johnnyrocket - MyTwoCents

Daily sports briefs | An heroic moment for Fulham defender Joe Bryan, Rafael Nadal pulls out of the US Open and Ireland score an upset win in cricket.

LIFE OF BRYAN

Fulham defender Joe Bryan chose a great moment to double his season tally of goals (1) by scoring both goals in extra time of the most important game of his life. Fulham sealed football's biggest prize by securing a place in next season's EPL with a 2-1 win over luckless Brentford on Tuesday night in the Championship playoffs at Wembley.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: Those two goals were worth an estimated £265 million so we hope Bryan gets a little bonus for his endeavours.

RAFA'S US OPEN WITHDRAWAL OPENS DOOR FOR NOVAK

Rafael Nadal shocked the tennis world by withdrawing from this year's US Open, despite the Madrid Open cancellation giving him more time to prepare. Defending champ Nadal went with his heart in making the decision but with Roger Federer out with a knee injury, the door is now open for Novak Djokovic to gain some ground in the race for the most Grand Slam titles ever and a claim to the unofficial GOAT status. Novak is currently on 17 titles, with Rafa on 19 and FedEx on 20.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: Rafa would have one of the favourites to win at Flushing Meadows but maybe he felt it better to save himself for the French Open in September.

IRELAND PULL OFF A SHOCKER TO BEAT WORLD CHAMPS IN ODI

Ireland replicated their historic 2011 World Cup win over England in a near carbon copy performance yesterday to stun the World Cup champs. Ireland chased down 329 set by England to win with one ball to spare and 7 wickets in hand ... remarkably similar to the 328 target they overcame in beating the same opponents in 2011. Tons by Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie (heard of them??) sealed England's fate.

MYTWOCENTS VERDICT: Ok, it was a dead rubber but no England team should ever lose to Ireland. The result will go down in history as one of the those David v Goliath victories.