Downey, English land madison gold

CYCLING

MARK DOWNEY and Felix English have rounded off the final event in the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup in LA with a gold medal win in the Madison.

The Irish team made clear their intentions with another dominant performance putting them in first place ahead of Denmark and New Zealand, adding gold to the silver they won last week at the World Cup in Cali.

The Madison race is a fast and tactical event that involves a two-rider team working together to cover 30km, or 120 laps of the track, slinging each other into action. There are sprints every ten laps, and bonus points for lapping the field.

The Irish duo lapped the field at the halfway point before waiting for the perfect moment to launch their final attack on the field which secured gold.

“That was a class race, I enjoyed every minute of that one, for the first time in a Madison we were actually in control,” said Downey. “After the fourth sprint we first tried our trademark move, but it didn’t work and we were caught, but we nailed it again and it worked.

Meanwhile, in the Individual Pursuit Anna Turvey finished tenth with a time of 3.43.639 and Eoin Mullen finished 21st in the Keirin.

TENNIS

SEVEN-TIME Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship winner Roger Federer eased into the second round with a comfortable victory over Benoit Paire.

The Swiss, seeded third, took just 54 minutes as he won 6-1, 6-3 in his first competitive outing since winning last month’s Australian Open.

Federer’s serve was unaffected by the lay-off as he won 70pc of his service points and broke his French opponent in both sets twice.

“I think I returned very well for a first round. I was able to get my second serves in deep, was able to go into the offensive quickly,” Federer said.

“It was very quick rallies so we’ll see how that’s going to turn out.

“But obviously it couldn’t be a better first round for me here in Dubai and I’m glad to be back.”

SOCCER

PREMIER DIVISION newcomers Drogheda United have been dealt a blow after learning that their main winter signing Killian Brennan faces two months on the sidelines.

Brennan, brought in from Shamrock Rovers, broke his collarbone in Friday night’s 1-0 win over Galway United and is now expected to be out for 8-10 weeks.

Derry City’s main striker Rory Patterson was also in the wars on the opening night but he is only expected to miss three weeks after damaging medial ligaments in their drubbing of Bohemians.