“Come on you guys in black?”

Giovanni Trapattoni clearly wants to do the right thing by any Irish soccer fans heading to Yankee Stadium in New York next Tuesday night for the final installment of quite an eventful season for the Boys in Green and their Italian manager.

Lansdowne returned to winning ways with an impressive victory over a well drilled and much improved Connecticut Yankees team, prevailing by a score of 17 points to 12 in a lively encounter last weekend in Westport, Connecticut. The game started inauspiciously for Lansdowne as the opposition dominated the early exchanges and registered the first try of the day within the first 10 minutes following some effective recycling in the pack. Lansdowne continued to struggle for a while afterwards with the inevitable concession of penalties and at the breakdown.

The Republic of Ireland soccer team are set to play a friendly game against the World and European champions, Spain, at the New York Yankee Stadium, on June 11.

More stress for the Yankees who have been hit hard by the injury bug this offseason.  Captain Derek Jeter is in the midst of a minor setback in recovery from his ankle injury as his return date remains unknown. 

As Pope Benedict XVI steps down from his public role in the Vatican, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan has spoken about how hard it will be to replace the retiring head of the Catholic Church. The Irish American Cardinal made it clear that he did not believe he was the man for the job saying he it would be more likely for him to replace third baseman for the New York Yankees, Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez, than be voted in as Pope.

This past Saturday, home side Lansdowne utilized an expansive approach as they displayed their best performance of the season. After a brief absence, Blake Mannion made a welcome return to the pitch and impacted immediately. In the 5th minute after a lengthy sprint, center Mannion fortuitously chipped ahead towards Man of the Match EJ Brutus, who emphatically slammed down in the corner. The conversion by Austin Purcell gave Lansdowne a 7-0 advantage. Four minutes later, the Connecticut out half slotted a penalty from in front of goal after several effective phases. In the 11th minute, the Yankees got to within 1 as a Lansdowne infringement gave the visitors another shot at goal. For the next 26 minutes, the match was played evenly as neither side was able to breach the opposition's defense. However, in minute 38, Lansdowne advanced into Connecticut territory and earned a shot at goal. Austin Purcell's conversion gave Lansdowne a 10-6 halftime lead.