Sunday, November 8, 2009 Previous editions

IT’S official: Tadhg Kennelly last night brought almost two months of speculation to an end by confirming that he will return to Australia to resume his AFL career.
A LITTLE less conversation, a little more action please.
MARCUS HORAN will not be seen in competitive action again until the New Year at the earliest.
KERRY’S Paul Galvin and Kilkenny’s Tommy Walsh both achieved personal doubles last night by being named the Opel GPA players of the year for football and hurling.
MUNSTER A stretched their unbeaten run to three games and provided themselves with a perfect boost ahead of their British and Irish Cup clash against Coventry on November 21.
DESSIE FARRELL claimed last night that the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) was “on the cusp’’ of gaining formal recognition from the GAA but warned that some obstacles still need to be cleared.
THERE are many rites of passage thrown up for Premier League novices but surely none as daunting as a first encounter with Alex Ferguson.
UEFA president Michel Platini has warned France coach Raymond Domenech about the threat of any team coached by Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni and has called his former Juventus boss “a maestro”.
CARLO ANCELOTTI’S impressive start to life at Chelsea has not surprised Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
MANCHESTER CITY boss Mark Hughes has urged Stephen Ireland to be patient following a period of frustration for the midfield star.
TOTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp insists he has no regrets about selling Darren Bent over the summer, despite the striker’s barnstorming start to the season with Sunderland.
HULL boss Phil Brown has again brushed off speculation over his future by claiming he is under no additional pressure to win this weekend.
LIVERPOOL will play a waiting game with the fitness of a string of top stars, including Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, as they prepare for Monday’s home clash with Birmingham.
CESC FABREGAS knows Arsenal must be “up for it” to keep their Barclays Premier League title challenge on track when they travel to Wolves today.
ON the day of the draw for the World Cup play-off, a few of us found ourselves in the company of a brace of Irish football heroes of yesteryear.
Leicester 22 South Africa 17
LEICESTER produced one of the great upsets in tour history by humbling world champions South Africa with a fearless display at Welford Road last night.
AUSTRALIA captain Rocky Elsom has warned the Wallabies to underestimate the new-look England side at their peril.
NEW ZEALAND captain Richie McCaw expects Dan Carter to be alongside him when the All Blacks run out against Wales today.
HAVING secured revenge over Ballynahinch for defeat in last season’s AIB Cup final, Cork Constitution will have to rise to another huge challenge at Temple Hill this afternoon (2.30).
MUNSTER football manager Ger O’Sullivan believes that the interprovincial tournaments should be continued indefinitely, even if they have to be played in front of empty stadiums.
HE’S got a book out himself, so it seemed a natural starting point. Mickey Harte nods when you ask about the Tadhg Kennelly autobiography controversy.
A PLANNED meeting between the Clare hurlers and manager Mike McNamara did not go ahead last night due to the unavailability of a number of people.
MICK ‘HAULIE’ O’NEILL has a simple approach to coaching the Cork SFC champions, Clonakilty.
AS Tommy Walsh departs for the life of a professional athlete with Aussie Rules outfit St Kilda, Brendan Murphy’s re-integration into the GAA is continuing apace with Rathvilly taking on Clara in the AIB Leinster club championship tomorrow.
THE size of the task facing David Haye was brought into sharp focus yesterday as WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev weighed in a daunting seven stone heavier than the Englishman.
IRELAND’S Pádraig Harrington has targeted a pair of 66s over the weekend to rescue hopes of capturing the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai.
THE major prize at Down Royal today is the Grade 1 JNwine.com Champion Chase, but there’s no solid reason top be overly optimistic about finding the winner so let’s concentrate, for the moment, on the Grade 2 ladbrokes.com Chase.
I suppose you could best describe my weekend as the storm before the calm!
HISTORY can be made at the 26th running of the Breeders’ Cup with the unbeaten Californian star Zenyatta taken to become the first mare to land the $5m Classic at Santa Anita tonight.
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