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IRISH EXAMINER | January 18th, 201724 sportsexaminer

Dramatic Round Of Fixtures Decides

Final Four For McKenna Cup Semis

The semi-final line-up in the Dr McKenna home side shade it by 0-8 to 0-7. Fighting Irish Spirit Alive
Cup was decided by a dramatic final Malone’s goal gave them the impetus to push In Final Days Of Vendée
round of fixtures.
on, with McManus, Dessie Mone, Shane Carey and Globe

Holders Tyrone will face best runners-up Ryan Wylie tagging on points. The Vendée Globe Round the World Non-
Stop Solo Yacht Race was just hours off
Fermanagh at Clones on Sunday, while Derry will Semi-final opponents Derry had to be patient the coast of Ireland at the time we went to
press as the leaders race to win the coveted title,
take on Monaghan at Armagh’s Athletic Grounds. due to a lengthy break caused by a power failure at after 70 days at sea.

Down and Monaghan went into the evening in Owenbeg, before emerging with a 2-20 to 0-6 rout While the first and only Irish entrant to the
race, entrepreneur Enda O’Coineen, was forced to
pole position as group leaders, but defeat for both of Queen’s University which saw them win Section withdraw when a squall in the Southern Ocean
broke the mast, there are still keen Irish interests at
saw them exit the competition. A. work to win the race.

Tyrone were hoping to qualify as best runners- Both goals came in the first half, from Enda Having spent much of his youth in Crosshaven
where his love of sailing was fostered, Alex
up, and needed a big score-line from their Healy Lynn and Neil Forrester as they went in with a 2-7 Thomson’s seamanship is being tested to the max
as he battles to win arguably the world’s most
Park clast with Donegal, who fielded their U21 to 0-3 advantage at the break. challenging race.

side. It was comfortable in the second half, with Lynn Currently in second place and representing
Britain on the HUGO BOSS yacht, Alex is hunting
They duly delivered, with Ronan McHugh and sending a penalty over the bar. the race favourite and long-time leader Armel Le
Cleac’h, on board the French Banque Populaire
Cahir McCullagh hitting the goals in a 2-23 to 0-6 Armagh and Down both exited the competition yacht, as they turn in the English Channel before a
final drag race to the finish line off the French
rout. after the Orchardmen scored a 1-15 to 2-8 win over coast.

An unexpected bonus followed, as Cavan’s their neighbours at the Athletic Grounds. No one is watching the race more closely than
Irishman Stewart Hosford, who is CEO of HUGO
defeat to Ulster University saw the Red Hands win Aaron Findon scored the Armagh goal, while BOSS Sailing and Alex Thomson Racing.

the group. Down’s three-pointers came from Darren O’Hagan “In the year that saw Ireland win an Olympic
medal for Sailing, and the first Irish entry to the
Their semi-final opponents Fermanagh made it and Alan Davidson. C Vendée Globe, it would be wonderful to see the
team led by an Irishman win the globe’s most chal-
through by beating Antrim by 0-19 to 0-5 at lenging race”, said Stewart Hosford, CEO of
HUGO BOSS Sailing and leading sports consultan-
Brewster Park. cy firm, 5° West .

Sean Quigley, Tomas Quigley and Barry Hopes are high that the Welsh born Alex
Thomson will make history by becoming the first
Mulrone were on target in the first half to help non-French team to win the Vendée Globe.

them to an 11 points lead, with their opponents fail- He has already broken a world record this week
for the greatest distance sailed solo in 24 hours,
ing to score. and with just hours left to go, he is outpacing and
closing in on the leader.
Corrigan and Aidan Breen continued to hit the
Speaking from France, where they are expect-
target after the break, and a 14 points margin was ing the winners to arrive within 24 hours, Stewart
Hosford said, “The leaders have sailed almost
enough to see the Erne men through to the last 40,000km in 70 days, with less than an hour’s sleep
at a time. Weather conditions are unstable and
four. currently difficult to predict, and yet they have just
hours left to fight this incredible battle to win.
Monaghan’s 1-13 to 0-10 over St Mary’s at Godspeed Alex!”

Inniskeen win made them the only unbeaten team A number of international teams involved in
the Vendée Globe have strong Irish connections.
in the competition. The Team Director of the French team, SMA, is
lead by Corkman Marcus Hutchinson, while Tony
Conor McManus and Dermot Malone were the O’Connor from Dublin is responsible for the first
Japanese entry, Spirit of Yukoh.
main men up front in a first half which saw the
Unfortunately both of these entries had to retire
Footballer Facing FA Charge during the course of the race, leaving it to the
Over Harry Arter Comments HUGO BOSS Sailing team to keep Irish hopes high.

Semi-professional footballer Alfie Barker has been charged by the Certainly the Irish are well represented and
Football Association in relation to offensive messages sent to highly respected in global sailing community.
Bournemouth’s Harry Arter about his stillborn daughter. The tweets With 4 years left to the next Vendée Globe, there
from an account in the name of Barker were sent to Arter after Bournemouth should be plenty of time to secure a strong entry
conceded a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Arsenal on January 3. for Team Ireland in 2020. C

A statement from the FA on Wednesday night read: “Alfie Barker
has been charged for misconduct in relation to social media com-
ments.

“It is alleged the player posted comments which were abusive
and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into dis-
repute contrary to Rule E3 (1).

“He has until January 25, 2017 to respond to the charge.”
Southern Football League Premier Division side Hitchin sacked
Barker after the incident.
One of the tweets said: “atleast [sic] you didn’t lose your kid.”
It was then followed up by another tweet to the Bournemouth
midfielder which said: “big hype just for a disappointment like the 9
months leading up to your childs [sic] birth.”
The following day, Barker, who was on loan at Codicote, issued an apology for what he described as “dis-
graceful comments” and the account was later deleted.
Bournemouth and Arter became aware of the posts following the match and reported them directly to
Twitter, who have stated the organisation does not comment on individual accounts for privacy and security
reasons.
Arter and his partner Rachel's daughter Renee was stillborn in December 2015. C