridan extended the margin to four points with 20 minutes remaining.

Finlay duly popped over his first point, from a free, but Monaghan had nothing to show for their sudden dominance of possession, with substitute Ciaran Hanratty hitting their sixth and seventh wides of the second half.

Poor shots followed from Kieran Hughes, who was switched out to centre-field, and Morgan as Monaghan continued to beat a path towards the Meath goal.

It took Darren Hughes to end the visitors’ barren spell, striding up from defence again, but a possession-starved Ward responded almost straight away.

The tension for the home crowd was obvious when Finlay reduced the arrears to two points with seven minutes left, yet that concern quickly evaporated.

Bray and Ward combined to set up McAnarney’s well-taken goal, shunting Meath 1-14 to 1-9 ahead before Gilsenan received his marching orders for a professional foul.

Player-selector Graham Geraghty warmed up on the sidelines but his services were not required, and Sheridan set up Bray for the final point.

It was a good result for Meath, but improvements will have to be made if they are to push for promotion. Monaghan could and perhaps should have run them much closer.

Scorers: Meath: Stephen 0-6 (0-2f), Graham Reilly 0-3, Shane McAnarney 1-0, Cian Ward, Paddy Gilsenan 0-2 each, Brian Meade, Joe Sheridan 0-1 each

Monaghan: James Turley 1-0, Darren Hughes (0-1f), Paul Finlay (0-1f), Eoin Duffy 0-2 each, Neil McAdam, Vinny Corey, Donal Morgan 0-1 each

MEATH: David Gallagher; Mickey Burke, Bryan Menton, Gary O’Brien; Chris O’Connor, Shane McAnarney, Cormac McGuinness; Brian Meade, Mark Ward; Seamus Kenny, Graham Reilly, Donncha Tobin; Paddy Gilsenan, Stephen Bray, Cian Ward.

Subs used: Joe Sheridan for Tobin, Ciaran Lenihan for Kenny, Tom Walsh for M Ward, Conor Gillespie for Meade.

MONAGHAN: Mark Keogh; Donal Morgan, Darren Hughes, Colin Walshe; Dessie Mone, Vincent Corey, David Hughes; Eoin Lennon, James Turley; Neil McAdam, Eoin Duffy, Mark Downey; Paul Finlay, Kieran Hughes, Christopher McGuinness.

Subs used: Ronan McNally for Walshe, Dermot Malone for Downey, Stephen Gollogly for D Hughes, Ciaran Hanratty for McGuinness, Dick Clerkin for McAdam.

Referee: Padraig Hughes (Armagh)

Workmanlike Mayo win Laois clash

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:20:57 +0000

04/02/2012 – 21:30:12
Mayo 1-11 Laois 0-8

Mayo got their Division 1 campaign off to a good start with a workmanlike victory over Laois at O’Moore Park tonight.

There was very little between the teams in the opening period but Mayo put the foot on the gas as the second half wore on to make sure of the points.

Former midfield All-Star, Padraig Clancy was looking very sharp at full-forward for Laois and his marker, Ger Cafferkey was called ashore in the 14th minute.

The flame-haired Timahoe man was heavily involved as the hosts plundered four points in five minutes mid-way through the half, to turn a one-point deficit into a three-point advantage.

Two of those scores came from frees awarded for fouls on the big man, while the others were excellent efforts by John O’Loughlin and the eye-catching David Conway.

They were stung by a 35th minute goal from Alan Freeman though. While there was a degree of fortune to the score, as Laois goalkeeper, Eoin Culliton was wrong-footed by O’Loughlin’s half-block on Freeman’s shot, it was the least James Horan’s side deserved.

They probably should have raised the green flag three times by that stage, as Alan Dillon blazed over from 12m when one-on-one with Culliton, Freeman toe-poked straight at Cahir Healy on the line after Culliton had been dispossessed and Conor Mortimer tripped himself up when clean through.

When Mortimer converted an injury-time free though, it was Mayo who held the interval advantage, 1-4 to 0-6.

Mortimer responded to another converted Conway free with a brace of points, the first from play after a searing burst by Kevin McLaughlin. Freeman launched a wonder point from wide on the right and the margin was three.

Laois were getting plenty of possession but the quality of supply deteriorated as they resorted too often to aimless garryowens in Clancy’s direction.

Darren Strong did arrow over but that was Laois’ first score for 20 minutes. What’s more, apart from a couple of missed frees by Munnelly, they hadn’t created too many opportunities in that second half.

In contrast, Mayo responded with four more points, including two from Enda Varley to put the issue to bed.

Mayo: D Clarke; L Keegan, G Cafferkey, K Higgins; P Gardiner, D Vaughan, R Feeney; S O’Shea, P Harte; K McLoughlin, A Freeman 1-2, A Dillon 0-1; C Mortimer 0-5(4fs), B Moran 0-1, A Moran. Sub: E Reilly for Cafferkey (14); J Doherty for Harte (54); E Varley 0-2 for A Moran (54); D Geraghty for O’Shea (66)

Laois: E Culliton; C Healy, K Lillis, P O’Leary; D Strong 0-1, S Julian, C Boyle; B Quigley, J O’Loughlin 0-1; R Munnelly 0-2(1f), K Meaney, C Begley; P Cahillane, P Clancy, D Conway 0-4(3fs). Subs: D O’Connor for Cahillane (51); MJ Tierney for Conway (51); B Mulligan for Julian (59)

Referee: R Hickey (Clare)

Doyle strike wins quarter-final place for Hibs

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:20:31 +0000

04/02/2012 – 20:04:36
Hibernian 1 Kilmarnock 0

A first-half Eoin Doyle strike was enough to earn a resolute Hibernian side a place in the William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock at Easter Road.

The Irishman’s right-footed effort was apt reward for a fine display by the home side during an opening period which also saw a James McPake have a goal ruled out, while Tom Soares come close.

Kilmarnock enjoyed territorial dominance in the second half but Pat Fenlon’s revamped Hibernian side defended superbly, with Paul Heffernan firing the visitors’ best chance into the arms of the recalled Graham Stack.

The result is the Hibees’ first home win since September, and first clean sheet in more than three months.

Fenlon handed debuts to two of their deadline day acquisitions, with Pa Kujabi slotting in at left-back and Matt Doherty coming in on the right side of a reshaped defence. Garry O’Connor and Stack also returned to the Hibees starting XI.

Gary Harkins was missing for Killie after suffering an ankle knock ahead of the encounter, which started with the home side making the running.

Tom Soares broke from a midfield melee with purpose and, from 25 yards, unleashed a fine strike which Scotland international Cammy Bell palmed wide in the fifth minute.

From the resulting David Wotherspoon corner McPake managed to nod into the net from close range, but referee Iain Brines adjudged that Bell had been impeded.

Hibs were displaying a vibrancy rarely seen at Easter Road in recent times, and deservedly claimed the lead after a quarter of an hour.

Some slick head-tennis on the edge of the box between Eoin Doyle and O’Connor managed to set Soares free on the right. The on-loan Stoke man’s cut-back found Doyle and, although the Irishman fired his effort into the ground, the shot found the corner of the net.

Shiels’ men emerged from their early slumber 10 minutes before the break when James Dayton showed excellent endeavour to dribble into the box and saw his low effort palmed away by Stack.

Paul Heffernan headed wide five minutes later from a Danny Racchi cross, while Liam Kelly shot over the bar.

Kilmarnock enjoyed territorial dominance in the second half but the Hibs backline, fantastically marshalled by captain McPake, remained utterly stoic throughout.

Fenlon’s men could have doubled their lead on the counter-attack. Kujabi displayed some crowd-pleasing quick feet before slotting a fine through-ball to Doyle, but his low shot was saved by Bell.

A Racchi piledriver from the edge of the box tested Stack and that was followed by a James Fowler volley, which McPake threw his body in front of to block.

A blatant dive in the box on the hour mark by winger James Dayton was indicative of the Rugby Park side’s desperation and frustration – yet inexplicably did not prompt a yellow card.

Kilmarnock finally created a truly clear opportunity with 10 minutes remaining. Liam Kelly finally cut through the solid Hibs defence with a fine pass, but Heffernan’s low shot was well saved by Stack.

The former Arsenal youth was sharp again as the full-time whistle approached, pushing an awkward Racchi shot to safety – and a late onslaught was spectacularly foiled by a series of fantastic blocks by green jerseys.

England win at Murrayfield for first time in eight years

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:53:37 +0000

04/02/2012 – 18:56:56
FT: Scotland 6 England 13

England have beaten Scotland 13-6 in the RBS 6 Nations match at Murrayfield.

England’s new era began with a scrappy first win at Murrayfield in eight years as Scotland’s familiar failings contributed to their downfall.

Two Dan Parks penalties handed Scotland a 6-3 half-time lead and put the hosts on course for just a second opening weekend win in 13 attempts in the tournament before he turned villain 24 seconds into the second half.

Charlie Hodgson charged down a Parks kick before applying the scoring touch. Farrell converted and finished with eight points on his debut.

The reinforcements had a near-immediate impact when Laidlaw appealed for a try after chasing his own chip, only to fail to get the required downward pressure ahead of Ben Youngs.

Ross Rennie darted through a gap and attempted to find Blair, only for Foden to snuff out the pass.
Farrell missed a penalty attempt from halfway after 71 minutes as England spurned the chance to take a seven-point lead.

England replacement Mike Brown earned a penalty after Scotland failed to release and Farrell this time booted England further ahead with five minutes remaining.

Scotland continued to look for opportunities but were repelled on each occasion by England, who saw out their first win in Edinburgh since 2004.

Waterford Crystal Cup: Tipperary and Cork progress

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:46:54 +0000

Jimmy Barry Murphy

04/02/2012 – 19:02:14
The hurlers of Tipperary and Cork will enjoy an early-season duel in the Waterford Crystal Cup semi-finals next weekend after both sides progressed through to the last-four of the competition.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s Cork side showed little mercy to neighbours Kerry today as they thumped them 5-18 to 1-14 in a one-sided quarter-final clash at Pairc Ui Rinn.

Brian Corry finished with a 2-0 tally for the Rebels, with the hosts’ other goals shared out between Pat Horgan (1-3), Eoghan Murphy (1-3) and Ryan Clifford (1-1).

Kerry trailed by 1-10 to 0-7 at half-time before Cork stepped up their efforts in the second half, with Corry finding the net early on.

Clonmel will be the venue for the Tipperary-Cork encounter after the Premier County side knocked out UL with a 2-11 to 0-12 defeat in difficult conditions in Nenagh.

Tipp seized the early initiative to move 2-4 to 0-0 ahead after 18 minutes’ play thanks to goals from Pa Bourke (free) and Brian O’Meara.

UL improved as half-time approached, closing the gap to 2-4 to 0-5, but with Brendan Maher, O’Meara and John O’Brien showing well, Tipp had a firm grip of the lead.

Clare’s Conor McGrath scored 0-7 (0-6f) for UL just two days after his sharpshooting helped the Fitzgibbon Cup holders snatch a draw with LIT in the university competition.

Bourke finished with a personal haul of 1-3 (1-2f) for Tipp with Eoin Kelly (0-3) and Adrian Ryan, John O’Neill, Gearoid Ryan, O’Brien and James Woodlock (0-1 each) sharing out the rest of the winners’ points.

Aguero ends barren streak as City celebrate three-goal win

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:39:46 +0000

David Silva and Adam Johnson celebrate today.

04/02/2012 – 19:34:00
FT: Manchester City 3 Fulham 0

Sergio Aguero ended his five-game barren streak by sending Manchester City on their way to a comfortable win over Fulham.

Aguero drove home his 19th goal of the campaign from the penalty spot after just nine minutes on a snowy evening at the Etihad Stadium.

A Chris Baird own goal and a second-half tap-in for Edin Dzeko saw City open up a three-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Etuhu was replaced by Bryan Ruiz but Fulham did not really look like scoring and it was no surprise when Dzeko tapped home a third from Aguero’s square pass after another excellent run from the Argentinian.

Kolarov, about to be booked for hauling Moussa Dembele back, was fortunate to escape a red card when he got engaged in a head-to-head duel with the Fulham man, who was cautioned.

Fulham came close when Ruiz’s cross struck Dzeko and clipped the post before rolling to safety.

Baird was booked for chopping Dzeko down and as the game entered stoppage time, Pizarro came on for his City debut, with Johnson making way.

Tyrone impress with win against Kildare

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:31:22 +0000

04/02/2012 – 19:39:31
Tyrone 2-11 Kildare 0-12

Tyrone turned on the style in the second half to lay down an impressive marker in their bid for promotion back to Division One.

They blitzed Kildare with a superb attacking performance to take both points from their Division Two opener.

Martin Penrose and Peter Harte punched home the goals that downed the Lilywhites and gave manager Kieran McGeeney pklenty to think about as he bid to guie his side back to the top tier of the NFL.

And old stagers Owen Mulligan and Stephen O’Neill turned in vintage attacking performances, while there was an unexpected boost, with Sean Cavanagh, who had been expected to miss the first half of the league through injury, making his return as a late sub.

O’Neill angled over a delightful opening point, but the Red Hands struggled to build on that early flourish.

Although the former Footballer of the Year doubled ht lead from a free, it was Kildare who eased into their stride after Eoghan O’Flaherty finally opened their account from a 16th minute free.

Mikey Conway knocked over a 13 metre free to bring the Leinster men level, and it was corner back Peter Kelly who pressed forward to take Conway’s pass and punch over the lead point on 22 minutes.

Kildare, with Johnny Doyle now on the field, stretched the advantage to three points with scores from Conway and Padraig O’Neill, who with a little more composure could have had a goal when sent in by O’Connor

The Red Hands struggled to find fluency and managed just one score in the second quarter, an Owen Mulligan free.

Kildare, thanks to Conway’s third score of the evening, went in at the break with a 0-6 to 0-3 lead.

But it was a transformed Tyrone team that took the field for the second half. They closed down the attacking threat from deep, and pushed forward with purpose, with Mulligan moving to centre forward to pull the strings and pick holes in the Kildare rearguard.

Harte crossed for Penrose to palm home a goal in the 41st minute, and Mulligan and Ronan O’Neill arrowed over points.

But Kildare fought back for Padraig O’Neill and Conway to shoot points, while O’Flaherty converted a ’45 after Aidan Cassidy had blocked out a Conway shot on goal.

Tyrone struck for the decisive second goal in the 56th minute, and this time it was the impressive Harte who turned finisher, punching home Mulligan’s cross to open out a three points lead.

The Red Hands never allowed the advantage to slip, although Tommy O’Neill and Eamonn Callaghan both broke through to blast in shots which sent narrowly wide.

Conway tagged on a couple of scores, but Mulligan and O’Neill nailed another couple of points as Tyrone tightened their grip.

Tyrone scorers: M Penrose, P Harte 1-0 each, Stephen O’Neill 0-5 (2f), O Mulligan 0-3 (1f), D McCaul, R O’Neill, Mark Donnelly 0-1 each

Kildare scorers: M Conway 0-6 (4f), P O’Neill, E O’Flaherty (1f, 1 ’45) 0-2 each, J Doyle, P Kelly 0-1 each

Tyrone: P McConnell, A McCrory, C Clarke, PJ Quinn, C McCarron, P Harte, Sean O’Neill, M Murphy, A Cassidy, Mattie Donnelly, P Hughes, M Penrose, O Mulligan, Mark Donnelly, Stephen O’Neill.

Subs: D McCaul for Quinn, R O’Neill for Hughes, N McKenna for Cassidy, R McMenamin for Mattie Donnelly

Kildare: S Connolly, P Kelly, C Fitzpatrick, O Lyons, B Flanagan, T O’Neill, E O’Flaherty, D Flynn, R Sweeney, T Moolick, M Conway, P O’Neill, J Kavanagh, T O’Connor, A Smith.

Subs: J Doyle for Moolick, H McGrillen for Flanagan, E Callaghan for Smith, M O’Flaherty for Fitzpatrick, R Kelly for Flynn

Referee: M Duffy (Sligo)

Pressure is on United: Johnson

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:20:21 +0000

Johnson celebrates with David Silva today

04/02/2012 – 19:45:25
Adam Johnson believes Manchester City have put the pressure on their title-chasing rivals after they beat Fulham 3-0 in their Barclays Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium.

Sergio Aguero opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Chris Baird brought down Johnson before a Baird own goal and Edin Dzeko strike sealed the win for City.

The result means City go three points clear at the top of the table with second-placed Manchester United playing Chelsea tomorrow.

City have also now won 12 out of 12 games at home this season as they recovered from a 1-0 defeat in midweek at Everton.

“It was obviously important to bounce back and get a good result today after the Everton game where we didn’t play as well as we should,” Johnson told ESPN.

“It’s nice to get in early and get the three points and put the pressure on the other teams. We’re looking forward to seeing the results tomorrow, and as I say, putting them under pressure.”

Goalscorer Dzeko believes City’s early lead, after Aguero’s 10th-minute penalty, helped them to take control of the match in tricky conditions.

“From the beginning it was a very hard pitch and when it’s like this it’s always better to score at the beginning of the game, then it’s easier for us to play,” Dzeko said.

The striker believes goal difference could also be crucial come the end of the season with matters very tight at the top of the table.

“Every goal is important so goal difference is very important. We now have three points more than United but they have a tough game tomorrow. It was a good game to win today.”

St Mary’s shade it against Garryowen

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:38:58 +0000

04/02/2012 – 18:12:09
St Mary’s College 13 Garryowen 12, Templeville Road

Declan Cusack’s rapier right boot almost guided Garryowen to a surprise win over leaders St Mary’s College in Ulster Bank League Division 1A.

Cusack scored the only points of a closely-fought second half at Templeville Road, landing three penalty attempts to cut the margin to a single point.

But St Mary’s, as they have shown throughout this campaign, are well able to hold onto a slender lead and they did enough in the end to claim their eighth league victory on the trot.

All of their points came in the opening 40 minutes with centre Mark Sexton, brother of Ireland out-half Jonathan, finishing off a back-line move for the only try of the game.

Winger Ray Crotty, kicking in the absence of the injured Gavin Dunne, landed the conversion and two penalties to make it 13-3 at the break.

And although a Paul Neville-inspired pack got through plenty of work and Cusack looked in a match-winning form, the Light Blues fell just short as St. Mary’s completed a season’s double over the Limerick club and retained the Shay Derring memorial trophy.

Scorers: St. Mary’s College: Try: Mark Sexton; Con: Ray Crotty; Pens: Ray Crotty 2
Garryowen: Pens: Declan Cusack 4
HT: St. Mary’s College 13 Garryowen 3

Staunton penalty proves winner for Young Munster

Ribkin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:27:35 +0000

04/02/2012 – 18:14:32
Young Munster 9 Cork Constitution 7, Tom Clifford Park

Young Munster out-half Willie Staunton was once again the match winner as the Cookies survived some late drama to beat Cork Constitution at Tom Clifford Park.

Two successful kicks inside 26 minutes had Munsters 6-0 in front. But, in one of their rare incursions inside the Young Munster 22, Cork Con’s Niall O’Driscoll nipped in for his sixth try of the season which out-half Johnny Holland converted.

An early second half penalty by Staunton proved to be the match-winning score in the end. Munsters were left hanging on though as Cork Con created several phases of play in the dying minutes.

The visitors’ efforts culminated with a drop goal effort by Holland which went wide of the target and the Limerick outfit were left celebrating a famous season’s double over Constitution.

Young Munsters’ second league victory on the trot keeps them within striking distance of the leaders, sitting in third place just four points behind pacesetter St. Mary’s.

The defeat puts quite a dent in Constitution’s own title challenge – they lie fifth overall, 11 points off top spot, with Blackrock their visitors next weekend.

Scorers: Young Munster: Pens: Willie Staunton 3
Cork Constitution: Try: Niall O’Driscoll; Con: Johnny Holland
HT: Young Munster 6 Cork Constitution 7

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