Rowing: Perhaps it will prove to be the darkest hour before the dawn, but the weekend was certainly a grim one for Irish international rowing, writes Liam Gorman.
The focus at the big Duisburg Regatta was very much on the lightweight double of Niall O'Toole and Derek Holland, and they did qualify for the finals on Saturday and Sunday. But on both days they were the last boat home in the final: sixth on Saturday and fifth yesterday behind strong winners France. No other Irish boat made it past the heats on either day. The heavyweight double of Albert Maher and Sean Jacob did at least put on a better show yesterday in their heat, but their bid to prove themselves worthy of representing Ireland at the Munich World Cup Regatta next month was hardly enhanced overall. Lightweight singles sculler Sam Lynch will also be disappointed at not making a final.
Weight problems put paid to the prospects of the lightweight quadruple scull of John Armstrong, Brendan Dolan, Emmet O'Brien and Donal McGuinness. The position for Ireland in the run-up to Munich in three weeks time is now certainly not ideal - the lightweight four, which has been training in Nottingham, are our main prospects of a good performance there.
It may be that the lightweight doubles form shows a pattern of good performances before finals - this was certainly the case at the World Championships last year - but a poor showing in the big race. It may be that this pattern could yet be overcome.
Cycling: Ciaran Power showed no sign of nerves on yesterday's opening road stage of the Tour of Italy, riding strongly throughout and finishing in the main bunch.
The 24-year-old was prominent at the front of the peloton during the 125-kilometre stage and paved the way for Linda McCartney team sprinter Tayeb Braikia to finished eighth in the bunch gallop.
Power made history on Saturday when he became one of a select few Irish riders to start one of cycling's three major tours. Power finished 155th in the Rome prologue, 34 seconds behind Jan Hruska of the Vitalicio Seguros team, but will take great encouragement from yesterday's ride.
Ireland's other neo-pro Morgan Fox showed signs that he is coming into form when he was best placed of the Tonissteiner team in the testing Vuelta Asturias in Spain. After placing an excellent 14th earlier in the race, Fox crossed the line in 77th place on yesterday's sixth and final stage to finish an encouraging 85th overall.
Stephen O'Sullivan registered a dominating performance in yesterday's Waterford Crystal Shay Elliot Memorial in Wicklow. O'Sullivan was part of a large breakaway group which went clear early on in this race, regarded as one of the toughest one-day races on the domestic calendar, and the Clarkes Nissan rider stormed ahead of Brian Lennon and Eddie O'Donoghue on the Drumgoff climb. O'Sullivan sped down the descent alone and pulled clear from a chasing group of seven riders on the run in to the finish in Bray, with O'Donoghue outsprinting Shane Baker for second.
Cricket: An undefeated century by Luke Jackson steered Pembroke to a decisive eight-wickets victory in Saturday's Leinster Senior 50 Overs League Section B match at Sydney Parade. Jackson faced 128 deliveries, and hit two sixes and 12 fours in the course of his fine knock.
After Garth Holder had removed Brian O'Rourke and Peter Davy cheaply, Trevor Dagg, who contributed an unbeaten 46, and Jackson knocked off the required runs with almost 10 overs to spare.
Earlier, as Malahide had batted first, Dave McGeehan was their top scorer, with a fine 56 which included eight fours off 105 balls. Richard Hastie took three for 24 off his 10 overs, with Emmett Whaley capturing an impressive two for 16 off 10.
Equestrian sport: Nick Skelton and Jalisco staged an inspired last draw challenge for the Asprey & Garrard Grand Prix at the Royal Windsor Horse Show yesterday and succeeded in outwitting a class field with the quickest route to the £9,000 winner's prize.
Boxing: Drogheda bantamweight Damien McKenna and Arklow welterweight James Moore crashed out to tough Ukrainians on the first day of the European championships. McKenna was ousted by Gennadi Ozarinski 10-4. Moore, a controversial though worthy choice instead of national champion Neal Gough, was somewhat unlucky to drop a 11-5 decision to another Ukrainian Valeri Brazhnik who took a warning for low shots in the third round.
