It is hard to imagine Niall Moyna experiencing a sweeter Sigerson Cup success with DCU if it occurs this weekend.

A late Danny Long goal saw Beamish Stout MSL Premier Division leaders Avondale United edge out Leeds 3-2 in difficult conditions at Avondale Park on Saturday.

OLYMPIC hammer thrower Eileen O’Keeffe could compete at the Cork City Sports with confirmation Ireland’s premier international track and field meeting will be held at the CIT Track in Bishopstown on July 3.

DERVAL O’ROURKE will commence building on the phenomenal year that was 2009 when she travels to Portugal for warm weather training tomorrow – she already had a session in Cork over the festive season when she sneaked into the CIT track in Bishopstown.

UCC will bid to put off-field distractions behind them tomorrow when they lock horns with Belfast giants Pegasus in a game that has all the makings of a six-pointer in Pool B of the women’s Irish Hockey League.

THE flood mayhem in Cork continued last night as 43 people had to be evacuated from flats at Grenville Place, near the Mercy University Hospital.

SCOTT DEASY’S scintillating solo effort lit up Temple Hill and helped Cork Constitution get back to winning ways with a 17-13 defeat of Garryowen in Division 1A of the AIB League on Saturday.

IRISH team manager, Patsy McGonagle, is hoping Robert Heffernan can provide another inspirational performance in the 20k walk at the World Championships in Berlin today.

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.

DERVAL O’ROURKE has withdrawn from Saturday’s Cork City Sports because of a groin injury picked up at the European Team Championships in Slovakia two weeks ago.

ALAN O’BRIEN (Crusaders) was relatively unknown when he won the IMC 800m at Cork City Sports last year.

PAUL HESSION will get his new outdoor season under way tonight when he lines up for the 100m at the Primo Nebiolo Memorial Meeting which will be staged in Turin.

KELLY PROPER (Ferrybank) and Marian Andrews (Togher), two of the Irish athletes who excelled at the European indoor championships in Turin last month, will be in action at The Mardyke on Sunday when Leevale Athletic Club promote their annual sports meeting.

IRELAND’S Olympians were not just the only ones delighted with their displays at The Mardyke on Saturday.

PAUL HESSION, who looks a serious contender for a place in the final of the 200m at next month’s Olympic Games, doubles up in the 100m and 200m at The Mardyke today.

HOPES of having an Irish men’s 4x400m relay team at this year’s Olympics suffered a blow yesterday with the cancellation of the relay events at tomorrow’s meet in Salamanca, Spain.

FOR a number of years the Japanese federation sent small teams of athletes to Cork City Sports and that relationship will be renewed at The Mardyke on July 12 when the Far East will be represented by at least two of their Olympic hopefuls.

IF YOU ever wondered how fast you could run a mile you can find out and, in the process, help a very worthy charity by participating in the SPAR Mile Challenge in your area over the coming weekend.

IRISH Olympian Marie Davenport has written off her track season this summer due to a severe problem with allergies.

PAUL HESSION will be chasing Paul Brizzell’s national 200m record at The Mardyke on Saturday afternoon when some of the world’s best athletes will assemble for Cork City Sports.

DERVAL O’ROURKE finished last of the seven competitors in her Golden League 100m hurdles race at the Bislett Games in Oslo last night, in a time of 13.19 secs.

DERVAL O’ROURKE admitted yesterday she faces one of the most difficult assignments of the year when she lines up for the 100m hurdles at Cork City Sports at The Mardyke on June 30.

BRIAN MURPHY, a member of the national 4 x 400m squad, is moving up to 800m this season and new special training gear, sponsored by Mahers Sports Therapy, will ensure an early breakthrough.

MAX JONES, Ireland’s new Director of Athletics and the man entrusted with the task of breathing new life into the sport, will soon travel around the country to meet the coaches and volunteers.

BUPA Cork City Sports has rocketed into up to third place on the European list of Permit Meetings and just below Grand Prix status, which is determined on budgets, attendances, appearance money and television coverage as well as performances on the track.

WHAT a difference a year can make. Twelve months ago, the teams from the Southern Conference were dominating the NIVEA for Men Superleague but, after taking a hammering over the cross-conference weekend, a lot of them are heading into the first round of the cup this weekend with one eye on the back door.

ALISTAIR CRAGG insisted that a sub-13 minute 5,000m is a definite target for him as he put the finishing touches to his preparations for tomorrow night’s Gaz de France Golden League meeting in Paris.

IRELAND’S medal hopes in the 4 x 400m relay at the European championships in Gothenburg in a months time suffered a severe setback at the weekend when Rob Daly, who also has an individual qualifying standard, tore a calf muscle at the BUPA Cork City Sports.

DERVAL O’ROURKE will kick off her outdoor season at The Mardyke on Saturday, where she claims star billing at the BUPA Cork City Sports.

THE legendary Michael Johnson telephoned the organisers of the BUPA Cork City Sports during the week in a bid to get one of his proteges, Darold Williamson, into their July 1 showpiece at The Mardyke.

A RIVERSIDE walk in Cork was renamed Slí Cumann na mBan yesterday to mark the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN’S career took a new turn yesterday when she was cleared to run for Australia in this year’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, her adopted hometown.

DERVAL O’ROURKE is all set to take her place in the line-up for the 100m hurdles at the BUPA Cork City Sports this afternoon relieved to be finally able to get her outdoor season under way after an injury scare.

BERNARD WILLIAMS may be the Olympic silver medallist at 200m but the track’s greatest entertainer is only on standby for that event at the BUPA Cork City Sports International Track and Field Meeting this afternoon and that demonstrates the amount of talent that will be on show at The Mardyke (2pm).

MARK CHRISTIE qualified for both the European under-23 championships and the world student games with a career best performance in the 1,500m at the Solihull meet over the weekend and now the Mullingar athlete can’t wait for the BUPA Cork City Sports on Saturday.

ANTANETTE KIRKLAND, partner of sprint sensation Bernard Williams, will join the line-up for the 100m hurdles at the BUPA Cork City Sports at The Mardyke on Saturday week.

BERNARD WILLIAMS, silver medallist in the 200m at last year’s Olympics and member of the USA gold medal winning 4 x 100m relay team in Atlanta will line up in the 100m at the BUPA Cork City Sports on July 2.

Brendan Mooney

HAYLEY YELLING, the European cross-country champion, will join Sonia O’Sullivan for the women’s 3,000m at the BUPA Cork City Sports on July 2 at The Mardyke.

IF Geraldine Hendricken is ready to run, she will be at The Mardyke on July 2.

DOUBLE Olympic champion Kelly Holmes will compete at the BUPA Cork City Sports on July 2.

SUNDAY, April 25, 2004, was a bright day, full of promise, and as the red hordes streamed ... hang on ... just give me a second.

GARY RYAN won the admiration of the fans at the BUPA Cork City Sports on Saturday and is now hoping he can get the nod from the OCI should he post the Olympic qualifying standard between now and the Athens Games.

HIGH jump sensation Adrian O’Dwyer, was jumping for Olympic qualification in Algiers last week but on Saturday he will be jumping for joy at The Mardyke in Cork where he will again treat fans to the type of performance that saw him clear 2.30m and claim his place in Athens.