Australia 109-69 Ireland
I went to the second test of the International Rules Football match between Ireland and Australia at Croke Park yesterday. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a hybrid game combining Gaelic football and Aussie rules that is played beween the two countries every year. The series alternate between Ireland and Australia and are decided on the aggregate score over two matches.
Ireland led 48-40 from the first test played in Galway a week earlier. Despite over 82,000 in attendance, the game was never much of a contest. Australia outplayed Ireland for most of the match and deservedly retained the Cormac McAnallan Cup. They were much fitter and physical and were a lot more comfortable with the ball. Ireland could only kick long balls and try to win marks, which they didn't do successfully. Neither did they pass the ball well. They also stood off opposing players and gave them too much space. However, one player who did shine for Ireland was Alan Brogan, which gave Dublin fans some small consolation. His running and scores were pretty much the only things that gave us any hope. Unfortunately, the match finished 69-31 in Australia's favour with them winning the series 109-69 overall.
I'm sure there will be calls for the series to be abandoned. There were several brawls throughout the game. However, to me that's part of the reason I went to the match, although I would hate to see a repeat of last year's scenes where some of the Australian players deliberately set out to injure their opponents. All in all, it was quite disappointing and my misery was compounded when I found out that Arsenal lost 1-0 away to West Ham. Bollocks!
posted by Kealo at 13:47
2 Comments:
The commentary on the radio this morning made it sound like it was one long brawl interspersed with occasional bouts of sport; they suggested that the whole thing is so farcical that no one will bother with it in future.
The Irish Times and the RTÉ News said pretty much the same thing. The GAA Preseident Nicky Brennan has stated that the game has no future. There's no doubt that the Australians were very aggressive and some their tackles on our players were nothing short of assault, particularly the one on poor Graham Geraghty. I think to call for its demise is shortsighted and petulant. The GAA doesn't like it and has decided to take its ball home.
Post a Comment
<< Home