The Republic of Ireland ended their three-game international window on a relative high note last night, as another late equaliser gave them a 1-1 draw against Serbia at the Aviva Stadium. Stephen Kenny's side went behind to a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic header from a corner after 20 minutes, and had to rely on the brilliance of 19-year-old Gavin Bazunu to stay in the game thereafter. However late, haphazard pressure reaped its rewards and an 87th minute Callum Robinson cross cause havoc in the Serbian box, with Milinkovic-Savic's clearance crashing into Nikola Milenkovic and then into his own goal. The late equaliser sparked an eruption among the 25,000 supporters present at Lansdowne Road, and means Ireland's hopes of reaching the 2022 World Cup are still alive mathematically, just. Gavin Cummiskey was at the Aviva. Meanwhile Ken Early has suggested it was about time Ireland received some luck, which came in the form of Bazunu's heroics and the late goal: "If Ireland had been only averagely lucky instead of consistently unlucky, the picture in the qualifying group could look quite different. Tonight, on the night when they arguably least deserved it, good luck finally came."
The All-Ireland football final draws closer and in his column this morning Darragh Ó Sé has looked ahead to Saturday's clash between Mayo and Tyrone - two teams he feels have very similar strengths and weaknesses. But he believes this year James Horan's side will finally have the edge on the biggest of days: "Tyrone knew they could disrupt Kerry by turning up the heat. But the higher they turn the heat on Mayo, the more Mayo like it. When it comes right down to it, Mayo have beaten better teams than Tyrone have over the past few seasons. They have everything in their track record except the last thing, the most important thing. Now's their time to go and get it."
Elsewhere the semi-finals of the US Open will have a youthful, Canadian twist to them after both Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime reached the last four at Flushing Meadows. Fernandez - who turned 19 on Monday - stunned Elina Svitolina in three sets to become the youngest woman semi-finalist in New York since Maria Sharapova. 21-year-old Auger-Aliassime meanwhile is the first-ever Canadian male to reach the US Open semis in 140 years following the second set retirement of Spain's 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. Later today Britain's Emma Raducanu will look to continue her fairytale tournament as she takes on Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals.
And Solheim Cup star Leona Maguire has insisted she won't be any different following her heroics which saw Europe retain the trophy on US soil this week. "I don't think you could have dreamed up something like this," said Maguire, who was a captain's pick. "It has been a very special week. We were definitely the underdogs. To get the win is very, very special."
