lucylily's blog: "ght"

Canada made a statement that they are a force to be reckoned with in 2012/13s Sevens Series after beating Portugal and then taking England to Extra-Time on the Gold Coast on Sunday. Despite being knocked out of the Bowl in the semi-finals, there were countless positives for Geraint John to take from the Gold Coast leg. A dominant performance against Portugal in the last-eight saw the Canucks carry on their impressive late afternoon form of yesterday while they pushed England all the way in a classic semi. Many will feel they could have easily been victorious. Canada will now regroup before the next IRB World Series leg in Dubai on Nov 30-Dec 1 and will be full of confidence as the team goes from strength to strength. Day Two Canada 31-0 Portugal Canada followed up their impressive end to Day One on the Gold Coast with a comprehensive 31-0 win over Portugal in the Bowl quarter-finals on Sunday. Head Coach John will have been delighted with how his charges dominated from start to finish in a five-try success that kicked off Day Twos action in Australia. Phil Mack and Chauncey OToole were the leading lights in the clash as their power and dynamism proved too much to deal with for their fellow core-team returnees. Victory pushes Canada up to a 10 to 7 record against Portugal in the IRB World Sevens Series and set up a semi-final fixture against European giants England. OToole was prominent early on, showing his immense power to suck in defenders before Harry Jones found Sean Duke on the right touchline for the first score. The Canucks other stand-out player in the game, Mack, then came to the party when he bounced off a defender five metres from the try-line, spun out of contact and dived over for the second try. The experienced Mack then stepped up to send over the conversion for a 12-0 advantage with two minutes left of the first-half. Johns charges werent done for the first stanza though as Duke popped up midfield before firing out a long pass from the left where Ciaran Hearn then sucked in two defenders before locating Jones, whose strong fend on the Portuguese tackler saw him go over in the right corner. A superb conversion from Mack made it 19-0. Following the turnaround, again it was OToole in top form as he stood up a tackler with quick feet and then went in under the posts. Macks simple conversion proved successful as the lead was stretched to 26-0, with Portugal struggling to cope with their opponents hunger and consistent pressure being applied on their line. When the Europeans did manage to apply their first spell of real pressure on the Canadians, excellent defence forced a mistake which allowed Mack to counter. And when Nanyak Dala found replacement John Moonlight, it was a foot-race from the halfway line that the Canuck just won before Macks effort at goal struck the post. It was then a case of mission accomplished as Canada cooly ran down the clock as they conserved energy ahead of their Bowl semi-final showdown against England. Line-up: Thyssen de Goede, Nanyak Dala, Sean Duke, Phil Mack, Harry Jones, Ciaran Hearn, Chauncey OToole Canada 19-24 England (After Extra-Time) Canada will be left wondering what might have been on Sunday as they came painfully close to claiming the sizeable scalp of England in a dramatic game. With a record of two wins in their previous 26 Series meetings, Canada were underdogs going in but produced a showing that made the Series take note. The strong performance began with a clever grubber kick from Ciaran Hearn that Canada recovered, and with England all at sea, Duke saw a gap and raced over under the posts. Mack converted to make it 7-0 for the perfect start against the heavyweights, with crowd noise revealing who the neutrals were cheering for. It was then a cross-field kick-pass that produced the next try for Canada as Harry Jones found that man Hearn, who backed his pace and made it to the corner from halfway. Mack, like he had done all tournament, knocked over a great conversion. England managed to respond with a minute remaining in the first-half when John Brake broke from close to his own try-line and then fed the ball to Tom Mitchell, who outpaced Hearn for the corner. Christian Lewis-Pratts conversion was good. At 14-7, the second-half began with a nightmare scenario for Canada when deadly speedster Dan Norton slipped his watchers from the English 22, chipped over the top and then won his foot-race against a desperate Duke. The conversion was missed though so the Canucks still led 14-12 with plenty of time left on the clock. Canada did not panic over Englands comeback and even when replacement Jeff Williams managed to score a long-range try in the corner to make it 14-19, Johns line-up was soon rewarded for their maturity and confidence as Duke hit back with a bang. That try came as numbers on the right side eventually led to the form wing finishing superbly under pressure. The critical touchline conversion with no time left was missed by Mack, which meant the epic contest was heading to extra-time. Extra-time in Sevens rugby means five minutes each way under a "Golden Point" scenario, making possession even more critical. England managed to have the ball and it proved decisive when another replacement, Marcus Watson, danced his way over against the tiring Candian defence for the heart-breaking match-winning try. Line-up: Nanyak Dala, John Moonlight, Sean Duke, Phil Mack, Harry Jones, Ciaran Hearn, Chauncey OToole What Head Coach Geraint John said: "We are a bit disappointed but must take the positives as we were the only team who played three of the top five teams in the world and came close against New Zealand, who went on to the final, and we should have won against England." "We improved as the tournament went on especially from a defensive point of view. Going to Dubai we can take many positives such as being competitive against the top teams - and against Portugal we were very thorough and scored some excellent tries with an aggressive defence. This will help us as we move forward to the Dubai tournament where we are grouped with Australia, France and once again USA!" Vincent Jackson Pink Jersey . -- The NFL has granted permission for Saints coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and assistant head coach Joe Vitt to attend New Orleans home game Sunday night against San Diego, in which Drew Brees can break a tie with Johnny Unitas for the NFL record of consecutive regular-season games with a touchdown pass. Mason Foster Womens Jersey . Bernard James posted 10 points with six borads for the Seminoles (22-10), who take on second-seeded Notre Dame on Sunday. I thought our players committed themselves to reversing the ball and moving the ball and making an extra pass, and we got higher percentage shots, said FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton of his teams surge in the second half.http://www.officialbuccaneersnfl.com/authentic-doug-martin-jersey-womens.html .Y. -- New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis fully participated in practice Monday after sitting out team drills Sunday with some tightness in his right hamstring. Mike Glennon Jersey . Houston (9-9-12, 39 points) remains in a tie for third in the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia after the Union won 1-0 against Columbus. It was the Dynamos first win since a 3-2 victory over Real Salt Lake on Aug. Vincent Jackson Jersey . Reached after a training camp in Vail, Colorado on Friday, Crosby expressed his frustration with the lack of progress in reaching a deal.SURREY, B.C. -- Its the perfect scenario for Tad Kornegay. The hard-hitting linebacker will play his CFL first game as a B.C. Lion on Friday night against his old team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders. You can see the game on TSN, TSN.ca, and TSN Mobile TV beginning at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Kornegay was careful with his answer when asked if the game at Empire Field was personal, since the Riders released him earlier this year. "Its hard to say no, but you cant look at it that way," said Kornegay, who spent four seasons in Saskatchewan and won a Grey Cup in 2007. "Im going to play hardnosed football. Im not going to let up just because they are my old teammates. I would love to win this game." Lions defensive back Korey Banks thinks his 29-year-old teammate wants to send a message. "Nobody wants to get cut," said Banks. "Then play your old team the next (game), that is great. "Thats an ideal story for him. He knows those guys and they know him. He will have a good game." The game will pit two struggling teams against each other. The Riders are 1-4 while B.C. is the leagues only winless team at 0-5. Wide receiver Weston Dressler is off to a good start this season with 26 catches for 389 yards and two touchdowns. He said the Riders arent used to looking up at other teams in the standings. "Ever since Ive been here weve gotten off to pretty good starts," he said. "Its a different situation. We kind of look back to last year a bit. We went through that stretch toward the end of the year where I think we lost four games in a row. We are tying to use that as a little motivation. "We found a way to get out of that and dig ourselves back to the top. We are hoping we can come out of this and start winning some games." The Lions know a win keeps them in the West Division mix. A loss shoves them deeper into the league basement. "Its definitely an important game," said slotback Geroy Simon. "We want to start winning and we want to start winning now. "We cant focus on our record. We cant focus on what happened two or three weeks ago. We have to go out and win this game. Its a must-win game." The Riders have scored a league-low 101 points this season. The Lions defence has allowed a league-high 161 points. "Its going to be like a playoff game," said Banks. "Both teams know what is on the line. "Its going to be war, like usual. We have to be the team that makes the most plays." Dressler said the Saskatchewan offence hasnt been bad, it just hasnt been good enough. "Whenn we have had those opportunities to make the big plays, weve been a half step slow here, or a dropped ball there," he said.dddddddddddd "Those have made the difference in the game. I think we have the talent on the team to start winning games. We just have to be better and more consistent." Kornegay was signed in an effort to shore up a Lions defence that has allowed the most yards rushing (648) and yards passing (1,522) in the league. "We just need a win here," said Kornegay. "What a perfect time to play Saskatchewan. "Im not saying Saskatchewan has a bad team. I think they are a pretty good team, but we are both struggling. Its probably one of the easiest wins you will get if you do get the win. I think this is the perfect time for everything to happen." Kornegay still isnt sure why the Riders released him. "I was more confused, just like the whole world was confused," he said. "Nobody understands why they released me. "Their reasons didnt make sense. I cant be bitter. Everybody is going to be released in their career." Dressler is expecting a battle against his old teammate. "Its going to be different," he said. "He just makes plays. "It always seems you find him around the ball. Whether its coming up on a run play or somehow making it down the field and breaking up a pass. Hes just a playmaker. He has a knack for the football." The Lions have also moved J.R. LaRose back to starting safety because of an elbow injury to veteran Davis Sanchez. One player who wont be dressed Friday is receiver Arland Bruce, who B.C. acquired in a trade from Hamilton on Wednesday. Bruce is not expected to start practising with the Lions until next week. One reason the Lions are winless is the number of passes dropped by receivers. Rookie Dobson Collins, who has let several balls slip through his fingers, has been put on the practice roster. Nick Moore, who dropped a pair of touchdown catches in the opening loss to Montreal, is back after an injury but may be on a short leash. Receivers coach Travis Moore said it might be a case of young players trying to do too much. "Its more focusing," he said. "Some guys put too much pressure on themselves to make a play and drop the easy ones." Quarterback Travis Lulay, who has been guilty some nights of not finding the open man, still has confidence in all his receivers. "I just keep firing away," said Lulay. "Im in a position where I have to trust these guys and I truly do. "They are out there working hard." ' ' '