Cushie Wayne close to hat-trick
IT WAS a quiet week in the greyhound racing world as Waterford’s Thursday morning meeting was abandoned due to the weather.
However, there was some good efforts nonetheless for Co. Wexford runners in Shelbourne Park, starting with another great run by Cushie Wayne, owned by John Codd and Diana Brodie from Enniscorthy.
Wayne was bidding for a hat-trick of wins on Saturday night and went down by only three-quarters of a length in race nine, an open 525, in a very fast time of 28.34.
Racing from trap one, he pushed the winner all the way, running second from the first bend, and was just unable to reel in the leader, Romeo On Fire.
On Friday night the Brendan Murphy-owned Ballinabola Moll ran a good race to finish third in the semi-final of the Bull Run Bolt 575 Stake and is rewarded by lining out in this week’s final.
Meanwhile, Elsie The Cooper had no luck and failed to qualify.
It will not be long now before the new season gets under way at Enniscorthy, and owners and trainers will be very relieved that the travelling will be cut down in the present climate.
The IGOBF have brought out a series of videos online to show how owners and trainers look after their charges – the #OurGreyhoundsOurLives #BehindTheTrack docu-series.
People should watch this series and make their own mind up in a properly informed manner before calling for closure of an industry that gives back over 300 million euro and thousands of jobs for an outlay of just 19 million euro which comes from the betting levy, not from the general public budget.
AH, ST. Valentine’s Day. An occasion filled with love, passion and just a touch of je ne sais quoi.
Unfortunately, France killed off the romance in a sporting sense, edging out Ireland 15-13 as they caressed the oval ball with the loving touch of Casanova, with Ireland all too often impotent going forward.
Despite having ample opportunity in terms of territory and looking the better team for a good chunk of the first-half, Ireland, as is often their wont, struggled to create try-scoring chances, regularly looking somewhat toothless in attack.
But for a favourable bounce of the ball and some predatory finishing by Rónan Kelleher they wouldn’t have crossed the whitewash at all and the margin of defeat would have much greater.
The only time Ireland really managed to cut the French defence open was when winger James Lowe came within a lick of paint of scoring a try, only to be denied because his boot grazed the line, illustrating that their attacking approach needs to be worked on.
Of course, there’s a few bright points too, but there’s no sense in ignoring the obvious deficiencies and spouting the usual ‘ brave defeat’ claptrap as another disappointment is digested.
There’s a certain breed of Ireland supporter that believe it’s blasphemous to throw any sort of criticism in the direction of their rugby heroes and that they’re somehow exempt from critique, but the team are clearly struggling at present, with the closeness of the final scoreline on Sunday merely papering over the cracks.
That said, it’s not all doom and gloom. The forwards have been good in the main, with the scrum and line-out solid, and it looks like Paul O’Connell is already having a major influence, but creativity is seriously lacking and possession is simply kicked away far too often.
One thing that can never be faulted is the effort of the players as they continue to give their all until the end, but that should be a given in international sport.
I don’t expect Ireland to ever have the flair of France when they’re on song, but they should be able to put together some eye-catching back play and offer more going forward than just a barrage of Garryowens.
The French showed how the game can be played with Charles Ollivon’s wonderfully-worked firsthalf try after a flowing move.
Ireland may rarely be capable of that sort of flamboyance, but a bit of good inter-play and a few more off-loads shouldn’t be beyond them.
Far from being ‘The Team of Us’, the Irish rugby side seem to be the most divisive outfit in the country and clearly have the Marmite Effect on the populace. Judging by social media, for some they can do no wrong, while there’s others that take great delight in their downfall when things don’t go according to plan, heckling like some drunken fool at a stand-up comedy night.
There has to be a middle ground. Gallant defeats and moral victories used to be the norm in years gone by, but the good days showed us that Ireland are capable of so much more, and expecting a bit extra from the team isn’t something that should be frowned upon.
We may be talking about narrow margins, with a two-point defeat to the tournament favourites not looking disastrous on paper, but the home side were flattered by how close they got, and having now lost their opening two Six Nations games for the first time they are already out of the hunt with the tournament only beginning to warm up.
Thankfully a meeting with Italy in two weeks’ time will give them an easy opportunity to partially heal the gaping wounds.
If Ireland can’t run in a hatful of scores against the Azzurri and show some verve in the back line, it will be a sorry state of affairs.
Sadly, like a fleeting romance, the Irish appear to lack any real depth at present, while the French look to be well on their way to a loving marriage, but are still far from being settled, rarely getting out of third gear on Sunday.
It won’t always be chocolate and flowers, and you have to take the rough with the smooth, but Ireland need to freshen things up sooner rather than later before the passion fades and the relationship turns sour.