THE importance of winning yesterday’s Powergen Cup final was lost on Llanelli winger Mark Jones as soon as he spotted his stricken captain Simon Easterby lying prostrate on the Twickenham turf.

DAVID KEANE is odds on to replace Eamonn Cregan as Limerick hurling coach after steering the county’s U21s to an historic three-in-a-row of Munster titles.

IT seems a lifetime ago since Meath were the side renowned for their never-say-die quality.

PEACE and a whiff of controversy broke out yesterday as a remarkable collection of world leaders and royalty rubbed shoulders at John Paul’s funeral, with only an alphabetical seating plan to divide heads of state whose relations could be frosty or even non-existent.

MEMORIES of lost leads and late collapses loomed large for Tipp coach Michael Doyle at Croke Park yesterday, even though they ultimately cruised into the semi-final of the Guinness All-Ireland championship.

Fulham 2 Bolton 1

NEXT Saturday’s replay between Sligo and Roscommon will be decided in the old-fashioned Gaelic football way — with the more dominant midfield emerging from the battle.

THERE were matches aplenty to savour at Belfield yesterday afternoon as the third day of the five-a-side competition drew to a conclusion on the 25 sun-parched pitches at UCD.

CONCENTRATING the popular mind in a way no politician could ever hope to achieve, the soaring cost of waste disposal is poised to hit Ireland’s householders where it will hurt most, namely their pockets.

Brendan O’Brien

Charlton 0 Southampton 0

CELTIC climbed back to the top of the Scottish Premier League after a nervy win over spirited Dundee United at Parkhead last night.

GIVEN that Roy Keane’s resignation from Sunderland was apparently provoked by the notion of encouraging his players to smile during training, perhaps it was for the best the Cork man did not bear witness to their post-match ritual on Saturday.

LONG after the final whistle, the quaint and friendly town of Gloucester reverberated to the sound of ‘Munster, Munster’, the huge travelling contingent absorbing another epic result in Europe.

A FESTIVE atmosphere, jersey-bedecked fans cheering and singing, white and blue as far as the eye could see: Waterford’s city centre was truly a heaving mass of joy and celebration yesterday afternoon. Then the match started.

ALL MEPs have until the end of May to make a full disclosure of the allowances they claimed to pay assistants after suspicions of fraud.

IN A Wexford village silenced by the death of a family, it was the innocent classmates of murdered Mark and Julie Flood who tried to articulate the enormity of emotions involved.

FINE GAEL are not hiding party leader Enda Kenny, finance spokesman Michael Noonan has insisted, dismissing such claims as ‘propaganda’.

Celtic 0 Rangers 1