Lauren McCann

Northern Ireland Women

Northern Ireland Women created history last Tuesday night, as they beat Ukraine 2-0 at Seaview (4-1 on aggregate) to seal their place at Euro 2022, their first ever major tournament. Northern Ireland held a slender lead after the first leg in Ukraine but limited their opposition to few sights of goal in the return leg. Captain Marissa Callaghan then got the goal which put daylight between Kenny Shiels’ side and the visitors, anticipating the ball would fall to her at the back post before poking past the goalkeeper and slotting home. Ukraine were reduced to 10 players late in the game as Pantsulaya cynically fouled Sarah McFadden as she was going through on goal.

Substitute Nadene Caldwell put the icing on the cake of a famous victory, rounding the goalkeeper before coolly finishing into the empty net to spark wild and emotional scenes in North Belfast. It is a truly remarkable feat given much of the squad are part time players, and they were missing several key players through injury. Northern Ireland are the lowest ranked team heading to the finals in England, and they can now look forward to next summer’s tournament, where they will rub shoulders with Europe’s elite for the first time.

Irish Premiership

Linfield are edging ever closer to retaining their league crown after they overcame Ballymena on Saturday night. Mark Haughey headed them in front before Shay McCartan equalised with a well struck free kick. Shayne Lavery won it for the Blues in the second half, as they stretched their lead at the top to eleven points.

Crusaders thrashed Glenavon 6-1 on Friday night to boost their hopes of finishing in the top six ahead of the split, which will take place after next weekend’s games. Matthew Fitzpatrick gave Glenavon the lead early in the game before Crusaders levelled through Philip Lowry, who scored for the second game in a row. Ross Clarke got the third before second half doubles from Paul Heatley and Jamie McGonigle, including a sumptuous curling finish, rounded off the drubbing.

Larne were also big winners this weekend, putting five past Warrenpoint, who are without a victory in 11 games. Josh Robinson headed the hosts in front, before Andrew Mitchell doubled their lead with a penalty. Martin Donnelly netted Larne’s third with a chipped finish before Hale scored their fourth. David McDaid rounded off the resounding victory with a lob of his own, to move Tiernan Lynch’s men to within two points of Glentoran who are third.

Mick McDermott’s men had to settle for a share of the spoils against Coleraine for a second time this week, as they followed up their 2-2 draw at the Oval with a 1-1 stalemate at the Showgrounds on Friday night. Robbie McDaid had edged Glentoran in front in the first period before Matthew Shevlin cancelled out McDaid’s strike with a glancing header just after the hour mark. The draw sees both fall further behind leaders Linfield after they beat Ballymena.

Meanwhile, Cliftonville secured their place in the top six after they defeated Portadown 2-1 at Shamrock Park. Ryan Curran’s first half double was enough to sink Matthew Tipton’s side, who pulled a goal back on the stroke of half time through Ben Tilney. They remain four points ahead of Carrick with a game in hand, after Niall Currie’s men came from behind to draw 1-1 with Dungannon Swifts in the battle at the bottom of the table.

Women’s Six Nations

France will take on England in the final of the Six Nations after the secured a commanding 56-15 victory over Ireland. They were favourites to progress from Group B and came flying out of the blocks, scoring five tries in the opening 40 minutes meaning that the game was pretty much over by half time, with only Cliodhna Moloney responding for the Irish. Caroline Boujard, Romane Menager and Cyrielle Banet then crossed for the French in the second period as they surpassed half a century of points. Emma Hooban scored Ireland’s only other try in the second half and they will now turn their attention to battling for third place and fourth place, as they will meet Scotland or Italy next weekend to decide their fate.

Ulster Rugby

Ulster will face English side Leicester in the semifinals of the European Challenge Cup on Friday 30 April at Welford Road. Ulster fought back to overcome Northampton 35-27 in the previous round, whilst Leicester secured a commanding 39-15 over fellow English side Harlequins in their quarter final tie. It is the third round in the row that Ulster have been pitted against English opposition, with Bath taking on Montpellier in the other semifinal. Ulster last faced Leicester in the pool stages of the 2019 European Challenge Cup, beating the English Premiership side home and away.

Snooker

The Snooker World Championship began on Saturday in Sheffield with fans allowed inside the Crucible Theatre, making it the first sporting event in the UK in 2021 to have spectators. Ronnie O’Sullivan began his defence of his title in style, cruising to a 10-4 first round win over Mark Joyce to secure his passage to the next round. The event has returned to its usual spring date this year, with the final taking place on May 3, after the pandemic forced it to take place.

Lauren McCann is is an English and Spanish student at QUB. Listen to her on The Sporty Scoop every Wednesday.

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