It was a night of mixed results for the three Irish clubs in European action last night as Bohemians and Dundalk narrowly missed out on Europa Conference League playoff places while Shamrock Rovers advanced. After going 2-0 down in the first half against PAOK, Bohs fought hard in the second half and very nearly clinched the goal that would have seen them force extra-time but it wasn't to be. In Tallaght, it was a similar story for Dundalk who got back into the game against Vitesse with a Patrick Hoban goal in the 70th minute but couldn't find the second needed. In Albania Rovers made light work of Teuta Durres with a Rory Gaffney double giving the Irish champions a path into the playoff round where they will face Flora Tallinn with €1.5m prize money guaranteed and the chance to increase that to €2.9m should they win.
Moving on to GAA and Limerick's Peter Casey was last night cleared to play in the All-Ireland final after he had been sent off in his side's semi-final win over Waterford. After appealing the decision, the Limerick player's case was made to a disciplinary hearing last night and they opted to go against the decision of the officials. Casey will now line out for the defending champions against Cork after the Rebels beat Kilkenny last weekend. Writing in his column this morning, Jackie Tyrrell says that progression levels for the Cats have been hurt by a dearth of underage talent and the failure to find any 'wow' players. Tomorrow Dublin face Mayo in the first All-Ireland football semi-final and this morning Seán Moran writes that the bench has proved decisive in this rivalry a number of times but this year that may not be the case again.
Moving to golf and Pádraig Harrington and Séamus Power both made strong starts in the Wyndham Championship yesterday with Harrington firing a 66 (four under) and Power a 67 (three under). Russell Henley leads the way at eight under par as players look to secure good enough finishes to make the top-125 on the FedEx Cup standings and progress to the playoffs. For the women it's the Scottish Open this week and Leona Maguire yesterday opened with a round of one under par as Michelle Thomson took the lead at eight under.
In other news, British Olympic relay medallist CJ Ujah has been suspended for an alleged anti-doping breach which could see him and his teammates stripped of their silver medals while KL Rahul put India in the driving seat on day one of the second Test against England.
