A round-up of today's other stories in brief
McDowell sends message to Tiger's caddie Williams
GOLF: Gamesmanship is part and parcel of matchplay but Graeme McDowell is ready for anything that comes his way should Tiger Woods and caddie Steve Williams stand between him and the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship title on Sunday night, writes Brian Keogh.
While McDowell went out of his way to describe Williams as “a sportsman” he hasn’t forgotten how the New Zealander removed his caddie’s bib as McDowell stood over a crucial 25-footer on the final green at last December’s Chevron World Challenge in California.
McDowell holed the putt to force Woods into sudden death and then repeated the trick at the first extra hole, much to the satisfaction of many who believe Williams was engaging in a little gamesmanship.
“That’s kind of a move Stevie likes to do. And that’s up to him, he has his own reasons for doing that,” McDowell said. “We have great sponsors for these golf tournaments, and I don’t think it’s particularly nice . . .” McDowell added Williams is more than just a caddie but rather an extension of Woods’ aura coming down the stretch.
“Stevie is a tough guy. He’s been around a long time. And he plays his role when it comes to Sunday afternoon stretch with Tiger. He’s an intimidating caddie.
“He’s a sportsman. Both him and Tiger are. But that was even more sweet when he had to put that thing back on. I don’t think he took it off on the first play-off hole, if I remember correctly.”
Ryan drops four off Tipperary panel
HURLING: Tipperary hurling manager Declan Ryan has dropped four members of last year’s All-Ireland winning squad for the remainder of the Allianz National League and forthcoming championship campaigns.
Defenders Conor O’Brien and Hugh Maloney have been let go, along with forwards Paddy Fanning and Timmy Hammersley, a Clonoulty-Rossmore club-mate of Ryan’s.
All four were informed of Ryan’s decision in the wake of last Saturday night’s disappointing League defeat against Dublin at Croke Park.
Ryan has decided to shake up his panel ahead of Tipp’s next League outing against Waterford on March 5th, when they will look to collect their first points of the campaign.
The decision to drop O’Brien, 25, is one which will raise some eyebrows among Tipperary supporters. The Éire Óg Annacarty clubman, who made his championship debut against Cork in 2008, featured in five of Tipperary’s six championship matches in 2010, four of those as a used substitute.
Meanwhile, Tipperary have suffered a massive blow with Séamus Hennessy ruled out of action for up to three months after surgery last weekend to repair damaged knee cartilage.
The Kilruane McDonaghs player was named as the 2010 Bord Gáis Energy Breaking Through player of the year, had hoped to stake a claim for a regular starting place this year.
UCC book a date against holders
SOCCER: UCC advanced to the semi-finals of the Collingwood Cup thanks to a deserved 2-1 win over the fancied DCU at Trinity Sports Ground, Santry Avenue yesterday.
Rob Waters and Luke Burgess netted the opening goals for John Caulfield’s side, John Mulroy replying for DCU.
The Cork side will now face holders UCD who defeated UUC 5-0. In the other quarter finals Jordanstown defeated Trinity 2-0 while NUI Galway hammered University of Limerick 6-1.
PFAI confirm Bohemians have paid up
SOCCER: The PFAI confirmed yesterday their long-running dispute with Bohemians had finally been concluded with all outstanding payments due to members of last year’s squad having been made.
Elsewhere, two more former Sporting Fingal players completed deals for the coming season, with Gary O’Neill joining Shamrock Rovers and Colm James signing for Shelbourne.
England labour to see off Dutch
CRICKET: England laboured to a thrilling six-wicket victory with eight balls to spare over the Netherlands in a Group B match to avert what would have been the first upset of the World Cup yesterday.
The Netherlands batsmen, especially the South Africa-born Ryan ten Doeschate (119), thrived on England’s shoddy bowling and sloppy fielding to power the team to 292-6, quite a target for their opponents’ tweaked batting order.
At least England could console themselves with the third highest successful run chase at a World Cup after the Dutch posted the best score by an associate member against a test-playing nation.
England’s chase got off to a resounding start with Strauss (88) and Kevin Pietersen (39) providing a rollicking 105-run stand before they lost four wickets.
Paul Collingwood’s (30) experience and Ravi Bopara’s (30) improvisation came in handy as England survived some torrid times before completing the tricky chase in the penultimate over.
