A NURSE who blew the whistle on a colleague she believed was stealing morphine from seriously ill patients claims the wrongdoer was protected by “higher-ups” and is still practising.

WEST HAM boss Alan Pardew was faced with a mounting FA Cup final headache after injuries to two star men tarnished his side’s win at doomed West Brom.

By Nicky Burridge

MILAN MANDARIC and Harry Redknapp are to take stock of Portsmouth’s latest great escape over the next few days before deciding whether their futures remain at Fratton Park.

SO near yet so close to a stumble for Tottenham, who rode their luck to defeat Bolton and put themselves one game away from confirming fourth place in the Premiership and a possible Champions League spot.

IT’S the one that we want! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Eh, sorry about that. You just caught me doing my John Travolta impression.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell has insisted the country is not in the middle of a crime wave.

KILLER Mark Papazian had a fascination with murder — both real and imaginary.

FOR 81-year-old John Collins it was a day of nostalgia mixed with pride.

TONY MOWBRAY was handed a harsh dose of reality in his first competitive game as Celtic boss as his side crashed 1-0 to Dinamo Moscow in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round clash at Parkhead.

THEY started the summer as the two clear favourites for the All-Ireland title and Antrim forward Michael McCann believes we may still witness a Tyrone-Kerry final come September despite the latter’s well-documented problems.

THE country’s elite GAA players wouldn’t be running out onto the green, green grass of home at Croke Park when the stadium’s new pitch is in place next month.

DESPITE having led by six points at one stage, Dublin needed a Gary Sweeney point 90 seconds into injury time to rescue a draw in the ESB Leinster MFC final at Croke Park yesterday.

IT’S SAID a team reflects the personality of its manager; this All-Ireland SHC qualifier offered diametrically opposing arguments on that particular hypothesis. On the one hand, offering proof positive was Galway.

MURDER victim Wayne Doherty was laid to rest yesterday with hundreds of mourners accompanying the 32-year-old father-of-two’s funeral procession.

ARE Tipperary the new Waterford? On their day, and for several years, Waterford were the most attractive team in hurling, the most flamboyant.

They’re playing it down, but Tipperary and James Woodlock are ready to prove they can win a battle with Waterford, says Diarmuid O’Flynn.

There are two recurring targets for fans’ anger, week in, week out – ‘The Sunday Game’ and the conditions at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. There is praise for the quality of RTÉ’s preview of the Munster hurling final but disappointment at its scheduling. Things are reported to have improved at the Stadium of Lee, but there’s still a long way to go.

FOUR DAYS on, and that defeat in Pretoria is still pretty hard to take, especially from a smug South African support base who are slow to recognise the limitations within their own set up. Let’s face it; the Lions could have done with winning last Saturday or even in the circumstances holding on for the draw which their herculean efforts over the last two weekends have deserved.

Johnson and Dallaglio said the Lions Test series win was the pinnacle of their careers. So Paul O’Connell recognises how much is riding on today’s clash against South Africa in Pretoria. He discussed this and more with Edward Newman