Trying to find the feel-good factor
I’M LEANING over my computer keyboard coughing and spluttering like an old jalopy trying to kick into life on a crisp, frosty morning.
The dreaded man flu has taken hold of me with the ferocity of a knockout blow from Mike Tyson in his prime.
Mercifully, I didn’t have cause to set foot outside the door on Sunday afternoon and spent the day wrapped up good and warm, flicking between top class racing from Fairyhouse, quality club G.A.A. fare, a spattering of UK Championship snooker, as well as lashings of Premier League soccer from across the water.
There was certainly a few pointers for the Cheltenham Festival in March as Gordon Elliott’s top class novice Envoi Allen continued his perfect record, Fakir D’oudairies put in a foot perfect round of jumping in the Drinmore Chase, and Honeysuckle simply blew her high-class rivals away in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle.
Thoroughbreds of a different kind were strutting their stuff in O’Moore Park as Ballyhale Shamrocks eventually pulled away from a gallant St. Mullins outfit to claim their tenth Leinster Senior hurling crown, and given the quality in their ranks it’s difficult to see anyone stopping them from going all the way.
Snooker can always be relied upon as a soothing watch when you’re feeling under the weather, and in terms of pure quality the sport has certainly hit new heights in recent years.
With the likes of Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson playing to an exceptionally high standard this season, the silky skills on the green baize temporarily takes the mind away from the sniffling and shivering.
However, the biggest excitement of the day was reserved for the Premier League on a Sunday where there were actually four half-decent contests to get the teeth into.
Often games between lesser lights can produce more thrills and spills than battles between the big guns, and sadly for Manchester United and Arsenal fans it’s in that bracket that their once mighty clubs now find themselves.
It says it all that it would have come as absolutely no surprise whatsoever to anybody to see both of these former kingpins held to 2-2 draws by Aston Villa and Norwich City respectively, and not too many would have been overly shocked if they had even tasted defeat against their less glamorous opponents.
You wouldn’t normally expect Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United to be sitting ahead of Manchester United and Arsenal 14 games into the season, but they’re there entirely on merit and their 1-1 draw is probably a good indication of their standing as two well-run clubs going in the right direction.
One team has gone even further and is really pulling up trees, and that’s Leicester City, a side that, not for the first time, are well and truly punching above their weight, and the manner of their victory over Everton at the weekend was drama of Shakespearean proportions.
VAR has correctly come in for a lot of flack, due to taking a lot of the spontaneity out of the game, but the outpouring of joy from Leicester fans when Kelechi Iheanacho’s injury time winner was allowed to stand after initially being ruled out for offside really stirred the senses, while the long-suffering Everton faithful were left crestfallen.
Brendan Rodgers deserves immense credit for the fact that the Foxes are second to his former club Liverpool, ahead of champions Manchester City and Chelsea, and a whopping twelve points clear of Spurs back in fifth.
Sunday’s dramatic victory against the Toffees was their sixth Premier League triumph in a row, and with Jamie Vardy on fire in front of goal and a young squad brimful of talent, there’s no telling how far this side can go.
Champions League football next season is firmly on their radar, and although the manager will continually play down their chances of achieving that lofty goal, it would come as a major disappointment if they don’t secure a top four finish after their lightning start to the season.
Unsurprisingly, the former Celtic manager has been linked with what would be perceived as far bigger jobs, but why would he even consider jumping ship with the happiness that’s around the King Power Stadium at the moment?
Yours truly could certainly do with some of that feel-good factor right now as I struggle to keep heavy eyelids from closing.
Achoo!