Previous Day
Joy unconfined as drought ends
GAELIC GAMES: They had a hot time in the old town
last night. Strange that this long hot April should have put an end
to a long drought. On a parched but pretty pitch at Semple Stadium
yesterday Waterford, without a national title since 1963, seized
the Allianz National Hurling League. Joy was unconfined. The
hurling nation has a sudden thirst for what wonders might gush from
the pending summer. p
Keane intent on making 'a mark'
SOCCER: Sunderland and Birmingham City both secured instant returns to the English Premiership yesterday due to Derby County's defeat at Crystal Palace and Sunderland, in the words of their manager Roy Keane, are now intent on making "a mark" in the top division of English football. p
Soccer
Chelsea watch it slipping away
Chelsea 2 Bolton 2: Jose Mourinho has been centre stage in many a football drama but now he must get ready to tread the boards in the minor role of graceful loser. It is a part for which he is under-rehearsed. Though cup ties have slipped away here and there, he has won the league for four seasons in a row at Porto and Chelsea. pUnited's five-point plan for glory
Everton 2 Manchester Utd 4: Manchester United have a mathematical chance of throwing away the title but they do not look like a side who are about to get their sums wrong. It has been an epic battle but the question now is of when, rather than if, the glory is confirmed. pMuch Sutch guff from Sky but Keano's Cats no phonies
TV View: Screaming Lord Sutch would have thrived among modern-day sports commentators, not for his zaniness or off-the-wall proclamations - although more of the latter later - but rather for the decibel level at which he delivered his pitch. pShock around Bolton as Sam resigns
Sam Allardyce's long and successful association with Bolton Wanderers ended in confusion and shock last night, when he announced his resignation as manager in what he described as "one of the hardest decisions in my life". pFulham closer to the abyss
Arsenal 3 Fulham 1: Fulham are being dragged into the relegation churn as if by a kraken from the deep. They were seized by the tentacles of fear even after four minutes here yesterday, when Julio Baptista stepped into the land between Philippe Christanval and Liam Rosenior to head in the opening goal. pMotormouth Mourinho a media maestro
On The Premiership: Tommy Docherty probably summed it up best. "There is a place for the media in football," the former Manchester United manager observed. "But I don't think they have dug it yet." pPompey avail of Benitez's largesse
Portsmouth 2 Liverpool 1: Chelsea had drawn and Liverpool had lost, but there was still no mistaking which club had the happier manager on Saturday night. Rafael Benitez spared six of his most important players the 500-mile round-trip to Portsmouth and, after watching an almost full-strength Chelsea stutter to a 2-2 draw against Bolton earlier in the day, nothing - not even defeat - seemed to dampen the Spaniard's mood. pPlanet Football
Today's other stories in brief p
Poor Roscommon have no answer to Farrell
National Football League Division Two Final/Meath 2-12 Roscommon 0-10: Good target men can find scores with regularity and the theory was again successfully put to the test when Meath's Brian Farrell went to work on the Roscommon defence yesterday. pKelly's goal is decisive
NHL Division Three/Roscommon 1-13 Sligo 0-15: Roscommon claimed the Division Three title when they had one point to spare in an entertaining final at Kingspan Breffni Park yesterday. pFinale is great beginningto championship season
National Hurling League Division One Final/Kilkenny 0-18 Waterford 0-20: Relief and jubilation rippled around Thurles yesterday, as Waterford scooped the Allianz National Hurling League title with two injury-time points. It was a timely achievement for the county after the recent years of frustration and narrow defeats in big matches. pCorkery saves Cork Camogie
A late Briege Corkery point for Cork ensured a replay must take place midweek to decide who faces Wexford in the National League final following yesterday's Munster senior final (which doubled as a National League play-off) at Toomevara. pA stroll for Laois as Young shines brightly
National Hurling League Division Two Final/Laois 2-19 Wicklow 0-7: When hurling flows, be it high summer or in a wintry gale, it reaches a mythical status that leaves all other games in its wake. For every one of those days there are multiple occasions like the curtain-raiser in Thurles yesterday. This Division Two final yet again exemplified the massive gulf in quality between the elite and also-rans. p'We'll keep pushing until we get the big one'
It's been a long time since Waterford players struggled to get off a hurling field after a national final. They were hit by an outpouring of joy yesterday as the majority of the 22,235 crowd embraced the heroes who delivered a first National League title since 1963. pTributes to a life of dedication
Death of Con Murphy: Tributes have been paid to the former GAA president Con Murphy, who died in Cork yesterday aged 84. He had continued to be active in the association after his presidency but had been unwell recently and missed the annual congress in Kilkenny pGaelic games digest
DIGEST/DONEGAL: The county's football team have been rocked by the news that Brendan Devenney will take up to three months to recover from a stomach-muscle injury. p
Garryowen apply familiar squeeze
All-Ireland League semi-finals: Shannon may have stumbled but two familiar powerhouses will take the field at Musgrave Park in next Saturday's AIB League final. pBohemians are cruelly denied by Cork Con
Cork Consitution 21 UL Bohemians 18: Cronan Healy's seventh league try of the season couldn't have come at a more opportune time for Cork Constitution than at Temple Hill on Saturday, when they denied UL Bohemians to book a place in the AIB League Division One final. pGreystones gain maximum consolation
It took the stamina-sapping demands of extra-time to separate Leinster's newly promoted Greystones and Old Belvedere in the AIB All-Ireland League Division Two final at Templeville Road on Saturday. pMunster capitalise on Dragons' indiscipline
Celtic League/Munter 15 Dragons 7: Munster took advantage of the Dragons' ill-discipline to claim a come-from-behind Magners Celtic League victory at Musgrave Park on Saturday. pNorthampton relegated
English Premiership: Northampton chairman Keith Barwell has promised there will be no knee-jerk reaction to the club's humiliating exit from the English Premiership. pPlanet Rugby
Today's other stories in brief p
Yeats is back with a bang
Navan: Yeats justified 1 to 3 favouritism when making an exemplary return to action in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan yesterday. pThomas cruises to victory
Prix Ganay: Dylan Thomas supplemented an easy victory on his reappearance with another impressive success in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp yesterday. Aidan O'Brien's four-year-old was settled in a share of third for much of the extended 10-furlong contest and was still travelling well within himself as the field swung for home. p
Late eagle sets up victory for Schwartzel
Spanish Open: Young South African Charl Schwartzel won a test of endurance as well as skill yesterday to become Spanish Open champion in Madrid. pVerplank finishes the stronger
Byron Nelson Championship: Scott Verplank won the Byron Nelson Championship at Cottonwood Valley GC, Texas yesterday by one shot from overnight leader Luke Donald of England. p
Pembroke retain their title
HOCKEY/Men's Hockey All-Ireland Club final/Pembroke Wanderers 3 Cork Harlequins 1: Election Day is a non-runner for Pembroke Wanderers because they will be in Prague seeking maximum dividends at European championship level for their appearance again next season in the new Euro League. pPegasus reign supreme
WOMEN'S HOCKEY/All-Ireland Club final/Pegasus 3 Hermes 1: Pegasus clearly proved themselves the season's leading club when beating their arch-rivals Hermes in yesterday's ESB All-Ireland League Club final at Belfield to add to their Irish Senior Cup win last month. They lifted this trophy for the seventh time the past decade to claim their place in next season's European Club Championships. pFinal act descends into farce
CRICKET: The World Cup, the final of which began in spectacular fashion before descending into the unseemly realms of the bizarre, was awarded eventually to Australia in such farcical circumstances that it would have been no surprise to see Steve Bucknor drop his trousers to reveal polka-dot underpants and inquire if there was anyone for tennis. pIreland get rude awakening
CRICKET: After a week of media engagements and being feted by politicians, Ireland's cricketers came back to earth with a bit of a bump yesterday. Ireland were denied a winning start to their Friends Provident Trophy season by a blistering hundred from Joe Denly, the 21-year-old Kent batsman, who plundered a quickfire total of 102 in 97 balls. pWoolmer 'poisoned before being strangled'
CRICKET: Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer was poisoned before being strangled, according to preliminary toxicology tests, it is claimed today. pO'Sullivan's tactical game leaves him sitting pretty
SNOOKER/World Championship: Ronnie O'Sullivan resumes today with a 6-2 lead over Neil Robertson in the best-of-25-frame contest offering a quarter-final place in the world championship, having made two centuries but relying for his other four successes largely on the high-quality tactical game which he does not always have the patience to employ. pJahrling causes surprise in dropping men's double
ROWING: Ireland coach Harald Jahrling sprung a major surprise after the final selection regatta in Cork yesterday when he chose not to include a lightweight men's double - one of only two lightweight men's boats which compete at the Olympics - for the World Cup team for this season. pTwomey takes weekend in stride
EQUESTRIAN: Billy Twomey was virtually unstoppable at the French fixture in Maubeuge at the weekend, picking up two wins and finishing second in both the young-horse championships. pNadal now 72 not out on clay
TENNIS: Rafael Nadal underlined his status as the king of clay yesterday when he beat Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-4 to win the Barcelona Open for the third consecutive year. The victory extended his record winning streak on the surface to 72 matches. pToseland just fails to take double
WORLD SUPERBIKES: James Toseland was denied his first double race win of the season by nine-thousandths of a second by the reigning world superbike champion, Troy Bayliss, in Holland. pSeymour tops in Istanbul
CYCLING: Irish riders took points which will help towards Olympic qualification when they performed strongly in the Class 1 UCI mountainbike cross-country race held in Buyukada, Istanbul yesterday, writes Shane Stokes . pRomance lives - let summer commence
Locker Room: A good day for hurling. Seeing a Waterford man climb the steps in hurling's home to lift a national trophy for the first time in 44 years was a tonic for the game and an appetiser for the summer. A sea of white-and-blue hurling people covered the Semple grass without chastisement from the PA or fear of reprisal from the maors. It was just a good, happy day in the sun. p
