Emergency. What emergency?

Following their drubbing at the hands of Dublin in last week's national hurling league, prematurely-sharpened axes were readied and knee-jerk epitaphs written for John McIntyre as Galway hurling boss. However, many detractors may well be holding the back pages after witnessing Portumna's clinical dismantling of Ballyhale Shamrocks in the All-Ireland semi-final on Sunday last.

Speaking at half-time on RTE Radio 1, the Galway manager could barely disguise his glee with the Portumna performance, as a week's dismay was replaced with a real hope for the summer ahead. It is unfair to place undue pressure on the young shoulders of Joe Canning, but his ability to dismantle even the toughest of defences – ask the 2008 Cork backline or Ballyhale – will be a vital weapon in McIntyre's armoury after St Patrick’s Day.

The displays of the Hayes' and Ollie Canning are also sure to have turned the head of the Tipperary native, handing him some much welcomed selection options. And with a fixture against the Cork 'reserves' next weekend, Galway have a perfect opportunity to get the show on the road once more.

Maybe the whole world's not in a state o' chassis after all!

Will the punishment fit the crime?

It was great to see the return to action of Arsenal’s Eduardo to first team action recently after his horrendous leg-break against Birmingham City a year ago.

City defender Martin Taylor was branded a hack for his lunge at the Croatian international and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claimed "he should never be let play football again". This weekend, Newcastle midfielder Kevin Nolan was red-carded for a tackle equally as ugly – if not worse – as Taylor's on Everton's Victor Anichebe, but because he apologised he has been labelled as 'not that kind of player'.

Taylor caught Eduardo with a one-footed tackle above the ankle and unfortunately did serious damage; Nolan dived in knee-high, caught Anichebe with both feet and was lucky to escape with his limb attached. Taylor will forever be remembered as the leg-breaker, but Nolan's ugly antics will, I'm sure, be written off as out of charachter.

Another blight on the game

The undoubted highlight of the weekend was a yellow card handed out to Cristiano Ronaldo for his exquisite impression of a bag of spuds against Blackburn. The Portugeese flyer was booked for his idiotic tumble by referee Howard Webb as he raced toward goal and left his leg trailing in an attempt to con the whistle blower.

And to top his shameful diving antics, he – not for the first time this season – followed it up with a petty kick at David Dunn. Recently Sean Wright-Phillips was handed a three-match ban for a carbon-copy attack on Rory Delap. Whether or not Ronaldo is similarly punished by the FA remains to be seen, but the major damage was already done, as he stepped up to score the winner for United.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment