A friend tells me that he was at a sports function the other night when a minor war of words erupted over someone using the term ‘soccer’.

It bordered on travesty that this gripping All-Ireland Fresher hurling championship semi-final at Carriganore yesterday should end up with a loser.

A BIT like the man himself, I was guilty of a bad miss the other night, only catching up with RTÉ’s Champions League coverage from Madrid when the Atletico-Liverpool match was all over and the panel were already in gloves and masks performing what looked like a pretty grisly post-mortem on Robbie Keane.

AS usual, James Lawton, columnist with the London Independent, didn’t mince his words.

JUST when you think you’ve heard all the great Irish football stories, along comes one that goes straight into the top ten.