France v Ireland LIVE blog

Only 31 or so hours to go... loads of time!  Live blog is below.  Do take part but in the lead-up to the match and, of course, during the game itself.  There'll be plenty of posts about the match over the coming days so be sure to come back and check out The Almost Daily Sports Blog.

The Morning(ish) After The Night Before

Time for a post-mortem.

The last post prior to the fight was titled 'Bernard Abú' which is ironic, because last night about 9,000 souls in the O2 Arena were saying 'Bernard..Ah...Boo' or something like that. It was a disappointing fight.

I'm sure you saw it - it seemed to us that Bernard controlled, if not dominated, the opening two rounds but when he was drawn into a fight in the third, he was outclassed by Poonsawat who simply had too much power. Bernard was caught with a strong left hook - and don't underestimate the effect of the punch that cut and hurt his ear while on the way down - and he never truly recovered. He should have tied up, he should have spoiled and fouled, but he didn't. The second knockdown was brutal - there was never going to be a repeat of Cordoba Round 5.

Sometimes, when our sports stars lose, we feel cheated but not last night. All indications were that Bernard's training camp went well and he made no excuses on that front in his post-fight interview. There's also no doubt that he gave anything other than 100%. He was just beaten by a better man on the night.

Sport sucks sometimes.

At this point, I don't know if Bernard Dunne's career has been one in which he under- or over-achieved. That's because I don't want it to be over. I don't say that as a selfish fan but as someone who's genuinely trying to think of his best interests. Dunne has been beaten twice, sure, both knockouts, but he hasn't taken a large amount of beatings in recent years (Cordoba aside). He's not like, say Ricky Hatton, who looks punch drunk and should hang up the gloves. Bernard has a lot left to give inside the boxing ring, the only question is where and how.

For me, I'd be happy to see him fight Rendall Munroe for the European Super Bantamweight Title. Munroe would be a 'name' and the fight would also make cash common sense. His only other option, in my opinion, would be to move up to featherweight. At 5'7", Dunne is big at the 122lb limit and the extra bulk in his body could help him. That plan was indicated as most likely by Brian Peters last night, and both he and Bernard say that the Dubliner will fight on. Good. He needs to recover from last night, mentally more than anything else.

The good thing, though, is he will be back.

***

The rest of the card, Dunne aside, was quite good. Stephen Haughian was lucky to get a draw, and Tyson Fury wasn't that impressive - an injury to his right-hand may have something to do with that. The Jamie Power-Michael Sweeney fight on the other hand was a cracker. Like Dunne-Poonsawat, it only went three rounds but there wasn't a dull moment and it was a great win for Sweeney, the Ros Muc based Mayo native. I'd love to see the two of them go at it again. Brian Peters, or whoever, should get them to fight in a small-hall show in Power's native Limerick because that's a fight I'm more than willing to watch a lot more of. Should it happen, then I'll see you there.

***

A big thanks to all of you who checked out the live blog last night. There were hiccups, and there were issues but it was fun to share our thoughts with you in such an instant way. It's something you'll definitely see more of here at The Almost Daily Sports Blog.

T'Other Fella

As promised, here's a profile of Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, Bernard Dunne's opponent this Saturday.

***

Let's be honest, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym isn't the sort of name that rolls off the tongue. Yet, difficult as it is to pronounce, the Thai's name is on the lips of all Irish boxing fans ahead of Saturday's bout with Bernard Dunne.

The main question, to be honest, is 'Who is Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym?'

Well, that's not an easy question to answer but I'm going to try. Make no mistake, this won't be an easy fight for Dunne. Like Bernard, Poonsawat has only one defeat in his pro career. Boxrec ranks him fifth (three places ahead of the Dubliner) while the WBA have installed him as their mandatory challenger for Bernard's WBA Super Bantamweight belt.

A quick look at his record reveals a lot of truths. Very few of his wins have been against 'name' fighters, while two of his last five fights have been against men with losing records. There are impressive names on his list though. Poonsawat has a win over Somsak Sithchatchawal, a former holder of Dunne's WBA Super Bantamweight crown. That was an eleventh round knockout in March of last year, and it was this win that gave Poonsawat the right to fight for the belt on Saturday. He's also beaten four-weight World Champion Leo Gamez (indeed, Poonsawat finished the Venezuelan's career) while there is one name that Irish fans will recognise - Poonsawat handed Ricardo Cordoba his first pro defeat with a split decision win in 2005.

As I said, he also has one defeat, and that was in his only fight that hasn't taken place in Thailand. Poonsawat travelled to Germany to take on Wladimir Sidorenko in 2006 and was beaten, in a unanimous decision, by the Ukrainian (who himself has a pair of draws with Cordoba).  That defeat seems to have been a key point in Poonsawat's career. Up until then, he was pushed, and he was going for big things. The above wins, the key ones, all came before then (with the exception of the Sithchatchawal fight) and since then, most of his fights have been against fighters with less than stellar records. The bout with Dunne is his toughest since then.

This analysis leads me to make these two points about Poonsawat ahead of Saturday's fight:

1. He's a tough cookie, there's no doubt about it. He's beaten big names, and his record of 27 knockouts from 38 wins shows that he has power to boot.  He's ranked higher than Dunne and this very well may be Dunne's sternest test to boot, Cordoba included.


2. Poonsawat is a fighter looking for a second coming.  His career has stalled (bar one win) for over three years and Saturday is a must-win for him, if he is to get it back on track.  He lost his one fight away from home, against Sidorenko, in Germany and he's already making pre-emptive excuses ahead of his trip to Dublin.

Yes, those are two contradictory points, but when we know so little about Poonsawat, we don't know which is the truth.  He could be a desperate fighter who Dunne is taking on at the right time, or he could break Irish hearts this weekend.  His record shows that he is more than capable of both, but we have no way of knowing which is the truth.  Dunne's camp should be confident that the second point is what will materialise, while at the same time fearing the first.  I certainly am not be confident enough to predict this fight, either way.

***

Don't forget our LIVE blog this Saturday.  You can sign up for an email reminder for it below.  It will kick off during the day on Saturday and we'll be blogging from inside the O2 Arena, giving you a flavour of the atmosphere direct from Dublin.

A Venture Into The Unknown

Last March, on the same day that our rugby team won their first Grand Slam in 61 years, another remarkable sporting event occured in Ireland.

Bernard Dunne became WBA Super Bantamweight Champion in one of the best fights you'll ever see, knocking out Panama's Ricardo Cordoba in the 11th Round at Dublin's o2 Arena. I, along with the boss, was lucky to be there and we're going back to the o2 this Saturday for Dunne's first defence, against Poonsawat Kratingdaeng.

We're going to be blogging all day, about the journey up, the food, the cost, the fights and those quirky things that make a day like this memorable (this time I WILL figure out just how Marty Morrissey gets a crowd excited).  Our start time is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. but you can expect the comments to come in long, long before that and then they'll ramp up nearer to and during fight time.

I have some idea about how this will work, but not a massive amount! There will be issues, technical ones, but I hope that we'll be able to convey a sense of what's going on and give you a bit of the atmosphere live from Dublin.  I hope this will be the first of many live blogs here on the site.

To get you in the mood for the fight there'll be plenty of Bernard Dunne related stuff here on The Almost Daily Sports Blog all week. Sign up below if you want an email reminder about the event, and be sure to check back here on Saturday for all the shenanigans!!!

Kingdom of Heaven.

It might not have stirred Gav's sporting passions, but Kerry's destruction of Dublin in Croke Park earlier today further underlines the fact that Kerry is the Kingdom of Footballing heaven. A truly breathtaking display saw them triumph by 1-24 to 1-07.
Kerry's spectacular return to form sent the Dubs crashing out of the race for Sam Maguire at Croke Park. Dublin were simply demolished in front of a crowd of 81,890 by a Kingdom outfit bursting with energy, style and substance. Some brilliant performances from the likes of Declan O'Sullivan, Darren O'Sullivan, Colm Cooper and on and on and on. The strength in depth of the Kerry squad is unmatched by any other County in Ireland & Kieran Donaghy is out through injury!

I watched all of this weekend's 3 quarter finals. Anyone thats knows me will know that I have ties to Counties playing in each of the games. Cork's hammering of Donegal was a bitter blow. I know I was poking fun at the Donegal boys in an earlier post, but they were torn apart by a very strong Cork side.

In the other quarter final, the best of the bunch, All-Ireland champions Tyrone had to dig deep to survive Kildare's gutsy challenge at Croke Park, before squeezing through to the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals. The beaten Leinster finalists produced a heroic display at Croke Park, before going down by just two points in agonising fashion.

What I don't understand about some RTÉ panelists, is that when a team like Dublin, win their Provincial Title easily, then have a break for a few weeks, then come against a Kerry team battle hardened from their run in Qualifiers one member will say "We should take a look at the system, they haven't played at the level of intensity for a number of weeks, it was a factor today". Yet when Cork, a team that, like Dublin, haven't played in a few weeks, hammer Donegal, it gets flipped - Donegal are "Weary from their heroics in the Qualifiers, the system needs to be looked at." Seems a bit daft to me, make up your mind, when it suits it favours those coming through the Qualifiers, then Cork win easliy & the Qualifiers are to blame for a poor Donegal display. Methinks there is an apparent lack of insight from the panel when they spout inconsistent tripe like that. Then again what would I know.

Mayo & Meath meet to fight for the final remaining Semi-Final place. On the evidence of this weekend though, both teams will struggle to reach the level of Cork, Kerry & Tyrone. But, then again, what would I know.

All's Quiet On The Western Front

It’s a really quiet day in work today (the August Bank Holiday weekend is traditionally the slowest time of the year for news) and it’s also a relatively quiet time of the year for sport. Sure, Kerry are taking on Dublin in an All-Ireland Quarter Final today but since it’s a contest that’s as one-sided as a hippy missing his left-leg, it’s not coming close to stirring my sporting passions. Baseball is ongoing, but that has fleeting moments of greatness (Note to self: must post one I saw recently) and, sure, NASCAR is on today, but it’s Pocono. Don’t start me on the Ashes.

So not the most exciting couple of weeks but at the same time, there’s stuff on the horizon to whet our appetites. The Premier League will return in no time. The World Athletics Championships are only just around the corner. It won’t be long until Michael Schumacher returns.

All that’s exciting, but it’s not going to arrive for a little while yet. In the meantime, relax, enjoy something else like the football if that’s your shtick, and maybe spend time with your family and loved ones. Your favourite sports stars will be waiting for you to return in no time at all.

Have We Finally Got A Leinster Championship On Our Hands?

Wanted: One competitive Leinster Hurling Championship

Last Seen: The 2004 Wexford V Offaly final after the Yellowbellies shocked Kilkenny in the last few minutes of the Semi Final.

Reward: A possible Leinster Championship if Kilkenny are caught off-guard, or even a sliver of hope for hurling folk in other parts of the country if somebody manages to run them close.

While yesterday’s Semi-Final draw threw up two potential crackers, with Wexford facing Dublin, and Kilkenny facing Leinster newbies Galway, the likelihood of the Cats not claiming their 11^th Leinster Championship in twelve years is pretty, pretty slim. So slim, in fact, that the good burgers at a renowned bookies chain have Kilkenny at 1/4, Galway 4/1, Wexford at 10/1 and Dublin 16/1.

However, anything can happen on any given Sunday. Galway are something of an oddity in Leinster, and previous years would have had them at this time of the year preparing for a Connaught Final against Roscommon, or awaiting life straight into the qualifiers. Their league form this year was somewhat average, but do remember that they had their Portumna contingent out until after March 17^th on club duty. Also, perhaps new manager John McIntyre didn’t put as much emphasis on the league as previous regimes, given that they actually had a provincial championship ahead of them.

Nonetheless, there isn’t a lot that the Tribesmen could have learned from their inaugural Leinster drubbing of Laois by 27 points. In all fairness, Kilkenny’s last game, the League Final against Tipp, was played at more of a Championship pace than the Laois game. Actually, scratch that; a game of tiddlywinks between Tipp and Kilkenny would have been more at Championship pace than that game. However, they must be pleased that Niall Healy and Damien Hayes showed up and took some of the scoring burden off Joe Canning’s big shoulders.

Galway rely hugely on Canning, obviously so given his immense natural talent, but like Tipperary with Eoin Kelly for many years, there may not be sufficient quality in the supporting cast. No better way to find out than a Championship game against Kilkenny, and if Noel Hickey is fit, his battle with Canning could possibly be one of the most intriguing contests of not just the year, but the decade.

On the other side, Dublin eased past Antrim yesterday by ten points, but some wayward shooting led to seventeen wides. Anthony Daly really seems to have Dublin believing in themselves this year, and their fantastic league performances need to translate into a big championship performance. Dublin have some nippy, good scoring forwards like David O’Callaghan and midfielder Alan McCrabbe is something of a talisman also. They ran Wexford, who have the hulking Stephen Banville (pictured) in their ranks, close last year and could just do enough this time around to make a Leinster Final.

The two games take place on the weekend of the 20^th and 21^st of June, and after a decade of Munster Championships where it seemed just about anybody could win it, we may finally get a few classic Leinster games.