Competitive league encounters
In last weekend's National League quarter finals
Leinster's only representatives, Offaly, continued to
make big strides after winning last year's Leinster
title. They took on Galway at Dr Hyde Park in rough
conditions. Offaly's superior physical strength and
their ability to take scores from play was enough to
secure victory over the Tribesmen. They withstood a
heavy onslaught in the final 20 minutes, then slotted
over a couple of points in the final minutes to confirm
their win.
all-Ulster clash at Croke Park saw Monaghan take on
Down. With eight minutes remaining it looked in the bag
for the Mournemen, until a late Monaghan resurgence (or
a lack of Down fitness and/or concentration) saw them
net two goals from substitute Darren Swift and Stephen
McGinnity. Down, now two points in arrears, came back
with a Mickey Linden point but Monaghan held on to
clinch a surprise place in the semis next Sunday.
A disastrous performance from the footballers of Cork
led to them crashing out. Their opponents must have
been surprised at the ease of their victory. After 44
minutes the Donegal men were 2-11 to 0-9 in front,
after which Cork were awarded a dubious penalty. The
goal however failed to rally the Rebel County. Their
performance is summed up by the fact that they failed
to score for the rest of the game. Plenty of pre-season
training needed down in Cork for the up-coming
championship.
The final encounter was between Derry and Mayo at
Sligo's Markievicz Park. Mayo again must be wondering
what they did wrong as a Gary Coleman goal was the
differnec between the sides at the end.
Celtic 1 Rangers 2
A repeated squandering of chances was the main cause of
Celtic's defeat in the Scottish Cup semi-final and the
ending of the chance for the treble. McCoist was the
cause of Celtic frustration yet again as he crashed
home a 74th minute goal. Craig Burley and Paul Lambert
flowed in midfield and Simon Donnelly and Larsson
playing well, but problems up front is still the main
cause of concern.
We'll see what happens at Ibrox.
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY
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