PERHAPS it’s just as well that only a third of Sunday’s likely starting line-up were in the Munster team that lost 23-8 to Perpignan in the Heineken Cup in 2003.

CHELSEA could be without 18-goal striker Didier Drogba for tonight’s clash with Portsmouth after the Ivory Coast international hurt his back in a training ground incident yesterday.

WITHIN seconds of the final whistle at Thomond Park on Friday, I received a text from one of Munster’s keenest supporters now living in Atlanta, Georgia.

A new year is looming and, given the events of the last 12 months, nobody will be celebrating with more gusto when the clock strikes midnight on December 31 than Kevin Doyle.

TOTTENHAM full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto is facing an investigation into his clash with a fan after the defeat by Wolves, police have confirmed.

IT was honours even in this meeting of the touring All Star teams of 2008 and 2009 in Hurlingham on Saturday, a fitting result to what was an entertaining affair.

REFEREE Diarmuid Kirwan last night insisted he was ‘delighted’ with his handling of September’s All-Ireland SHC final.

FIVE points, four tries scored, none conceded. What’s not to like?

IT WAS interesting to learn this week that the Army v Navy American football game played on December 7, 1963 was the occasion for the first use of action replay in televised sport.

RTÉ don’t operate a version of Sky’s player cam but they would be well advised to stretch their limited purse strings for Sunday’s All-Ireland final at Croke Park.

Fallout from the All Ireland senior hurling final between Kilkenny and Tipperary

Fallout from the All Ireland senior hurling final between Kilkenny and Tipperary continues.

WINNING manager Denise Cronin has no doubt that the current Cork senior camogie team is good enough to complete an elusive treble in 2010 – but only if they ‘deserve it,’ she said after yesterday’s eight points win over Kilkenny.

WHEN the action drew to a close in Croke Park yesterday, the Big House reeked of sights and sounds from another era.

KILKENNY may have been starved of senior camogie success of late, but midfielder Ann Dalton has never found herself short of accumulating honours.

PITCH invasions at the final whistle of All-Ireland finals must become a thing of the past before tragedy strikes, the chairman of the GAA’s games presentation committee has warned.

NATIONALISATION of the banks would cost 10,000 jobs and add over €20 billion to the cost of borrowing, the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has warned.

DUBLIN referee Richie Winters was at the centre of controversy yesterday as the Turkey team walked off the pitch in protest for half an hour just a minute before the interval in yesterday’s Under-19 Four Nations tournament game against Holland at Bray’s Carlisle Grounds.

CARLO ANCELOTTI described this dramatic but fortunate victory over Fulham as one of the most important results of his Chelsea tenure after his team shrugged off an alarming dip in form to re-ignite their title challenge.

ANDY DAWSON handed Sir Alex Ferguson a belated Christmas present with a second half own goal at the KC Stadium to help gift Manchester United what could prove to be a crucial victory in the race for the Premier League title.