world snooker championship 30-4-14 quarters

 

Mark Selby cruised into the semi finals of the world championship today. Alan Mc Manus did come out fighting in the final session but it was in the second session that he lost the match only gaining one frame of 9 after being down by 4 frames to 3 he was 12 frames to 4 down going into the final session. This however was a great tournament for Mc Manus and you have to give him credit for that.

 

Ronnie O Sullivan was able to cruise into the semi final with a session to spare after beating Shaun Murphy 13-3. O Sullivan was winning frames from getting leads then missing Murphy getting in a missing and O Sullivan clearing up. There was one big pink Missed after all Murphy had to do is score from the spot but he missed. Ronnie made a couple of centuries getting closer to Steven Hendry’s record while Murphy only made one. Shaun will have big regret s as he could have done a lot more. Ronnie got twice as many points as Murphy and scored twice as many balls which says this was a dominant performance

champions league semi 30-4-14

 

Real’s first goal was bad zonal marking by a good corner and a perfect header from Ramos 1-0 16 minutes gone  

Di Maria gets into the box from a free kick flick from Pepe and put in by Ramos

Real having the perfect passing move from there own box and Gareth Bale got the ball into the Bayern box passed to Ronaldo 34 minutes gone 3-0

Perfect free kick from just outside the box from Ronaldo under the wall to put puncture in Bayern’s performance on 90 minutes

The question here has to be where Bayern Munich is the best team in Europe and does something need to be done for next season

4th place race 29-4-14

Here is my brief story of Arsenal vs Newcastle

A badly defended free kick put into the net by Kooscielny

 

Long ball to Gerould Keeper saves and also saves the reaction shot but passes to Ozil who puts the ball in the net

Ball down the sides from Ramsay To Ozil who crosses into Geroud
Newcastle were never out of this game and had a few chances especially a good one at 2-0 Arsenal but they did not look like competing with them. This result gives Arsenal a cushion in 4th spot as the final 2 matches come

world snooker championship 29-4-14

 

Going into the third session Neil Robertson led 9-7 but Mark Allen was strong enough to make the score 8-8 but could not win that final frame. In the final session Neil Robertson put in an awesome performance as he hit a 94 and a 95 still not being able to put in a century to make his hundredth. Neil Robertson could win this title and in my opinion he is the favourite still and is the only non British player left in the competition

 

In the other match of the afternoon Dominic Dale cruised to victory over Michael Wosley. The first session is where this game was won as Wosley could not get out of the traps as he lost the first session 7-1 and the second lead 12-4. Wosley might have been emotionally tired after beating the best player of the year so far Ding Junhai and this gave a lot more control to Dominic Dale as he won all 3 sessions. In my opinion Dominic Dale is a surprise package and has got very little hope when he plays a big boy (O Sullivan Robertson Selby etc)

 

In the first match of the evening Judd Trump cruised into the quarter finals leading 9-7 from the first session with a 13-7 win over Ryan Day. There was never a time when you would think that Trump could loose this match as he looked so easy for him. I feel that with performances like this Judd Trump is a big player now but how will he cope with that

 

Shaun Murphy also did not have it that tough as he defeated Marco Fu which means still to this point there will not be an Asian World Champion as he had a 10-6 lead overnight. Murphy had a little bit of clinchers disease as he did lead 12-7 being in the balls but when he was not able to clear it up as he seamed nervous. He did win the match in the next match. You can not be certain what Shaun Murphy will show up for this match  

heniken cup semi 28-4-14

Saracens Vs Clemanunt

 

In the first half Saracens put in a very impassive display leading by 24 points to 6 and Owen Farell hitting his penalties. The first Saracens try the ball was got in the centre and pushed out wide. Saracens then got a penalty try that was very not right whether he would have grounded the ball but by this stage the match was over and the 2 tries in the last 5 minutes one from Chris Whyles  leaving the score 46-6 left Clemaunt Auverne having a very bitter taste in their mouths. Clemaunt could not really get started in this match and that is to do with how well Saracens did.

Tolon vs Munster

 

This was a battle of the penalties as we saw why Johnny Wilkonson and Armatich is the best kicker in the world as Tolon lead by 18 to 9 before Munster got their try. As Connor Murray gets the ball off to Simon Zebo for the only try of the match which was converted and Munster were only down by 2. But Munster kept making mistakes and Johnny Wilkinson kicked another penalty before going for a drop goal but Munster did have a penalty themselves and were a man down so felt they had to go for a try but if you are a man down that means less power. Johnny Wilkinson had a simple penalty to make the score full time Tolom 24-6 Munster

title race 28-4-14

 

In the title race you might have thought that Chelsea would have beaten Liverpool yesterday but you would not have predicted how. For the first just before half time goal Steven Gerard made a horrible mistake which left Ba one on one with the keeper and he put the ball into the net very comfortably. For the second Chelsea there was only a couple of minutes to go and  every Liverpool player was up and Chelsea made a break with Torrez and Gallas coming to have a 2 on one with the keeper as there was no one back to rescue them as he had a simple finish. I do not think that this title race will be won until the final day. I hope that Liverpool do get another chance as I feel that this will be harsh on Gerard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man City got the first goal very early as Yaya Toure gave the perfect direct pass to Dzecko 1-0 4 minutes. Toure is also very important in the second goal as he scores from 1,2 passing with 4 different players and getting the ball on a wide angle for the volley. Man City now has to try to get 9 points from 3 matches will it happen I am not sure  

 

 

snooker quarter finalists 28-4-14

 

Mark Selby secured a place in the quarter finals with a 13-9 win over Ali Carter. It did take Selby a while to get over the line as he lead 12-7 but the early sessions in this were quality as both players upped their game much more since the first round. I feel that if things go right Selby can win this world title

 

Ronnie O Sullivan won his match with Joe Perry 13-11 with back to back centuries but it was not ever as easy as that as Ronnie had never led in this match loosing the first session 5-3 and the second session 9-7 also being down 11-9 in the third mini session. Ronnie did not seem to be his best but Joe Perry did not whittle when others might have. This in my opinion will be one of the matches that makes Ronnie O Sullivan a champion. In my opinion Ronnie has not done enough to be favourite that honour should go to Mark Selby or Neil Robertson

 

Barry Hawkins Defeated Ricky Walden 13-11 in his last 16 match but no one had any control of this particular match. Going into the final session it was 9-7 but Walden did bring it back to 10-10 and 11-11 before Hawkins took control of this match. Ricky Walden must be disappointed as to loose such a big lead in the early sessions. Hawkins has a chance but only if he can get his act together  

 

Ken Doherty never really had a chance in this match against Alan Mc Manus as the first session was very close with Doherty loosing 4-3 they did not play the final frame as the game was so slow.. Doherty could not get a single frame in the second session as there must have been something up with him and there was only one century in this match by Mc Manus with a 107 but Doherty’s highest break was 26. In the third session Doherty did bring it back and got a 93 to 11-8 but with such a big deficit like that you know that it just about lowering the number you loose by to make it respectable. But Mc Manus was able to kill of Doherty and win back to back frames to win the match 13-8. Mc Manus I feel has got slim to no hopes of winning this title   

world snooker championship blog 25-04-14

Dominic Dale found it very difficult to get over the line but you would not have thought that as he was 9-2 up. Mark Davis did bring it back to 9-5 but when he did win a respoted black it must have done something to Dale mentally as he had just cleared up to make it but Dale did get the win winning 10-6 but I would be shocked if he beat a favourite for the title O Sullivan Selby Robertson etc  

Neil Robertson proved to be the only man on form as yesterday he cruised to a 10-2 win over Robbie Williams (real name) after getting the highest break of the first round of 140 that could win the high break prise he also got 4 centuries and looks very good

premiere league darts blog 25-4-14

 

Peter Wright is making sure that he will be in the semi finals with a 7-5 win over Robert Thornton last night. Wright was much more dominant in the trebles hitting twice as many 100 plus shots than Thornton. I think that there is very little chance of Thornton reaching the semi finals as he does not seem mentally there yet. You can always see something mad on Wright’s hair and he should focus more on the darts and he may be a top player

 

 

 

 

 

 Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson drew last night which does little for either’s play off hopes. Taylor did have the chance to gain the advantage and lead 4-1 but was un Taylor like as he did not punish his opponent the way he normally does. Gary Anderson was able to get a point back as he regained his form. Taylor was 10 points higher in the averages but averages do not seem to win matches as his finishing was quite week and like in the early part of the season he has to take a look at that as it might be the difference between 4^th and 5^th

 

^Van Barneveld in my opinion is 1 point away from being certain of a semi final spot after beating Adrian Lewis 7-3. He has got the form and quality and you can see in his trebles and doubles and looks like a favourite for the title

 

Michael Van Gerwin secured a place in the semi finals with a 7-4 win over Dave Chisnal and looked very good with a 109 average. In my opinion he is playing the best darts at the moment

 

 

 

 

In the bonus match Robert Thornton did Phil Taylor a big favour as he drew 6-6 with Gary Anderson. There was never a big gap between the two players. Anyone could have won this match with a big three darts against the throw. There were times here when Anderson could not hit a double to save his hopes but there was never a big chance for Anderson to take control of this match and his position assuring fourth as with this result he dropped into fifth position which would not be a play off position

world snooker championship 24-4-14

 

Marco Fu became the only Asian player to qualify for the second round as he defeated Michael Gould by 10 frames to 7 Marco has an impressive 93 and a century with a 116 but Fus highest break was a 124 in the match and looked like he could beat Bingum well who’s highest break was a 68. There may be too much pressure on Fu to go far so he might beat himself as he is the only Asian in the second round

In the second match Mark Allen secured a spot in the last 16 with a 10-4 win over Michael Holt the final session was a very scrappy occasion but every frame was won by Allen who came in with a 65 break to win the match. Allen was putting up break after break in the first session with 54 a 61 and a 70 in the early stages of the match. I have got absolutely   no idea whether Allen will play well or badly but he is the only Northern Irish player so let’s support him

champions league 24-4-14

Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich

The only goal of the game came as Toni Kross met a goalbound volley then Real Madrid broke away as Ronaldo released Fabio Cotrano with a perfect pass who crossed the ball into Benzema who scored his 24^th goal of the season

Iso cross eluded Byern again as he put the ball into Di Maria who could not get the correct finish

Byerns big chance came 6 minutes from time when Mario Gotze was picked up by Thomas Muller who had only got Casillas to beat from 8 yards but could not find a way past

Madrid had got more of a share of this game and hope not to regret not putting chances away to win the match Final score Real Madrid 1-0 Bayern Munich

football blog 23-4-14

Leister city clinched the championship last night as the defeated Bolton Wanders 1-0 at the Reebok. Lloyd Dyer getting the vital goal on 62 as he was able to cut in from the right to shoot from distance and score. There will be some great celebrations in Leister as they know now Burnley can not catch them and they have 2 games to spare

In the Champions League last night Chelsea got an away draw at Spanish League leaders Athletico. Next for them is the play off tie with Liverpool as it will show both teams ambitions and where they are.

At the start of the match Chelsea did not come out until 7.45. Chelsea then go to have the first little spell of pressure but Athletico cleat that out and then Peter Check gets injured as he falls awkwardly from a throw in and it looked like the shoulder had popped.

 

At the the end of the half Athletico demand a penalty after Deago Costa falls on Aoplicuetas midriff

Raul Garcia has a shot but Swartser does well to save it

 

In the second half Fernando Torrez showed what he can do if you want to dropping the defender and taking the shot but the shot itself was too week

Raul Garcia gets the ball from a cross but heads it over the bar

This is not an interesting 0-0 but it will be interesting how Chelsea will play as a goalie and as an attacking force against Liverpool on Sunday  

 

 

23-4-14 snooker world championship

 

Judd Trump secured a spot in the second round after beating Tom Ford 10-7 but there was not a single century the highest break being a 77 or exciting frame in the match. Judd was able to kill it of with a simple enough blue and pink to secure the match winning frame. No player got too far ahead of the other player for comfort. Judd will be an big player to play in the next round.  And a possible champion

 

Ricky Walden beat Kyron Wilson 10-7 to secure a place in the second round. The final frame was a thriller and lasted 75 minutes long. But a bad shot left Walden the chance to pot the remaining colours to win the match. A big player but not too well known maybe a quarter final

 

Barry Hawkins defeated Dave Gilbert got the only century of the match in this game against as he had won by 10 frames to 8  and had won 8 frames in a row  but Dave Gilbert did not get a century in this entire match with a high break of 77. Barry is not that well known so I think that he can go far but how far


I do think that bringing the championship to 128 and not giving seeds protection will make for as more a more interesting championship and a completely different type of player. His ideas have worked so far but it may change the way certain people want to play ie Ronnie O Sullivan John Higgins or a young player

22-04-14title race

 

Man City took control of the match against WBA as early as the third minute as a short throw in passed around very well for City and crosses ball came back out and the ball was re crossed by Nasri  Augero takes the ball and shoots at shot the keeper saved and then put in the net by Zabaleta 1-0 man city 3 minutes gone  

 

Augero hat an amazing volley from just outside the box to make the score 2-0 on 10 minutes

 

WBA did pull 1 back a general passing move Dorans getting the ball and taking a perfect first touch and beating Clichy and volleying home  to score 16 minutes gone 2-1 16 minutes hone and this looked like there would be a lot of goal in this match at this point

It took until the 36^th minute to get the fourth goal  Nasris corner comes in a flick  from Kompany on and the ball put into the net off his Demichilis head final score man city 3 WBA 1

Man City are trying as hard as they can to bring this Premiere League to at least the final day and it might end up like that but this does put them 6 points behind Liverpool with a game in hand

world championship snooker 22-4-14

 

Alan Mc Manus defeated John Higgins by 10 frames to 7 but Higgins seemed dead at 9 frames to four and looked done and dusted this now is the third time in a row that John Higgins has been knocked out in the first round of the championship. The second round match with Ken Doherty will be a memory of old clashers between the two in the 1990s

 

Mark Selby was 8-4 up over Michael White and was in the colours to make it 9-4 but White brought it back to 8-8 and missed a bad pink. But the match itself went down to a final frame and with a tie like that it is anyone’s game. Mark Selby won it but did show weakness in this match  

 

Ding Junhai was the form player of the year and was expected to get past Micheal Wasley quite comfortable. They had to come back and play a night session after the evening was not sorted out. The match went into a final frame after Wasley hit a 103 to bring it to a final frame decider. In the final frame a major fluke on the final red gave Wasley that chance. Ding got 3 snookers on the pink which Wasley was able to get out of. Wasley potted the pink to secure a place in the second round  

pro 12 2 matches to go

 

Ulster have had a horror time of it in Glasgow as they lost by 27 point to 9 to Glasgow warriors who I think now might be in the place to get a home semi final so Munster watch out Lenster beat Treviso very well to show how poor Treviso are and how strong Leinster. Munster just got over the line against Connacht and should have better preparations for the Heineken cup semi final. Ulster need a win to secure a semi final from their 2 matches against leinster and munster to secure a semi final spot

title race 21-4-14

 

All Liverpool fans should give Sunderland a big thank you as they managed to do Liverpool another big favour by beating Chelsea on Saturday night by 2 goals to 1

 

Liverpool showed why they had got the form that they have after defeating Norwich by 3 goals to 2 but with Liverpool taking a comfortable 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes with Suarez and Sterling again they showed that they have problems defensively as Norwich pulled one back with Gary Hooper . Then Sterling scored again to make the score 3-1 and Snodgrass made the score 3-2

Man City Play west brom  tonight. Liverpool play Chelsea on Sunday if Liverpool beat Chelsea the lowest they can finish is second  if man city fail to win one of their next 3 matches and Liverpool beat Palace Liverpool are champions and I would not have thought to be thinking of this