Undaunted by the Boston bombings, big crowds lined the route of the London marathon yesterday to cheer on around 36,000 runners, many of whom wore black ribbons to honour the dead and wounded in last week’s tragedy.

Everton 2 West Ham 0

Clare selector and former Mayo midfielder Liam McHale has called on the GAA to ban blanket defences at underage level.

Peter O’Brien yesterday assured his place in Kildorrery GAA history.

Ten-man Waterford United slipped up in the race for automatic promotion as they were held to a scoreless draw by Athlone Town at the RSC.

Ryanair has defended a sharp rise in the prices it is charging for return flights to France for Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final match later this month.

Castlehaven manager James McCarthy was honest about his side’s display at the final whistle.

Kilkenny captain Eoin Larkin was delighted to collect two points from his side’s “hectic” game with Dublin on Sunday, but admitted that he and his teammates “couldn’t be happy” with the scoreline they conceded.

Tipperary boss John Evans believes rookie referee Brian O’Shea was out of his depth in Sunday’s Allianz Football League Division 3 clash against Wexford.

Joey Barton is facing the threat of a 10-match ban — or even longer — after the Football Association charged him with two acts of violent conduct following his sending off in QPR’s defeat by Manchester City.

THE company operating the 2,111-seater €80 million Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin’s docklands are reporting “satisfactory profits with strong box office sales” this year.

Like most newly-weds, Donegal woman Carmel Colhoun should have been lounging in a honeymoon deck chair yesterday.

Former Mayo star David Brady rubbished claims James Horan’s side have been tactically fouling en route to tomorrow’s All-Ireland final.

Most of the headlines regarding last Sunday’s St Finbarr’s-Castlehaven SFC quarter-final centred around events in the aftermath of Jason Sexton’s late equaliser for the Barrs, when a brawl broke out.

A YEAR-LONG review of the Constitution is expected to be announced in the coming weeks and could result in several more referendum proposals being put before the public.

WEXFORD have upped their campaign to introduce the clock/hooter motion to the GAA.

LAOIS chairman Brian Allen last night described the level of aggression displayed towards stewards in Sunday’s ill tempered All-Ireland Club JFC semi-final in O’Moore Park as “unprecedented.”

The Central Bank of Ireland took enforcement action against 10 financial providers, securing the disqualification of two directors and collecting fines of €5m last year.

Phil Jones was part of the Blackburn barrier that has proved so difficult for Manchester United to knock down over the years — but it is the memory of the Red Devils’ title celebrations at Ewood Park that persuaded the defender to switch clubs.

RESPECT, decency and kindness must be at the heart of any service provided to vulnerable people, Minister of State for Older People, Kathleen Lynch said yesterday.