http://www.ireland.com The Irish Times' Sport Top Stories en-ie Copyright 2008, ireland.com. The Irish Times 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 daily 2 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/ http://www.ireland.com/feeds/rss/rss_logo.gif Search for articles on ireland.com QUERY00 http://www.ireland.com/cgi-bin/dialogserver http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384095.html DECLAN KIDNEY's persona won't change with his forthcoming incarnation as Ireland coach and, as ever, he will bring a sense of humanity to the role. Sport 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384157.html KIDNEY'S TEAM: WHILE DECLAN KIDNEY gave his first interview as Ireland coach in Cork, negotiations to fill the national management team were conducted in Dublin with South African Gert Smal and Leinster's Paul McNaughton expected to be confirmed as forwards coach and national team manager respectively. Sport 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926750.html MUNSTER VACANCY: AS HISTORY has shown, the Munster hierarchy will move swiftly to replace the departing Declan Kidney; they have already begun a process of drawing up a shortlist. Sport 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926784.html BRIAN O'DRISCOLL insists the new British and Irish Lions coach must not repeat the key mistakes made by Clive Woodward on the 2005 tour to New Zealand. Sport 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210286669577.html Time can be a great healer; even for Sergio Garcia, a player who acts as if the whole world is out to get him. Yesterday, some nine months after the most horrible day of his golfing life, the Spaniard - who has borne the scars of his British Open failure at Carnoustie as a personal affront - provided a timely reminder that his is a prodigious, if mercurial, talent. Golf 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/sports/golf/2008/0509/1210286669562.html Philip Reid watched as Pádraig Harrington sank an outrageous 40-foot putt from off the 18th green to put a spring back in his step. Golf 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/sports/golf/2008/0509/1210286669570.html Philip Reid's round-up from the Players' Championship. Golf 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384122.html IRISH AMATEUR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP: A RECORD 91 overseas entries from 17 countries will tee it up in the AIB-sponsored Irish Amateur Open Championship beginning today at Royal Dublin. Golf 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384106.html ITALIAN OPEN: England's Ross McGowan and Marco Ruiz of Paraguay produced golf as hot as the Milan sunshine to post eight-under-par 64s and share the lead in the first round of the Methorios Capital Italian Open in Milan. Golf 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926729.html KEVIN KEEGAN will not resign as Newcastle United's manager and is unlikely to be sacked when he meets Mike Ashley and Dennis Wise in London at 11am this morning. "I've got three years on my contract and I am looking forward to the next three years - at least - here," said a quietly defiant Keegan yesterday. "I am going to London to talk to Mike Ashley tomorrow; that's a good thing, I look forward to it." Soccer 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926689.html ARSENE WENGER's desire to keep his Arsenal squad together encountered another setback yesterday when the agent of Alexander Hleb, the midfielder who has been courted by Internazionale, went public with the Belarusian's desire to leave at the end of the season. Soccer 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/sports/soccer/2008/0509/1210284926718.html UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: IRISH SOCCER fans travelling to Moscow for the Champions League final this month will not require a visa if they possess a ticket for the game, the Russian embassy confirmed yesterday. Soccer 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926685.html NATIONAL LEAGUE: HAD BIRMINGHAM City not been promoted last summer then Paddy Kavanagh might have felt he had a long-term future at the club but they were and "Steve Bruce said he wanted to buy big after that," he recalls. So the Dubliner returned home and joined Bray where, after the month he's just had, Eddie Gormley must be rather glad to have him just now. Soccer 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926640.html More soccer news in brief. Soccer 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/gaa/2008/0509/1210276384212.html CROKE PARK has nearly completed the protocols necessary to implement the players' awards scheme that was accepted by last month's annual congress. At the beginning of next month a set of documents will be sent out to the counties to assist them in completing the necessary administration. Gaelic Games 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384133.html WESTMEATH HAVE decided to start without Dessie Dolan and David Duffy for Sunday's opening fixture of the football championship against Longford. Manager Tomás Ó Flatharta has left unchanged the team that overcame Dublin in last month's NFL Division Two final in Navan. Gaelic Games 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210286669400.html McMahon returns to duty as Clare prove too strong for Dublin: DIARMUID McMAHON made a return to intercounty duty as Clare defeated Dublin 0-29 to 2-20 in a high-scoring senior hurling challenge in Nenagh last night. Gaelic Games 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926657.html MAGNERS LEAGUE: DRAGONS BEAT their Welsh rivals Ospreys on Tuesday night to guarantee they will finish above Connacht in the League and figure in next season's Heineken Cup. Rugby 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926678.html AS LEINSTER backs Fionn Carr and Ian Keatley move west and scrumhalf Frank Murphy returns to Ireland from Leicester Tigers for the coming season, certain incumbents will be conscious of trying to protect team places. Rugby 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210284926710.html "YOUV'E GOT to look at it as the glass half full, don't you," says Ulster and Ireland's David Humphreys. Tonight the outhalf will pull on the Ulster shirt for the final time when he steps onto the Ravenhill Road turf. Rugby 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384059.html ROWING: IRELAND'S LIGHTWEIGHT four grabbed an excellent second place in their heat and qualification for the semi-finals at the World Cup regatta in Munich yesterday. Sport Other 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384065.html BASKETBALL: ALTHOUGH THE Irish basketball season does not begin until the autumn, the exclusion of St Paul's of Killarney from the new Superleague schedule has led to deep rumbles of discontent in the Kerry town. Sport Other 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384061.html SAILING: AROUND THE country, amateur yacht series are cranking up towards top gear as the peak summer months beckon. But the perennial problem for boat-owning skippers of finding, and keeping, competent crew for boats in the mid-to-large "cruiser-racers" grows ever more acute. Sport Other 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210276384063.html CYCLING: HAVING RIDDEN well in his Grand Tour debut last season, Philip Deignan will continue his progression as a pro cyclist when he starts the three-week Giro d'Italia this weekend. Sport Other 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0509/1210286669550.html More sports news in brief Sport Other 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00