t of effort they put in, Neil told Sky Sports. I thought our gameplan, the way th

Rory McIlroy refused to let a last-hole bogey ruin some ideal preparation for the The Open as Masters champion Danny Willett suffered more frustration ahead of the seasons third major.McIlroy carded a superb 66 in testing conditions at Le Golf National to claim a share of the halfway lead in the French Open as Willetts last competitive appearance before Troon ended in a second consecutive missed cut.Six birdies in the first 14 holes had taken McIlroy into the outright lead in his first event since missing the cut in the U.S. Open, only for the 27-year-old to drive into the water on the 18th for the second day running.The resulting bogey left the world No.4 in a five-way tie for the lead on five under par alongside Mikko Ilonen, Brandon Stone, Thongchai Jaidee and Wang Jeunghun, who won back-to-back titles in Morocco and Mauritius earlier this year.Its a really good days work, said McIlroy, who revealed after his opening 71 that he had whittled 17 swing thoughts down to about five as he worked on eradicating some bad habits from his game.I cant let a bit of a disappointing finish taint a really good day. I felt for the most part I controlled my ball well and holed some good putts. Even the ones that didnt go in looked like they were going to and Im in a great position going into the weekend.Its a work in progress and it doesnt feel very natural at the minute, its quite mechanical and I am concentrating a lot but if I set up well it tends to go where I want it to.McIlroy, who was unable to defend his Open title in 2015 after suffering an ankle injury while playing football with friends, added: Its ideal preparation for the Open, especially with the little breeze we have had as well.Its great preparation to have my last two competitive rounds before the Open in contention in tricky conditions. I cant really ask for much more than that.In contrast, Willett had earlier only been able to add a second round of 72 to his opening 75 to finish five over par and continue a disappointing run of form.The world No.9 finished third in the BMW PGA Championship at the end of May, but smashed the putter he used at Augusta in frustration during the U.S. Open and missed the cut in the BMW International Open in Germany last week.The last three weeks weve putted as bad as we ever have and things havent quite gone our way, Willett, 28, said. When you keep shooting the worst score you can its a tricky game.Just not done anything very well really. Missed a lot of putts, couple of bad shots that cost us and just one of those days again. S--- couple of weeks. Its fine margins and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of them.The last time Willett missed two cuts in a row was coincidentally in the U.S. Open and French Open last year, but he then bounced back to finish sixth in the Open at St Andrews a fortnight later.Defending champion Bernd Wiesberger had held a four-shot lead when he reached nine under par thanks to five birdies in his first eight holes, but then ran up a triple bogey on the treacherous 18th and also dropped shots on his last two holes.That left the Austrian a shot off the pace alongside Nicolas Colsaerts and Anders Hansen, the 45-year-old Dane who announced his retirement at the end of last season.I just came out to play four events, Hansen explained after a flawless 68. I need to play five to keep my status [as a European Tour member] and this week counts for two, so thats perfect.I never expected this and when I came down 15 and saw my name on the leaderboard I was laughing a bit. I thought This is just stupid. Maybe Im just more relaxed about the whole thing because it doesnt really matter.Cheap Rockies Jerseys . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. Custom Rockies Jerseys . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. http://www.customrockiesjersey.com/ . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. Custom Todd Helton Jersey . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Wholesale Custom Rockies Shirts . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said.Leicester moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to Leonardo Ulloas dramatic late winner against Norwich, but did the Canaries reveal the formula for stopping them? Nick Wright examines Alex Neils approach… Leicesters astonishing success this season has been built on sound defensive organisation, rapid counter-attacking and lethal finishing, with Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham among the long list of clubs to have fallen victim to their simple but effective style.Norwich became the eighth team to leave the King Power Stadium empty-handed on Saturday, but few sides have made life so difficult for Claudio Ranieris men. For 89 minutes, the Canaries were good value for a point, and they might have even had all three had it not been for the profligacy of Cameron Jerome, who spurned two clear chances in the first half. Alex Neil had certainly done his homework. There have been teams in the league that have got points off them, he said in the build-up to the game. We have been watching a lot of footage of teams who have played against them this season to see how they went about it. We have a plan so we will see how it goes. Norwich centre-backs Timm Klose (17), Russell Martin (5) and Ryan Bennett (24) sat deep and protected John Ruddys goal Neils plan centred on a change of formation. Knowing that Leicester favour a narrow approach, the Norwich boss deployed three central defenders, with Ivo Pinto and Robbie Brady as wing-backs. After their 2-1 defeat by Manchester City in October, it was only the second time all season they have started with three at the back.They came out with a back three that became a back five when they didnt have the ball, said Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas in the Soccer Saturday studio. They had four in midfield and stuck one up front, who was Cameron Jerome, to try to pull their centre-backs around whenever they could. Leicester 1-0 Norwich Leonardo Ulloa scored in the 89th minute to secure a dramatic 1-0 win Norwich stopped Leicester from playing the way they like, with centre-backs Ryan Bennett, Russell Martin and Timm Klose sitting deep and forming a formidable shield directly in front of their goal.The cautious approach negated the considerable threat of Jamie Vardys pace, and on the one occasion the Leicester striker did manage to get in behind Norwichs defence shortly after half-time, John Ruddy was alert to charge out of his box and make the clearance. Charlie Nicholas gives his thoughts on Leicester’s last-gasp win against Norwich Weve got to give credit to Norwich, added Nicholas.dddddddddddd Its not that Leicester played poorly, its just that Norwich suffocated them a little bit. Ranieri admitted as much in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, saying: It was a difficult match. Norwich played very, very compact, and in a defensive way.Unlike their title rivals, Leicester are more comfortable when they dont have the ball. Their gameplan is geared towards stealing possession and instantly launching attacks to catch their opposition out of position, so its therefore little surprise they rank 18th in the Premier League for possession, 19th for successful passes and bottom for passing accuracy.With that in mind, Norwich deliberately ceded possession to the hosts, and Leicester consequently had 58.8 per cent of the ball, by far their highest rate of the season and well above their average of 41 per cent. They found themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to break down a packed defence, and their struggle was summed up by the fact they didnt muster a shot on target until the 58th minute. Norwichs approach made life difficult for Premier League top scorer Jamie Vardy As for Norwichs approach with the ball, there were clues in Neils pre-match comments. Counter-attacking is their strength, he said of Leicester. But your greatest strength can sometimes be your biggest weakness. We will see if we can catch them out high enough up the pitch to punish them on the break, just like they do to so many teams.Leicester were clearly unsettled by a taste of their own medicine in the first half, and Norwichs counter-attacking should have resulted in an opening goal inside 10 minutes. Nathan Redmonds pace created an excellent chance for Jerome, but the striker dithered when one-on-one with Kasper Schmeichel and the Leicester goalkeeper was able to clear. Ranieiri: We always believe Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri says he always believed his side could get a breakthrough. In the end, Norwichs good work was undone by a momentary lapse, with Marc Albrighton given space to cross from the right flank for Ulloa to finish at the far post. Its really disappointing for the players after the amount of effort they put in, Neil told Sky Sports. I thought our gameplan, the way the players went about it and the way we performed was all you could expect from us.Ulloas winner rewarded Leicesters unwavering persistence, but with games against West Brom, Watford and Newcastle to come, there could be similar challenges ahead. This is the difference that theyre going to find, said Nicholas. Id be surprised if West Brom dont come and do a similar thing and just sit in, be strong defensively, and dont leave any space in [behind].Norwichs approach will not have gone unnoticed by the rest of the Premier League. How Leicester adapt could be key.Also See:Ranieri: We always believeUlloa wins it for Leicester ' ' '