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Victory at last for Stephen Kenny’s Ireland; Lowry starts strongly at Memorial

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Troy Parrott's first international goals spared Ireland's blushes as they came from behind in Andorra to finally hand manager Stephen Kenny victory at the 12th attempt. Parrott is confident he can nail down his place in the team and keep scoring goals. Check out Patrick Madden's player ratings here. Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of Euro 2020 after suffering a thigh injury during England's friendly win over Austria.

Shane Lowry maintained his largely excellent form of late with an opening, three under par, 69 at a weather affected Memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio. He's three off the first round leader Collin Morikawa after a round plagued by weather delays. Rory McIlroy will have to resume his first round this morning after play was eventually called off due to the inclement weather. He is 1-over through two holes.

Jackie Tyrrell believes Limerick need to become a moving target to keep the chasing pack at bay. In his column this morning he explains why the champions have the manager and players to go back-to-back but they still have to evolve: "They are now what Kilkenny were year after year in my time playing. They are the team with the target on their backs. They are the ones everyone is gunning for. They make the stakes for every game – there's far more than two league points on offer each time they go out. Everyone wants their scalp." Jim McGuinness told journalists on Thursday that Dublin are the only team not buying into high-scoring football and the champions are the best defensive team in the country.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer admitted he felt like the new guy on tour after losing his cool during a second-round win against Marin Cilic at the French Open in a row over towels. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal also reach next round with straight sets wins