Saturday, July 4, 2009
PERHAPS it is only fitting that Cork footballers are finally getting due recognition for being one of the most consistent and durable championship performers over the last number of years but there is a bothersome reality buried underneath all the hoopla that followed their semi-final demolition of Kerry.
FORMER Footballer of the Year Peter Canavan has dismissed suggestions Kerry are a spent force, insisting that the Kingdom ‘don’t do demise very well.’
NEW Manchester United striker Michael Owen admits he leapt at the chance to join the Barclays Premier League champions after a surprise phone call from manager Alex Ferguson.
ONE last stand. After ten months of high octane rugby encompassing Magners League, Guinness Premiership, Heineken Cup, Challenge Cup, Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations those who have survived to this point with willing hearts and minds must summon their reserves of pride and energy for one last effort.
GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI could meet with Stephen Ireland as early as next week as hopes rise that the country’s most famous absentee footballer is set to end his international exile.
SOUTH AFRICA captain John Smit has slammed the “ludicrous” decision that means Springboks hard man Bakkies Botha will miss today’s final Lions showdown.
THIS time last year, I swore I’d never again go to a Kilkenny-Wexford Leinster final in Croke Park.
ON the eve of the third Test against South Africa, Lions assistant coach Warren Gatland has expressed concern at the suspension of Springbok lock Bakkies Botha.
CORK are chasing their sixth consecutive Munster ladies football title when they take on old rivals Kerry in Bruff tonight (7pm) but Angela Walsh is unhappy that the winners will be forced to wait seven weeks to get back into action.
EVEN in Dublin it’s being said — that only someone who’s delusional or incurably romantic can see any possibility other than a big Kilkenny win in tomorrow’s Leinster hurling final.
FOR many hurling fans, Frank Cummins is, and probably always will be, the finest midfielder the game has ever seen.
HURLING is in a battle for recognition with the big-ball games and it’s a losing battle in most areas. Dublin is one of the most significant battlegrounds of all; it’s the capital city, home to about a fifth of the all-island population, but more significantly, home to most of the nation’s media.
LANCE ARMSTRONG, pictured, insists he is not bothered by being “particularly monitored” by anti-doping controls at the Tour de France.
ONCE-raced Brog An Ri can emphasise he’s a name for the future by landing the nap in the Hireall Marquees See You Again In August Bumper at Bellewstown tonight.
TRAINER Dessie Hughes and Roger Loughran doubled up with Montero and The Rall in the divisions of the Crown Bar Beginners Chase at Wexford last night.
MOONLIT Path finished sixth in the TurfTV Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle on February 19 at Huntingdon, after which she tested positive for tranexamic acid, an anti-bleeding drug, which contravened BHA Rule 200.
THE National Trainers Federation in Britain believes the punishment handed out to Nicky Henderson over the Moonlit Path affair was “severe”.
MARY COGHLAN is no longer chief executive of Athletics Ireland, the association confirmed yesterday.
PAUL HESSION has made no secret of the fact that he will be going for a fast time at The Mardyke this evening when he will assume star billing for the men’s 200m at Cork City Sports.
ROBERT HEFFERNAN predicts a thriller today when he lines up alongside Mexico’s Eder Sánchez in a 3,000m walk he hopes will give Cork City Sports fans a taste of what world class race walking is all about.
ANDY RODDICK produced one of the best performances of his life yesterday to triumph over hot favourite and home hope Andy Murray and set up another final showdown with Roger Federer tomorrow.
SERENA WILLIAMS believes she will have “nothing to lose” when she takes on sister Venus in today’s Wimbledon final.
REAL MADRID’S match with Shamrock Rovers will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports 1 on Monday, July 20.
SLIGO ROVERS striker Raffaele Cretaro has been named the Soccer Writers’ Association Player Of The Month for June after his goals proved crucial in eliminating Cork City in the FAI Cup.
NEVER mind de lawd, it’s football that moves in mysterious ways, its wonders — and weirdness — to perform.
MANCHESTER CITY manager Mark Hughes has been told he is wasting his time trying to prise John Terry from Chelsea.
ARSENE WENGER accepts Arsenal are about to embark upon a “decisive season” and admits he will have to rethink his strategy should the young Gunners fail to make an impact on the Barclays Premier League title race.
PAUL INCE has returned to MK Dons for his second spell as manager little more than a year after leaving for Blackburn, the club have announced.
KILKENNY manager Brian Cody has made one change from the team which beat Galway in the Leinster SHC semi-final to face Dublin in the final at Croke Park tomorrow.
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