“History or heartbreak were the only outcomes on offer at the Avia Stadium,” writes Gordon Manning, “but for Ireland it proved to be the latter on a gut-wrenching Tuesday night in Dublin.” Their 2-1 play-off defeat by Wales means Eileen Gleeson’s side misses out on a place in Euro 2025 next summer, an outcome, Gavin Cummiskey believes, that “slows all the progress made by this team for women’s football in Ireland”. The worst of it all, says Malachy Clerkin, is that “Wales were there to be beaten”, but Ireland “can’t really have any complaints”, they “have nothing to feel hard done by here”.
Emotions, need it be said, were running high in both camps afterwards, Gleeson pointing to “provocation” from the Welsh bench during the game, their coach, Rhian Wilkinson, revealing that one of her players lost a tooth after an “old fashioned dust up”. You have a sense the camps won’t be exchanging Christmas cards any time soon.
In rugby, Gordon D’Arcy gives his thoughts on Ireland’s 2024, eight wins in 11 matches “a fine return by any stretch of the imagination”. “A Six Nations Championship title, a drawn series in South Africa and finishing the calendar year ranked number two in the world should be celebrated,” he writes.
On their return to club duty, Ireland’s Leinster players finally got to meet their new boy Jordie Barrett who is, John O’Sullivan tells us, in contention for a place in the matchday 23 for Sunday’s opening Champions Cup match against the Bristol Bears.
Munster begin their campaign at home to Stade Francais on Saturday, their interim head coach Ian Costello welcoming the arrival of New Zealander Chris Boyd as a performance consultant. Ulster are preparing for a “brutally tough” opener against European champions Toulouse, while Connacht welcome Zebre to the Dexcom Stadium for round one of the Challenge Cup.
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran contrasts the fortunes of past groups tasked with improving football with that of the current Football Review Committee whose proposals were overwhelmingly supported at last Saturday’s special congress.
And in light of Conor Fogarty’s announcement that he is retiring from inter-county hurling, Gordon looks at how it is “yet another black and amber thread tugged away from the already fraying fabric of Kilkenny’s most glorious era”. Just two players from their last All Ireland win, in 2015, are still playing for the county.
In racing, Brian O’Connor talks to former trainer Ger Hussey whose plan for the rehoming and retraining of retired racehorses was rejected recently by Horse Racing Ireland. He’s hopeful, though, that pressure from the European Union, who have appointed a commissioner for animal welfare, will result in improving welfare standards.
TV Watch: If you have access to Amazon Prime, you have your pick of tonight’s English Premier League games, among them Liverpool’s trip to Newcastle and relegation-threatened Manchester City’s home tie against Nottingham Forest (both 7.30). And at 8.15, Premier Sports 1 have the meeting of Arsenal and Manchester United (8.15). Match of the Day will have highlights of all the games later in the night (BBC1, 10.40).
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