Latest news with #semi-final
Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Kerry and Donegal show underdogs that only the ruthless survive
Underdogs have to take all of their chances, whether it's shots at the posts, half-chances at goal or minding possession in tight areas. Neither Meath nor Tyrone were able to do these things and thus Donegal and Kerry were treated to armchair semi-final victories. On Sunday, Meath started the game with two-pointers in the opening 12 minutes from Eoghan Frayne and Ruairi Kinsella, but that was as good as it got for the Royals, as their preferred shooting method subsequently malfunctioned. After a great turnover inside their own 45, Jordan Morris carried the ball from deep, a momentary reprieve from his marker, Brendan McCole. The Meath forward tried to play a defence splitting pass into Matthew Costello, but his tormentor Brendan McCole intercepted the ball just ahead of the onrushing Matthew Costello. Robbie Brennan spoke after the Galway win about Jordan Morris and his creativity, saying that he doesn't want to restrict players who have a little bit of magic. Brennan has given them the freedom to concede what he terms 'creative turnovers'. This was one of them and it was acceptable at that stage of the game with just six minutes on the clock. READ MORE Robbie Brennan has encouraged Meath to play freely, and here Morris gambles to try and create a goal chance, leading to a "creative turnover" In the next phase, Donegal continued to attack as they usually do, but were turned over as they approached the Meath arc. Meath attacked with pace, but the two-point effort from Conor Duke went wide, under severe pressure from Oisín Gallen, who had worked hard to get back to cover. An underdog needs to take those chances. The game would have been very different at this point if the scoreboard read 1-5 to 0-2 in favour of the Royals, rather than just the one-point advantage. As a cagey opening quarter played out, Donegal were only up 0-6 to 0-5, with Meath scoring 2/4 of their two-point efforts. However, for the remainder of the half, they missed four two-point efforts to go into half time with a conversion rate of 2/8 (25%) on two-point shots and 4/8 (50%) inside the arc. Meath two-point attempts (1-4): Meath's conversion rate in the first half for two-pointer was 25 per cent, as they often took the wrong option. In the 18th minute, Jordan Morris had yet to register a score and, under pressure from McCole again, he dropped a two-point attempt tamely wide. As the television cameras panned to Robbie Brennan and Shane Supple on the sideline, there was frustration evident in their body language, their willingness to embrace 'creative turnovers' maybe not as high at this moment. They would not have been happy, as Meath were very much in the game, with success on the Donegal kickout, some great defensive turnovers from Sean Rafferty and strong ball carrying from Ciaran Caulfield, but they needed to convert their chances. Donegal definitely afforded them chances. Meath two-point attempts (5-8): Meath's four consecutive two-point misses badly hurt their chances of staying in the game. Jordan Morris finally got his sole contribution to the scoreboard in the 32nd minute as his delightful dummy onto his left gave him momentary breathing space to bring the Meath tally to 0-8. However, Donegal finished the half off with two points as they continually put Billy Hogan's kickout under pressure. Ruairi Kinsella missed a rushed two-point effort as the buzzer sounded, when calm was needed to work the right shot. At half-time Donegal led 0-13 to 0-8 and the game was close to over. The removal of Michael Murphy in the 44th minute signified that Donegal has started preparation for their final joust with Kerry. A day earlier in Croke Park, the underdog struggled again but in a different way. Tyrone dominated the Kerry kickout in the first half as they won seven out of 10 of Shane Ryan's restarts, giving them a huge platform. However they were not able to punish accordingly, as Kerry came with a teak tough defensive structure and a real edge, where they had no interest in conceding soft frees or affording goal chances. Battle lines were firmly drawn as within 30 seconds Kerry executed the perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan and turned over Tyrone. Kerry controlled the tempo of the game in the next phase, before David Clifford won a free in front of the posts which Sean O'Shea converted. Kerry executed a perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan inside a minute, setting the tone The one scoreable free that Tyrone conceded in the first half was a foul with a purpose, as Joe O'Connor's quickly snuffed out a rare Tyrone jaunt toward Shane Ryan's goal. Joe O'Connor made the smart choice to give Tyrone a handy free, rather than a rare chance at goal O'Connor was involved again in the 9th minute as Kerry forced a turnover after a long spell of controlled Tyrone possession. O'Connor showed his confrontational side by winning a turnover under the Hogan stand as he hassled Brian Kennedy vigorously. O'Connor once again forcing a turnover, this time popping the ball out of Brian Kennedy In the 24th minute, Tyrone won a miscued Shane Ryan kickout but weren't able to punish with Eoin McElholm's attempt tailing wide as Kerry scrambled back. The defining turnover of the half came in the 28th minute as Mattie Donnelly wound up to shoot at the posts, but a diving block from two Kerry defenders sent the Kingdom on the attack for David Clifford's goal at the far end of the field. This block on Mattie Donnelly was rewarded, as Kerry scored their goal from it at the opposite end Clifford demonstrated the perfect back door cut, followed by a dummy bounce to beat Niall Morgan and stick it in the net. David Clifford's genius on and off the ball on show, executing the backdoor cut, rounding Niall Morgan and finishing Tyrone led after the first quarter by 0-6 to 0-4, but by half-time the scoreline was 1-9 to 0-9. Tyrone lacked some of the edge you'd associate with their tempestuous clashes with Kerry over the last 20 years, where they dictated terms. After dominating possession for much of the half, the score at the break left the Ulster underdogs with too much to do. While the scoreline on Saturday wasn't quite the massacre that Donegal delivered on Sunday, this game was just as comfortable for Kerry. After their initial second half scoring burst, Tyrone were dictated to by the Kingdom, setting up an All-Ireland final full of intrigue.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Padiham shock holders Read to set up Little Lever final
Little Lever's Adam Carter hist a century against Blackrod in his side's Hamer Cup semi-final triumph. Picture by Harry McGuire Padiham will get the opportunity to win a second Hamer Cup title in three seasons after shocking reigning champions Read in a nail-biting Sunday semi-final. Padiham will face last year's finalists Little Lever in next month's final - Sunday, August 10 - at Read after the Bolton side beat Blackrod in their last-four tie. Advertisement Read went into the semi-final, at Padiham, having only lost one game across all Antony Axford North West Cricket League competitions in 2025. They are top of the Premiership table and had already qualified for T20 Finals Day. But they were beaten by two wickets as Padiham successfully chased down 153 to win with 3.1 overs spare. Little Lever, meanwhile, were more commanding winners at home to Blackrod. They posted 259-4 from their 40 overs and bowled their Premiership rivals out for 171. Advertisement Padiham, Hamer Cup champions in 2023 - the first year of the NWCL structure - triumphed over Settle that year. They are currently fifth in the Premiership. They limited Read to 152-9 from their 40 overs, with South African overseas amateur Zander Van Tonder and Oliver Parr claiming three wickets apiece. From 68-6, Read did well to post what they did. Joe Marshall came in with the score at 8-1 after five overs and batted through the majority of the innings for a patient 49 off 85 balls with five fours and a six. Advertisement Wicketkeeper Ben Dinning also contributed 21 not out off 14 balls from number 10. In reply, Padiham made a positive start and reached 46-1 inside nine overs. However, they fell to 93-5 in the 27th over to bring the game back into the balance. The last of those five wickets was opener Joe Edgar, for 36. They later fell to 120-8 in the 33rd over, with Read the favourites at that stage as Zadian Muller, Sehan Weerasinghe, Chris Holt and Joe Halstead all took two wickets apiece. Advertisement But wicketkeeper-batter Tom Turner was Padiham's hero with an unbeaten 44 off 35 balls with four sixes. He hit two fours and two sixes as 20 came off five balls from Jack Wood in the the 37th over to seal a home victory and progression to another cup final. Little Lever set Premiership rivals Blackrod a 260-target thanks mainly to a brilliant 110no off 113 balls, including five sixes, from Adam Carter. He came in at number three - 43-1 - and shared 99 for the third wicket with Pakistani professional Muhammad Junaid from 68-2. Advertisement Junaid contributed 43 off 34 balls, with 37 from opener Cameron Murray and 31 from Adil Nisar also included in a strong batting performance which Blackrod failed to match. Their Sri Lankan pro Navod Paranavithana top-scored with 48 off 26 balls and helped them get off to a good start at 44-0. But Junaid continued his good day, claiming 5-31 from eight overs of left-arm spin. He removed captain Joey Pryle for 38 - the only other Blackrod player to pass 20. Advertisement Little Lever prevailed by 88 runs and will get the opportunity to avenge last year's final defeat to Read, who will play host to this year's final as defending champions. There will be a reserve day of Sunday, August 25, should the final not be played, or finished, at the first attempt. The final will start at 1pm.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fermanagh make two changes for Tailteann Cup semi-final
Fermanagh boss Kieran Donnelly has made two alterations for their Tailteann Cup semi-final against Kildare on Sunday. The Ernesiders have reached the last four for the first time after beating Sligo in the quarter-finals. Advertisement Luke Flanagan and Jonathan Cassidy come in for Che Cullen and Conor McKee. Kildare are unchanged from the side that beat Meath in the last eight and are boosted by the return of Callum Bolton to the bench although Ben McCormack is out. Fermanagh: Sean McNally; Luke Flanagan, Lee Cullen, Oisin Smyth; Shane McGullion, Declan McCusker, Jonathan Cassidy; Joe McDade, Darragh McGurn; Fionan O'Brien, Ryan Lyons, Ronan McCaffrey; Josh Largo Ellis, Garvan Jones, Conor Love. Subs: Ross Bogue, Che Cullen, Sean Cassidy, Diarmuid Owens, Glenn Treacy, Aogan Kelm, Jack Largo Ellis, Oisin Murphy, Conor McKee, Brandon Horan, Paul Breen. Advertisement Kildare: Cian Burke; Harry O'Neill, Mark Dempsey, Ryan Burke; Brian Byrne, David Hyland; James McGrath Kevin Feely, Brendan Gibbons; Tommy Gill, Alex Beirne Colm Dalton; Ryan Sinkey, Darragh Kirwin, Daniel Flynn. Subs: Didier Cordonnier, Jack McKevitt, Mick O'Grady, Kevin Flynn, Callum Bolton, Aaron Masterson, Paddy McDermott, Darragh Swords, Brian McLoughlin, Niall Kelly, Eoin Cully.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Sports News for 15 July 2025
New Zealand is through to the final of the under-20 rugby World Cup after beating France 34-26 in their semi-final in Italy. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Sports News for 17 July 2025
New Zealand is hrough to the final of the under-20 rugby World Cup after beating France 34-26 in their semi-final in Italy. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
