A hostel in Australia owned by a Dublin man has banned all Irish backpackers, after an upsurge in drunken and antisocial behaviour.

Dundalk scrambled a single goal FAI Ford Cup win over their Leinster Senior League opponents at Oriel Park last night.

TOOMEVARA skipper Thomas Dunne has added reason to relish leading the Tipperary champions out in this afternoon’s All-Ireland club hurling semi-final in Portlaoise.

ALMOST 20 years after beginning the task of putting Tipperary hurling back on the map, Babs Keating is back at the helm again.

DJ CAREY, Henry Shefflin, Brian Lohan and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín are the most popular hurlers of the last decade, not just with fans across Ireland but, it would appear, among aficionados around the world.

CLARE, Kilkenny and Cork are expected to command the biggest representation on the Guinness 'Hurling Legends' team which is to be announced tonight.

AMONG the hurling purists, Thomas Dunne would be regarded as one of the greatest exponents of the modern game, an artist with an array of skills and a warm personality which mirrors his sportsmanship.

Jim O’Sullivan

Tipperary 2-14 Limerick 2-14

KEN Hogan wasn’t one bit surprised by the strength of Limerick’s challenge in Thurles yesterday. It proved that the potential from winning three All-Ireland U21 titles is there, he said.

TIPPERARY’S hurling management team know exactly what is required to re-invigorate the county’s fortunes.

THERE may be no three-in-a-row in the offing, nor is there any baggage from last year, but just as with the senior decider, Kilkenny and Tipperary hold the same number of titles ahead of today’s Erin All-Ireland U21 hurling final.

THE GAA is optimistic that the Government is prepared to give formal recognition to the game of hurling by grant-aiding it as a separate entity from Gaelic football.

Cork 2-19 Tipperary 1-16

THE choice of Fitzgerald Stadium as the venue for this evening’s Guinness All-Ireland SHC qualifier game between Cork and Tipperary has diverted attention from the attractiveness of the fixture.

LIMERICK manager Pat Joe Whelahan was almost lost for words after yesterday's Allianz National Hurling League defeat by Tipperary at the magnificently redeveloped Gaelic Grounds.

Tipperary 2-21 Limerick 1-12

Kilkenny 3-18 Tipperary 0-15

TWELVE months ago, he made a fairytale return to top-flight hurling after virtually writing off the season because a combination of injury and illness. Again, DJ Carey, one of hurling's best known and most charismatic performers, has had to endure some punishment in his bid to prove his fitness for next Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary. By availing of the best treatment available he has been winning.

FORMER Kilkenny star Joe Hennessy has a double wish for the weekend. Naturally, he hopes that his native county can defeat Tipperary and continue its bid to retain the All-Ireland SHC crown. But there’s more.

Tipperary 2-16, Offaly 2-11

OFFALY coach Mike McNamara believes that on the evidence of yesterday’s display Tipp are the favourites for the All-Ireland.

BARRING another upset, Tipperary will be expected to go through to the Guinness All-Ireland hurling semi-finals.

Kilkenny 5-14, Tipperary 5-13

IT was a game neither side really wanted because of its proximity to their championship meeting in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday fortnight.

Tipperary 0-22

Tipperary 2-19

Tipperary 3-21

THOMAS DUNNE, Tipperary's inspirational captain over the last three seasons, is out of the running for a place on the 2002 Vodafone GAA Allstar hurling team.

Kilkenny 1-20

WITHOUT doubt, THE inclusion of DJ Carey in Kilkenny’s attack for the second of the Guinness hurling championship semi-finals in Croke Park on Sunday places their challenge in a very different light.

IT'S not the glamour clash of the All-Ireland semi-finals, the meeting of the two new boys, Waterford and Clare has seen to that.

Tipperary senior hurling manager Nicky English has made two changes from the side which lost the Munster Final for tomorrow¹s qualifier clash with Offaly.

Wexford 3-13, Tipperary 1-10

Ger Coleman is a surprise inclusion in the Wexford senior hurling team for their All-Ireland semi-final replay clash with Tipperary at Croke Park on Saturday next.