Thursday, December 23, 2010

You've got to take a look: ten moments of breath-taking brilliance from 2010

Alan Good

1 PHIL MICKELSON

A FOUR-FOOT opening between the trees, with his ball perched on some straw. Leading the Masters by two shots at the 13th during the final round, Phil Mickelson could have been forgiven for taking the safe option. But Lefty pulled off a stunning effort, which carried 187 yards over water to within a few feet. The subsequent missed putt for eagle diminishes the shot in the eyes of some, but given that Mickelson left Augusta in a green jacket that day, we’re guessing he won’t have minded too much.

2 BEN YOUNGS

ENGLAND’S 35-18 demolition of Australia was all the more notable for expansive manner in which it was executed, and the game produced one of rugby’s tries of the year, a length-of-the-field effort from Chris Ashton. The score was pockmarked by blistering long-distance finishing and a sublime Courtney Lawes offload, but it’s the outrageously ballsy dummy, see in the replay, from England scrum-half Ben Youngs, right on his own try-line, which had us gawping — Quade Cooper is sold so badly that he almost ends up over the dead-ball line.

3 JAMES KAVANAGH

SPEAKING of brilliant dummies, the GAA world threw up a goal of rare beauty this year in the All-Ireland quarter-final between Meath and Kildare. The Lilywhites were three points down just before half-time when Kavanagh latched onto Hugh Lynch’s pump downfield and found himself with just Meath netminder Brendan Murphy to beat. A less accomplished player may have gone for power, but Kavanagh had the confidence to take another touchsolo when he looked set to pull the trigger, leaving Murphy in no-man’s land and allowing the simplest of finishes.

4 MATTY BURROWS

A PERENNIAL stumbling block when attempting to adjudge feats of breathtaking skill is that nagging notion that, well, it was a total fluke. Matty Burrows will surely spend the rest of his days protesting that his winning goal for Glentoran against Portadown was completely intentional. Especially if he wins the FIFA Goal of the Year award for it. Burrows was in mid-air and with his back to goal 16 yards out, when he caught a cross from the left on the volley with a back-heel that looped into the far corner.

5 DAVID HOWELL

JUST why David Howell and fellow golfing pros Paul McGinley, Marcus Siem and Rhys Davies are perched at the side of a lake in Killarney’s Gap of Dunloe, attempting to hit a nine-inch gong perched just above the water 200 yards away, isn’t explained. Frankly, it doesn’t need to be, it’s just that awesome. Skimming the ball along the water finds produces some near misses, but it’s Howell who discovers that a direct hit does the trick; cue hugs, high fives, and jealous smiles. Boys will be boys...

6 SHAUN WHITE

ODDS are you haven’t heard of this guy unless winter sports are your bag, but American snow-boarding phenomenon White deserves his place on this list as much as anyone. During his gold medal run at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he busted out the never-before-seen Double McTwist 1260. This essentially requires three-and-a-half twists, along with two full board-over-head turns; it hurts to even think about it.

7 NOEL McGRATH

LAR CORBETT may have taken the plaudits for his stunning hat-trick which proved the catalyst for Tipperary ending Kilkenny’s “drive for five”, but many have another abiding memory of the 2010 All-Ireland SHC final. That came in the 42nd minute, with Tipp just a point to the good. Noel McGrath ran from right to left and facing the sideline as he made a catch, dragging two Cats defenders with him. But one perfectly-placed blind handpass later, the Kilkenny defence was split and Corbett was blasting home his second.

8 DRISCOLL MIDDLE SCHOOL

THEY take their schoolboy American football seriously in Texas, as anyone who has read HG Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights will know. So you can imagine the incredulity of the opposition coach after a trick play by Driscoll Middle School in Corpus Christi went viral on YouTube. Looking to catch their opposition off guard, the centre snapped the ball over his shoulder to his quarterback, who then ambled through the scrimmage. The defensive line stood up in confusion, and the QB then sped off on a cartoon chase to make the touchdown.

9 EZEQUIEL LAVEZZI

 FOR the sake of originality, we’re going to jettison the dozens of Lionel Messi moments of brilliance in favour of a goal you’re unlikely to see repeated anytime soon. Napoli’s Lavezzi looks to have spurned his chance when he is (fairly) shoved to the ground when chasing a through ball. But as the AC Milan defence attempts to clear, Lavezzi improvises and somehow manages to chip keeper Christian Abbiati from short range, despite being in a crab-like position on the ground.

10 BRIAN O’DRISCOLL

POSSIBLY the most obvious inclusion, but it’s impossible to ignore BOD’s jaw-dropping try for Ireland against New Zealand. Rob Kearney’s attempted offload to Jamie Heaslip goes to ground, but before the All Blacks defence can even react, O’Driscoll has steamed in and picked the ball up off the deck, one-handed and at full tilt, before switching hands to prevent an attempted rip and blasteding through two tackles to score.

Honourable mentions: The Scarlets' unbelievable show of handling against Perpignan, the try finished off by Rhys Priestland; Down's Benny Coulter's outside-of-the-boot point against Kildare; Kieran Donaghy's monster catch en route to setting up a Bryan Sheehan goal for Kerry against Tipperary; Miguel Angel Jiminez's "off the wall" shot at the Road Hole at the Open; Ezequiel Calvente's penalty kick "switch hit" with his instep for Spain U19s; Chris Maguire's (Scotland U21) goal direct from a tip-off; Mark Pearn's route-one field hockey goal for East Grinstead vs Surbiton, and pretty much anything Lionel Messi and his Barcelona comrades pulled off in their breathtaking recent victories over Real Madrid and Real Sociedad.

New Castle United Lee Bowyer Norway David Lynch Guantánamo Bay Mervyn King

No comments:

Post a Comment