ireland.com - The Irish Times

Reid may miss rest of qualifying campaign
SOCCER: Republic of Ireland midfielder Steven Reid faces a lengthy extension to his period on the sidelines and could miss the rest of Ireland's European Championship qualification campaign after it was confirmed by his club yesterday that he must undergo surgery for a cruciate ligament injury sustained at the end of last week. p

Brennan denies Croke Park backdown
GAELIC GAMES/Match regulation proposals: GAA president Nickey Brennan has denied the revised match regulations for the forthcoming National Leagues represent a climb down by Croke Park in the face of manager discontent. As a result of the changes, a meeting scheduled for last night between representatives of intercounty managers and GAA officials was deemed unnecessary. p

Private feud behind Mourinho's anger
SOCCER: Most of the debilitating bout of infighting that threatens to derail Chelsea's season can be traced to Frank Arnesen's appearance on Roman Abramovich's super-yacht Pelarus 18 months ago. p

Manchester City have support of Ferguson
Third round replay/Manchester City v Sheffield Wednesday: Alex Ferguson does not often support Manchester City but tonight, in their FA Cup third-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday, he has his reasons for hoping Stuart Pearce's side make it through. City's reward would be a fourth-round tie at home to Southampton and, for Ferguson, that means a first opportunity to watch Gareth Bale in person. p
Real Madrid launch another attack
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon last night launched a bitter attack on David Beckham as the Englishman's final six months in Spain look set to descend into acrimony and recrimination. p
Soccer Shorts
Today's other stories in brief p

College issue to get third degree
Tyrone's McKenna Cup controversy: The Ulster Council meets tonight in special session to consider what action to take in relation to the controversy that arose over Tyrone's use of college players in Sunday's Dr McKenna Cup defeat of Derry. p
Match banson the cards
Suspensions for cumulative yellow cards, and the introduction of match bans rather than time bans, will be among the disciplinary reforms to be considered under the auspices of the GAA's Rule Book Task Force (RTBF). p
Kelly takes passage from Mount Sion
The bitter dispute between Eoin Kelly and Mount Sion finally came to an end last night when the Waterford hurler completed a club transfer to the intermediate outfit Passage. p

Winter of content, and spring not far behind
On Rugby: And so the good times continue to roll. Ireland clearly fed off the strong starts made by the provinces in October, and their excellence in November assuredly helped Munster and Leinster through the dark and demanding mid-winter. Now Ireland look like assembling for the Six Nations buoyed by those two progressing to the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup. p
Trio's return timely boost for Leinster
The return of Brian O'Driscoll, Girvan Dempsey and Brian Blaney from injury ahead of Friday's final Heineken European Cup pool game in Gloucester comes at an ideal time for not alone Leinster but also the Ireland squad. p
Growth in schools rugby continues
Playing figures: The English rugby team may currently be experiencing its worst run of form in 30 years, having lost eight of their last nine internationals, but the sport continues to grow at an impressive rate. p
Provinces to stay grounded
European Cup: Munster and Leinster look set to remain in Ireland for the quarter-finals of the Heineken European Cup should they secure home ties in this weekend's final pool games against Leicester and Gloucester. p
O'Beirne's try seals victory for Wesley
Schools Rugby/Vinnie Murray Cup: Replacement Mark O'Beirne was the extra man at the end of a move to claim the match-winning try for Wesley College in their 17-8 win over Newbridge College in the Leinster Schools Vinnie Murray Cup first round at Barnhall. p

Donald top European
Luke Donald has become Europe's top player again after his runners-up finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii. p
The Short Game
Today's other stories in brief p

Mansony on track for Ascot
Mansony remains on track to fly the flag for Ireland in Saturday's Victor Chandler Chase as Arthur Moore bids to bridge a nine-year gap at the new-look Ascot. p

Rusty Serena fails to sparkle
TENNIS/Australian Open: Sightings of Serena Williams on a court dwindled to almost nothing last year - a mere four tournaments - and few would have been greatly encouraged by her 6-2, 6-1 win over Mara Santangelo on the opening day of the Australian Open. The 27th seed from Italy was shockingly inept against an opponent lacking competitive sharpness, having played only three matches since last year's US Open. p
Balkan tensions erupt off court
TENNIS: Support for players of Croatian, Serbian and Greek background is frequently vibrant and noisy at the Australian Open, but on the opening day of this year's tournament it tipped over into an ugly clash resulting in around 150 fans being escorted from the Melbourne Tennis Centre by police and stewards, although there were no arrests. p
Gibbs gets two-match ban for racist remarks
DIGEST: South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs has been banned for two Test matches by the International Cricket Council for remarks he made about a section of Pakistan supporters during the first Test in Centurion. p

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