Elevate Loves…. Sport

Breathtaking, exhilarating, nerve-wracking? We’re not even sure those words come close to describing such a thrilling weekend of sport.

Rugby World Cup – Ireland V Australia

When we crawled out of our beds early on Saturday morning to watch Ireland take on Australia, (the current Tri-Nations champions and World Cup favourites), many of us believed a win was wishful thinking. Having lost all four warm up games and producing an under-par performance against the USA, the boys in green had the odds stacked firmly against them.

But, following a rally cry from the ever inspirational Paul O’Connell, the team produced one of the greatest Irish performances in history, defeating Australia for the first time ever in the World Cup and placing the team in a very promising position to top the group.
With another big match coming up against Russia this Sunday, is it too early to dream…..?

Here are a few pics from Volkswagen’s Rugby Breakfast in Ballsbridge Motors:

The All-Ireland Football Final – Dublin V Kerry

The dominant force in football for much of the last decade, Kerry rightly went into Sunday’s All-Ireland Football Final as favourites. A team peppered with some of the finest footballers in the country and led by the mercurial talent that is Colm ‘The Gooch’ Cooper, Kerry was going to make Dublin work hard to end the county’s 16 year Sam Maguire drought.

The game turned out to be a true classic. Both teams played their hearts out and left everything on the field. With Kerry carrying a four point lead and just eight minutes to go, it looked as though Sam would be making the journey back to The Kingdom. But, in the 64th minute, Dublin substitute Kevin McManamon rampaged through the Kerry defense to score an unbelievable goal and bring the teams to within a point of each other again. It truly was game on.

With two minutes of extra time remaining, it was all square. The phrase ‘Cometh the hour…’ is often overused in sport, but when Dublin won a free on the 45 metre line, destiny called on the ‘Iceman’ Stephen Cluxton to come and claim his place in GAA folklore. As the crowd held its breath, Cluxton expertly fired the ball between the posts to win the match and crown Dublin the 2011 All-Ireland Football Champions. What a game!

The Solheim Cup

Taking place at Killeen Castle this weekend, The Solheim Cup promises to be an incredible golfing spectacle. Europe’s finest professional woman golfers take on their US counterparts over three fantastic days of team match-play competition – let’s just hope the weather holds up. As it stands, the U.S. team leads the competition, 8-3, and has never lost The Solheim Cup on home soil. In 2009, the Americans kept their untarnished home record intact at Rich Harvest Farms with a 16 to 12 final score against the Europeans. Let’s hope Europe’s Captain, Alison Nicholas, can lead her team to victory and inspire a decade of dominance for the Europeans.

 

The Barclays Premier League

What an incredible weekend it was in the Barclays Premier League. As the dust settled, all eyes where once again on the early season’s dominant force – Manchester United. The team’s strange 3-1 win against Chelsea showed that even with an under-par performance there is still plenty of goals in this team. Following Manchester City’s disappointing 2-2 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage, it’s clear that Manchester United is still the team to beat.

Poor old Arsenal, it seems things just keep going from bad to worse for The Gunners. Having been destroyed by Manchester United 8-2 at Old Trafford, it looked like the only way was up for Arsene Wenger’s team. That was until they crashed to defeat against Blackburn Rovers and conceded four shambolic goals to sit 16th in the table. Is this the end of Arsenal as we know it? Games we’re looking forward to this week include Manchester City v Everton, Manchester United v Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion v Fulham and Arsenal v Bolton