Dublin are on the verge of qualifying for an All-Ireland final, something the county hasn’t done in 16 years. Paddy Christie will miss out on that experience but his passion for coaching is helping future generations of Dublin footballers win in all kinds of ways, and not just All-Irelands

CORK and Laois battle for an All-Ireland final place when the first of the Ladies senior football championship semi-finals is played in Cashel this evening (6pm, TG4).

Cork legend Ronan Curran on the highs and lows of a career in intercounty hurling

QUALIFICATION for the group stages of the Europa League? One million euro. The emotional reward for the players, staff and supporters of Shamrock Rovers? Priceless.

IN A snakeskin monokini and pink denim hotpants, Lea T emerges from a faux tropical portico and saunters into the bright lights.

IT’S been an interesting couple of weeks for Jimmy Barry-Murphy, and we’re not just referring to the fact that he celebrated his 57th birthday last Monday.

ALLY McCOIST insists tomorrow’s Old Firm derby is all about the players and not about himself and Neil Lennon.

JUST in case we thought that things couldn’t get any worse, along comes Arsene Wenger to assure us that, no, really, they could.

MUNSTER skipper Peter O’Mahony hopes to celebrate his 22nd birthday in style by leading Munster to a third successive RaboDirect Pro12 victory at Musgrave Park tonight (7.45pm).

THE ODDS are stacked against them and history suggests they haven’t a hope but there is something tangible about Ireland’s demeanour heading into the World Cup Pool C showdown with Australia that suggests something special is on the cards at Eden Park tomorrow morning.

SADLY, no heroics from Shamrock Rovers on Irish football’s long-awaited debut in the group stages of European competition.

DAVID LUIZ, the forgotten man of Chelsea’s January transfer spree, ensured it wasn’t all about Fernando Torres as Chelsea scraped past Bayer Leverkusen in their opening fixture of the Champions League; but the Spaniard did at least set up both goals to provide a glimmer of hope that his own luck is about to change.

THERE are so many talking points since the commencement of the World Cup that it is difficult to know where to begin.

ANOTHER week, another nerve-shredding encounter for Dr Crokes.

DROM & Inch manager Teddy Kennedy was understandably jubilant at the final whistle – he’d just seen his charges collect a first Tipperary senior hurling title, but he wasn’t forgetting the niceties, paying tribute to the defeated finalists.

JOY unconfined for Drom & Inch yesterday in Semple Stadium as they won their first Tipperary senior hurling title, edging out Clonoulty Rossmore by two points to get their hands on the Dan Breen Cup.

ANOTHER week, another nerve-shredding encounter for Dr Crokes.

AFTER 46 games and a weekend of semi-final action characterised by controversy, drama, incident and passion, the 2011 version of the World Cup has produced a carbon copy of what transpired here at the inaugural event 24 years ago — a final contested by New Zealand and France with Australia and Wales battling for the bronze medal.

THIS Waterford SHC final was as one-sided as the score suggests as Ballygunner captured their 12th senior title with ease at sun-drenched Walsh Park yesterday.

ON Tuesday evening in the Aviva, a couple of us were toying with the idea of writing up our match reports before the game kicked-off, just to see if second-guessing Trapattoni’s Ireland is as easy as many folk think.