Croatia's Luck of the Irish

Republic Ireland Line-Up: Given, O'Shea, St.Ledger, Ward, Dunne, Duff, Andrews, Whelan, Keane (c) (Long, 75'), Doyle (Cox, 54'), McGeady (Walters, 54')
Croatia Line-Up: Pletikosa, Schildenfeld, Corluka, Strinic, Srna (c), Rakitic, Modric, Vukojevic, Jelavic (Kranjcar, 72'), Mandzukic, Perisic (Eduardo, 89')

Ireland's start to Euro 2012 hasn't gone too well after being well beaten by a lucky Croatia side. It all started after just three minutes when a deflected cross was headed by Mario Mandzukic, who had slipped, and it managed to squeeze between Shay Given and the post.

Ireland's best chances came from set pieces and they were level on 19-minutes when Sean St.Ledger out-foxed Vedran Corluka to head home a free-kick. But Croatia had the best chances with Given being over-worked, his best save came when he parried a curling an Ivan Perisic shot.

A poor possessional mistake gave Croatia a corner two minutes before half-time. It wasn't properly cleared by the Irish and the ball rebounded into Nikica Jelavic's path, who was offside, the Everton striker had no problem in putting the ball in the net. A tough time to concede, a even tougher time to concede a goal that shouldn't have been.

Ireland then started the second half pretty much how they ended the first, conceding a goal. But again Croatia were extremely lucky in getting it. A free header from Mandzukic hit the post before rebounding off of Given's diving head and into the match, four minutes after the restart.

The timing of the goals ultimately killed Ireland but they did have chances to get a goal back. Keith Andrews had a free header from a corner but it curled past the post when he should have scored. But their best opportunity would have come from a penalty in the 63rd minute, Robbie Keane was fouled by Gordon Schildenfeld in the box via a challenge from behind. But the referee didn't give it and Ireland slumped to a 3-1 defeat and the progress already looks bleak.         

Thorn In The Side of Phil Taylor

The FA Cup of Darts has sprung a surprise victor in the form of Robert Thornton. Phil Taylor stood in his way after two comprehensive semi-final victories but it was the Scot who overpowered an off form Taylor. The Power did take a 2-0 lead before missing ten darts to take the third leg. The pair were the locked at 3-3 when a spectator decided to try and jump onto the stage mid-way through the seventh leg. Thornton took that leg and reeled off a further five legs as Taylor continued to miss doubles to make it 8-3, the highlight being a 106 check-out in leg eight. Taylor would gain a further two legs before Thornton closed the match out in style; a 121 check-out on the bull to an 11-5 victory and the UK Open title.


Semi-Finals:


Phil Taylor 10-2 Denis Ovens: Taylor cruised into the final with ultimate ease as Ovens' luck runs out. The Power kicked the game off with a 112 check-out followed by 70, 82 and 90 all finished off on the bull. Taylor would then make it 7-0 with a 107 finish before Ovens finally avoided the whitewash.Taylor then missed three darts to see out the match 10-1 but would come back to take the game 10-2.  

Dave Chisnall 4-10 Robert Thornton: Thornton produced great darts to eliminate one of the pre-tournament favourites, Chisnall. Chizzy found a 112 check-out to take an early 2-1 lead before Thornton reeled of four legs to make it 5-2. That soon became 9-3 before three missed darts allowed Chisnall to win a fourth leg.

Seven Races, Seven Winners

The seventh race in the Formula One calender has seen the record extending seventh winner as Lewis Hamilton comes through after a better strategy to beat Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Alonso had the lead after the first set of pit stops and would lead up until lap 64 where the option of not pitting a second time saw Hamilton cruise to victory, with the Spaniard slumping to fifth.

The start was surprisingly quiet with only Paul Di Resta gaining a meaningful place up into seventh. Vettel had a very clean getaway and instantly looked to stretch out a lead. Felipe Massa would overtake Nico Rosberg on the second lap to move into fifth. Di Resta would also overtake the Mercedes a lap later to claim sixth.

Massa's good weekend would turn slightly sour when he span on lap six, but he was able to continue despite falling to 13th. Jenson Button's afternoon began with Kimi Raikonnen overtaking him on lap 15 to move the Finn into seventh.

The first man to pit was leader Sebastian Vettel on lap-16 but Hamilton would get the jump on the German by pitting a lap later. Alonso would stay out for a further two laps before pitting and overtaking the pair of them to maintain the theoretical lead. Hamilton did overtake Alonso on lap-20.

Surprisingly, there was no Safety Car during the race. But the first retirement came on lap-24 when Narain Karthikeyan span out before parking the car in a place it could be removed without the Safety Car. His team-mate, Pedro De La Rosa, would follow him three lap later when he suffered from over-heating brakes.

Rosberg had managed to gain seventh by lap-42 because of the second pit-stop that put him ahead of Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikonnen who were still yet to pit. His Mercedes team-mate, Michael Schumacher, had once again suffered bad luck with his DRS flap unable to close. The mechanics couldn't do anything about it and Schumacher had to be retired on lap-44.

Hamilton pitted for his second time on lap-51 and it was a little, suggesting it could cost him the race. But he recovered by setting two fastest laps and, by that time, it was already too late for Alonso or Vettel to respond as a pit-stop would immediately surrender their place to the McLaren.

Lap-57 saw Massa and Perez overtake Rosberg for fifth and sixth. That was followed by Perez overtaking Massa for fifth and Rosberg regained sixth by also overtaking the Ferrari who went into the pits.

Hamilton's surge began on lap-62 where he was able to overtake a defenceless Vettel to move up to second and would then do the same to Alonso two laps later. To avoid a dramatic decline, Vettel also pitted on lap-62 and this paid dividends compared to Alonso.

By lap-66 Romain Grosjean had made his one stop strategy work by overtaking Alonso into second. Fellow one-stopper, Perez, would gain the other podium place two laps later. The Spaniard would ultimately finish fifth as Vettel also managed to overtake him on the penultimate lap. Race result:

1.Hamilton (McLaren), 2.Grosjean (Lotus), 3.Perez (Sauber), 4.Vettel (Red Bull), 5.Alonso (Ferrari), 6.Rosberg (Mercedes), 7.Webber (Red Bull), 8.Raikonnen (Lotus), 9.Kobayashi (Sauber), 10.Massa (Ferrari), 11.Di Resta (Force India), 12.Hulkenberg (Force India), 13.Maldonado (Williams), 14.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 15.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 16.Button (McLaren), 17.Senna (Williams), 18.Kovalainen (Caterham), 19.Petrov (Caterham), 20.Pic (Marussia) DNF: Karthikeyan (HRT), De La Rosa (HRT), Schumacher (Mercedes), Glock (Marussia)

Two World Champions Share Point

Spain Line-Up: Casillas (c), Ramos, Pique, Jordi Alba, Arbeloa, Xavi, Silva (Navas, 66'), Alonso, Fabregas (Torres, 75'), Iniesta, Busquets

Italy Line-Up: Buffon (c), Chiellini, Bonucci, Pirlo, Motta (Nocerino, 89'), Marchisio, Maggio, De Rossi, Cassano (Giovinco, 66'), Balotelli (Di Natale, 56'), Giaccherini        

The current and the ex World Champions begin their Euro 2012 campaign with a 1-1 draw in Gdansk. Substitute Antonio Di Natale put Italy ahead within minutes of coming on for an ill-tempered Mario Balotelli. But their lead would only last minutes as Cesc Fabregas would score the equaliser.

There were big questions over both starting line-ups; Spain left both Fernando Llorente and Fernando Torres out, which left them starting without a proper striker. Italy, on the other hand, were playing three at the back with Daniele De Rossi playing as a sweeper in front of them.

This left a very chess-like first half with both players trying to outsmart the opposition. Spain, as expected, saw more of the ball but Italy were much more threatening in the final third, possibly because the lack of strikers for Spain. The best chance of the half fell to Thiago Motta, but his headed chance was saved neatly by Iker Casillas. 

It didn't take long to see the first stop of  the tournament from Mario Balotelli. He punched the floor in disbelief at having a free-kick given against him for a tussle with Alvaro Arbeloa. It soon followed that the Man City striker received a yellow card for a foul on Jordi Alba. 

The best chance of the second half would also fall to Balotelli when he dispossessed Sergio Ramos eight minutes into the period. But he was far too relaxed as he progressed forward and it allowed Ramos to make a recovery tackle. This would be his last involvement as Di Natale would replace him in the 56th minute.

The substitution would pay instant dividends as Balotelli's sluggishness was replaced by Di Natale's urgency who found himself one-on-one with Casillas and the striker finished it off just four minutes after coming on.  But Italy's happiness would only last four minutes when a slick interchange found Fabregas through on goal and placed it past Gianluigi Buffon. 

The introduction of Fernando Torres didn't really change Spain's outlook and despite having a good early chance saved by Buffon, the Chelsea star didn't really provide anything different. The game went into first half mode and eventually trickled out to a 1-1 draw.

2012 UK Open Quarter Finals

Wes Newton 8-10 Robert Thornton: Newton originally took a 3-1 lead before the Scot roared into a 4-3 lead. Thornton then stretched it to 6-4 before Newton brought it back to within a leg. But every time Newton threatened to come back, he'd miss a dart at the double and give Thornton the two leg advantage back. A 121 check-out by Newton made it 8-7 and then did the same to make it 9-8. Again Thornton diffused the situation with back to back 180s in the 18th leg before calmly finishing on double top to win the game.

Dave Chisnall 10-5 Raymond Van Barneveld: After quite a happy weekend, the Dutchman's head shaking returned and the insecure Barney returned to haunt him. Chisnall flew out of the gate, instantly taking a 5-0 lead before the break. Barneveld looked to have recuperated after the interval and reeled off three legs in a row to be within touching distance of Chizzy. But Chisnall broke the throw once more to re-extend his lead before hitting a 110 check-out to make it 7-3. Barneveld's last hoorah in the tournament was a 121 check-out on the bull to make it 8-5 but Chisnall continued his good performance to book his place against Thornton in the semi-finals.

Phil Taylor 10-5 Terry Jenkins: After being 2-0 down, Jenkins missed three darts to level the match and ended up going behind 4-1 before The Bull posted a second leg. Ruthless Taylor then motored to a 7-2 with a bull 25 bull 125 check-out in the ninth leg. Jenkins was able to gain another leg before the second break and would then score two more until Taylor took the match 10-5. 

Denis Ovens 10-6 Jamie Caven: Caven becomes the latest player to suffer against Ovens, who puts himself into the UK Open semi-finals for the third consecutive time. After initially taking the opening leg, Ovens found himself 3-1 down after Caven took out 131 via two double tops in the second third leg. Ovens then turned it round by winning four legs on the spin with a 116 check-out in the eighth leg. Caven came back to level the game at 6-6 before missed doubles allowed Ovens to take the next four legs to win the match.

Super Mario

Germany Line-Up: Neuer,9 Lahm (c), Hummels, Badstuber, Boateng, Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Podolski, Gomez (Klose, 80'), Muller (Bender, 90'), Ozil (Kroos, 87')
Portugal Line-Up: Rui Patricio, Pepe, Pereira, Alves, Coentrao, Meireles (Varela, 81'), Veloso, Moutinho, Postiga, Ronaldo, Nani     


Germany come through a cagey opening game to give themselves the best possible chance of getting out of the group of death. There were few meaningful chances between the teams and it took one brilliant pieces of anticipation from Mario Gomez to separate the sides.


The first half saw the heavyweights trade jabs but there was nothing to really trouble Manuel Neuer or Rui Patricio. Most attacking moves in the opening 45 minutes were cancelled out by miserly defending and neither team really had the upper hand. That was until the half-time whistle was nearly upon us, a Portugal corner was controlled by Pepe before hitting a placed shot that came down off the crossbar but it didn't cross the line, much to the appeal from the Portuguese players.


The second half went much like the first, with further jabs being traded by the teams. Gomez had been largely uninfluential during the match and Miroslav Klose had been stripped and ready to go. A deflected cross saw the Bayern Munich striker run towards the looping ball to finely head past Patricio to give Germany the lead on 72-minutes. 


From there, Portugal began to pepper the German defence but it stood strong and frustrated the strikers. Nani saw a mis-hit cross hit the bar before a goal bound shot was blocked by Holger Badstuber's shoulder. But their best chance of an equaliser came when substitute Silvestre Varela was put through by Nani, but Neuer came out and buffeted his youngster's shot.     

2012 UK Open Last 16

Michael Van Gerwen 7-9 Terry Jenkins: A topsy-turvy game sees the Bull first through to the quarter-finals. Van Gerwen blasted out of the gate with a 130 and then a 124 check-out on his way to taking a 3-0 lead. That soon became 5-2 before Jenkins battled back to go onto take the lead at 7-5. This time it the Dutchman's turn to fight back to 7-7 with a 133 check-out before Jenkins went onto take the match.
Robert Thornton 9-5 Dennis Priestley
Dave Chisnall 9-5 Simon Whitlock: Chizzy proved why a lot of people are putting money on him. Chisnall quickly established a 7-2 lead. The Aussie tried to come back but at 8-5, Chisnall would finish the job.
Joe Cullen 8-9 Jamie Caven
Ronnie Baxter 4-9 Phil Taylor: Taylor continues his demolition of the UK Open. Baxter averaged just under 100 yet only managed to win four legs. Taylor opened the match with a 149 check-out before Baxter responded with a 156 in the third leg as it went 2-2. Taylor then rocketed into an 8-2 lead before Baxter posted a further two legs of consolation.
Denis Ovens 9-8 Paul Nicholson
Raymond Van Barneveld 9-8 Peter Wright: Barney comes from 8-6 down to progress into the last eight. Wright secured check-outs of 114 and 120 to take a 2-1 lead. the game then ebbed and flowed before Wright found that two leg lead. The Scot then bust 138 to allow Barneveld to win the 16th leg before holding his throw to squeeze into the quarters.
Kim Huybrechts 8-9 Wes Newton: A final leg that saw both players miss a hat-ful of doubles, was finally ended with Newton taking it. After taking the opening leg, Newton found himself 3-1 down with the Belgian hitting a 144 finish. A 117 followed by a 115 placed Huybrechts 6-2 ahead and cruising. But he then began to miss doubles and Newton roared back to force a deciding leg.

Quarter Final Draw
Wes Newton v Robert Thornton
Dave Chisnall v Raymond Van Barneveld
Phil Taylor v Terry Jenkins
Denis Ovens v Jamie Caven

Semi Final Draw
Taylor/Jenkins v Ovens/Caven
Chisnall/Barneveld v Newton/Thornton