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21st Dec 2016

These were the 10 Irish biggest betting upsets of 2016

Tony Cuddihy

Ladbrokes have released their list of the 10 biggest upsets – sporting, political and otherwise – of the last 12 months.

For anyone who thinks that Leicester City’s Premier League win was bound to take spot, think again.

You need to look far closer to home, and to Chicago.

10) Ireland’s defeat of Italy at the European Championships. The biggest price Ireland could have been backed to win at the Grand Stade Lille Métropole was 9/2. By kick-off, Ireland were 11/4 and patriotic punters were rewarded when Robbie Brady scored the only goal of the match in the 84th minute.

9) Conor McGregor’s defeat to Nate Diaz in March gets the number 9 spot. McGregor looked a certainty at 1/5 in the betting but failed to justify his odds that night in the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

8) The Munster football semi-final in June, where Cork were priced at 1/14 to beat Tipperary. However the underdogs outplayed their odds of 8/1 to claim their first Championship victory against the Rebel County in 72 years. Tipperary led for most of the match but Cork pulled back to draw level before two injury time frees by Kevin O’Halloran sealed victory. Tipperary went on to have a great season with their journey only ended by Mayo in the All Ireland semi final.

7) Vladimir Nikitin’s controversial victory over Michael Conlan in August. Ladbrokes were quick to pay out, not just on Conlan as the winner of the fight, but also on bets for him to win an Olympic medal and to win gold.

6) Mouse Morris landing the epic Grand National double gets the number 6 spot. Fresh from Rogue Angel’s 16/1 victory in the Irish Grand National, the trainer headed to Aintree for the English equivalent with Rule the World, a horse who was yet to win over fences with a teenage jockey David Mullins aboard who was having his first ride in the race. 30 years on from his first attempt, Mouse Morris won the race with his 33/1 shot, completing the 578/1 double.

5) Leicester City winning the Premier League title, having started the season at 5000/1. A cunning Ladbrokes’ customer in Dundalk had placed €30 on the Foxes nine months before their victory at a whopping price of 3000/1, leaving him with €90,000 in winnings to collect on May 2.

4) Brexit is ranked at number 4. Despite the betting markets shifting towards a Remain victory in Britain’s EU Referendum, the Brexit campaigners were those left celebrating on June 23rd. In the month before the vote, Remain was as short as 1/4, while Brexit had drifted out to 3/1.

3) Making the top 3 betting surprises of 2016 is Connacht winning the Guiness Pro12. In their 121-year history, Connacht were without a major trophy until May of this year, when they made history at Murrayfield by beating Leinster 20-10 in the Guineass Pro12 final to claim the title having been 66/1 outsiders at the start of the season.

2) Donald Trump.

1) It was Ireland’s victory over the All Blacks. 111 years had passed since Ireland’s first clash with the original All Blacks. In the 28 previous times of trying, Ireland had been beaten 27 times, and drawn just once. They were 12/1 to make history and in the handicap before kick-off were receiving a 24 point start.

Topics:

Betting