SEAMUS COLEMAN had one of those ‘pinch me’ moments just hours after joining up with the Republic of Ireland senior squad for the first time on Monday.

DERMOT EARLEY will be given until right before throw-in to prove his fitness for Kildare’s All-Ireland semi-final with Down on Sunday.

CROKE PARK stadium director Peter McKenna has played down the impact which the fencing in front of Hill 16 will have on patrons watching games from the famous terrace.

TO the victor the spoils, and the label of showing ‘bottle’, but Cork’s stuttering march to next month’s final owes most to Dublin’s utter lack of composure – and it would be a foolish Rebel who would view this triumph in any other light.

A COMPREHENSIVE win for champions Newtownshandrum in this fourth-round Cork county senior hurling clash in front of a good crowd in Fermoy on Saturday evening.

SATURDAY evening in Tullamore provided further irrefutable evidence of how these counties operate at underage hurling level.

FAMILIAR tales of joy for Tyrone and heartbreak for Mayo in yesterday afternoon’s minor curtain- raiser in Croke Park.

EAMON RYAN will take time out to consider his future in charge of Cork’s ladies senior football team following Saturday’s TG4 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat against Tyrone.

IT was dramatic but hardly surprising.

THE discussion about fencing Croke Park rumbles on and on, flooding the airwaves and the papers, rolling out, spilling across, very much like a... well, like a pitch invasion.

HIS congestion may have cleared but the hangover from the Taoiseach’s ill-advised radio interview the morning after the Fianna Fáil shindig in Galway continues with a devastating lampoon on a top-rated US TV chat show in which he was branded a “drunken moron”.

DOUGLAS will compete in the semi-finals of the Evening Echo Cork SHC for the first time in their history after they pipped Cork IT by a point after extra-time in a thrilling quarter-final at Páirc Uí Rinn last night.

KIERAN McGEENEY has rarely been shy about offering his opinions on referees but the Kildare manager actually spoke up for the game’s officials yesterday by claiming that some of football’s rules are impossible to implement.

THEY don’t own the copyright on sporting drama in Meath but they might want to consider a visit to the patents office after a county football final that brought down the curtain on a memorable season.

WHITE’S CROSS withstood a strong late Gabriel Rangers’ rally before advancing to the Evening Echo Cork JAFC semi-final in Bandon yesterday.

THE Limerick SFC reign of Dromcollogher-Broadford is over as they crashed out at the semi-final stage at the hands of Monaleen.

WHEN Avram Grant talks about wanting ‘hungry’ players, he is not thinking of the overweight Benni McCarthy so much as the fired-up Robert Green.

A GARY SHEEHAN goal two minutes from time ensured Na Piarsaigh retain their senior status for another season, following a cracking Evening Echo SFC relegation final at Cloughduv last night.

CONOR Counihan says he will take three weeks to mull over his future as Cork coach – but has warned that he will not become a prisoner to the position.

I’M not saying I’m a jinx but no sooner had I predicted that Liverpool would win the league last season than they started badly, never recovered and ended up dropping out of the top four.