ireland.com - The Irish Times

Irreconcilable breakdown
Rugby World Cup: One banner said it all: Argentina existe . Ireland, alas, no longer exist in the 2007 Coupe du Monde, going out in the pool stages for the first time ever. p

It's all too easy for Faldo and his troops
Golf/ Seve Trophy : As it turned out, Nick Faldo didn't need any Irish meat in the stew; nor did he need any rub of the green. p

Alonso challenge melts in the rain
Formula One/ Japanese Grand Prix : Lewis Hamilton's lead in the drivers' championship looks insurmountable, writes Justin Hynes . p

Soccer

Confident Arsenal grind out result
English Premier League/ West Ham United 0 Arsenal 1: Life is going so well for Arsene Wenger that he can reminisce about disappointments with a sort of nostalgia. Thinking of the trudge through two trophyless seasons, the Arsenal manager now emphasises the solidarity it nurtured in a relatively new line-up: p
Chelsea and Grant fall short
Chelsea 0 Fulham 0: When Premier League clubs make a managerial appointment, it is generally the done thing to introduce him to supporters before his first home game. p
Ronaldo pounces on mistake
Birmingham City 0 Manchester United 1 : Manchester United continue to gather points without performances. p
Benayoun delivers on cue for Benitez
Wigan Athletic 0 Liverpool 1 : Continuity has been the key element, the touchstone, of virtually all successful teams, and it is impossible not to wonder what Bill Shankly or Bob Paisley would have said or thought about the way Rafa Benitez is attempting to juggle his way towards Liverpool's first league title since 1990. p
Dark clouds begin to lift
Everton 2 Middlesbrough 0 : David Moyes has been a dark and brooding presence since Everton's return to Europe ended in farce 11 days ago but the clouds lifted in tandem with his club's rise to fifth in the Premier League here. And just in time. p
Hughes profits from honest approach
Sunderland 1 Blackburn 2 : When managers summon up the courage to drop star players they quite often soften the blow by fibbing to reporters who are duly informed that the fans' favourite in question is slightly injured or a little unwell. p
Promotion may well be poison chalice
Andrew Fifield On The Premiership : In football, at least, promotion is not necessarily a perk. Sammy Lee did not hesitate to accept the offer of the Bolton Wanderers manager's job this summer, but he can now reflect bitterly on how it is probably better to be known as an expert number two than a hapless number one. p
Scottish League
Celtic 3 Dundee United 0 : Celtic manager Gordon Strachan claimed his side's goal-scoring form was the main reason to be positive ahead of the Champions League clash with AC Milan at Parkhead on Wednesday. p
Italian Serie A
A second-half penalty taken by Kaka earned AC Milan a 1-1 draw with Sicilian minnows Catania at the San Siro yesterday as the European champions' poor domestic form continued. p
Spanish La Liga
Champions Real Madrid rode their luck away to Getafe before running out 1-0 winners to return to the top of the Primera Liga yesterday. p
Defoe no smart cookie
Planet Football : These aren't the happiest of times for Jermain Defoe, not least because he's yet to convince Martin Jol that he's worthy of a place in the Spurs team - or, on the odd occasion, even a place on the bench. p
Old passions trawled up from the red mists of time
TV View : You might have read last week about the former Portuguese prime minister Pedro Santana Lopes walking out of a television interview after the channel interrupted him to go live to Lisbon airport for Jose Mourinho's return from London. p

Rugby

Pumas put us out of misery
Pool D Ireland 15 Argentina 30 : All sadly predictable really. A lamentable Irish World Cup campaign, by some distance the worst given the talent and resources available, ended in weary failure. p
Ireland v Argentina timeline
4.0 : It's on and Argentina blink first, failing to catch the kick-off. p
Ireland crumble in collision areas
Warren Gatland Rugby Analyst : A lot has been written and said about why Ireland have been so off the boil in this World Cup. It makes it even more crucial that the evitable review process by the IRFU is a thorough examination, not just of Eddie O'Sullivan as a coach but the performance of the whole management and the players. p
'There's no reason to walk away'
Two tries. Four needed. But that has been the way for this Irish side since the team's results against Georgia and France. It has been a team that has always been halfway towards the place they needed to be, always heaving and stuttering but never quite arriving. p
Loffreda takes that important big step
The musical serenade cut through the Argentina press conference penetrating deep into the concrete bunker in the Parc des Princes. Heads turned quizzically while Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda and his captain Agustin Pichot exchanged a small smile. p
Wallace has no answers
Is there a new start needed, a clean-out of players, flanker David Wallace was asked. Loaded with inference, the Irish players have been fielding similar inquiries since the first unsteady steps of this World Cup were taken against Namibia. p
Scotland keep it tight
Pool C/ Scotland 18 Italy 16: This was a match Scotland would have lost a couple of years ago. p
Springboks show spark
Pool A/ South Africa 64 USA 10 : South Africa warmed up for their quarter-final with Fiji by running in nine tries in Montpellier yesterday. Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie touched down twice, with Schalk Burger, Francois Steyn, CJ van der Linde, Fourie du Preez and Juan Smith also going over. p
Kiwis ready for real business
Pool C/ New Zealand 85 Romania 8 : Now that the phoney war of the pool phase is over, New Zealand can finally concentrate on the real business of winning that elusive second World Cup. p
Jenkins pays price for Fiji win
Pool B/ Fiji 38 Wales 34 : The Welsh Rugby Union acted swiftly and decisively to sack head coach Gareth Jenkins less than 24 hours after Wales crashed out of the World Cup. p
Australia line up old enemies
Pool B/ Australia 37 Canada 6: Australia would have preferred to play South Africa rather than their old enemies England in the World Cup quarter-finals, coach John Connolly said. p
Dominici makes sure
Pool D/ France 64 Georgia 8 : France booked their quarter-final place when Christophe Dominici landed the fourth try that ensured the home side came away with five points. p
Pundits call tune and find Eddie out of sync
TV View : If it really is better to travel expectantly than to arrive then Ireland were in deep slurry long before Brian O'Driscoll and co walked on to Parc de Princes. p

Gaelic Games

Cross land record 12th title in a row
Armagh SFC Final/ Crossmaglen 0-12 Pearse Óg 0-6 : At this stage it doesn't matter if Crossmaglen never win another football match because they'll be talking about this particular team as long as GAA records exist. p
Ballina and Brady bunch back in the ascendancy
Mayo SFC/ Ballina 3-6 Charlestown 0-13 : Ballina, the dominant force in Mayo club football, yesterday won the Paddy Moclair cup for the first time since their All-Ireland season in 2005. p
Mid Kerry earn replay
Kerry SFC semi-finals : A South Kerry side chasing the four in a row and powered by Declan O'Sullivan, Killian Young and Bryan Sheehan could only draw, 1-8 apiece, with pretenders Mid Kerry at Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney yesterday. p
Dromard maintain drive
Longford SFC/ Dromard 1-8 Colmcille 2-4 : Dromard won the Longford football title for the second time at Pearse Park yesterday. p
St Eunan's find range
Donegal SFC Final/ St Eunan's 0-12 Glenswilly 1-3 : A crowd of over 6,000 turned up in MacCumhaill Park for the novel final between the near neighbours St Eunan's and Glenswilly. p
Phelan leads Camross goal rush
Laois SHC Final/ Camross 5-9 Portlaoise 2-11 : Favourites Portlaoise were blown away by a Camross goal rush in the opening half at Portlaoise yesterday. p
Three in a row for Brigid's
Roscommon SFC/ St Brigid's 1-12 St Faithleach's 0-9: St Brigid's completed a historic three in a row by defeating St Faithleach's at Dr Hyde Park yesterday. p
Walsh goal proves decisive
Sligo SFC: Matthew Walsh clenched a 1-11 to 0-9 semi-final victory over St Johns for Tourlestrane with a late goal in their Sligo SFC semi-final in Tubbercurry yesterday. p
Slowey kills off Wolfe Tones
Clare SFC/ Lissycasey 1-9 Wolfe Tones 0-6 : Lissycasey booked their place in the final against champions Éire Óg of Ennis when they overcame Wolfe Tones at Cusack Park yesterday. p
Milltown claim late victory
Galway SFC/ Milltown 1-12 Caltra 2-7 : Milltown qualified for their first Galway final since 1987 at Tuam Stadium yesterday. p
Clongeen reach first senior final
Wexford SFC : Clongeen qualified for their first final with a 0-11 to 0-8 victory over Kilanerin at Wexford Park yesterday. p
GAA Digest
CARLOW SFC SEMI-FINAL : Palatine, winners last year of the Carlow SFC final for the first time since 1952, are through to this year's decider after they beat Kildavin-Clonegal by 0-11 to 0-9 despite being reduced to 13 men yesterday at Dr Cullen Park. p
Special Congress opts for change
Restructured hurling championship : Despite objections from Antrim and Galway delegates, Saturday's Special Congress in Croke Park voted in favour of a newly structured hurling championship from 2008. p
Saturday mornings just got even better
Locker Room : I know, I know. There's sunsets and there's the gummy smiles of newborn babies. There's puppy dogs with wagging tails and there's Scarlett Johansson. There are fields of sunflowers and there's Ivor Callely losing his seat. But honestly, there is no sight that gladdens the heart quite as much as that which greets you when you pull into a GAA club on a Saturday morning. p
Geelong end 44-year wait
Australian Rules Grand final : Geelong ended their 44-year wait to clinch the premiership with an emphatic annihilation of Port Adelaide by 119 points in the Grand Final in front of 97,302 spectators at the MCG on Saturday afternoon. p

Golf

Sparkling Cink cleans up for Americans
Presidents Cup : Holders the United States clinched the Presidents Cup for a fifth time in seven editions when Stewart Cink beat Australia's Nick O'Hern 6 and 4 in the eighth match yesterday. p
Golf Digest
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING : Ireland's Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin carded a final round 71 to book their place in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, to be played in China, on November 22nd-25th. p

Racing

Elletelle to lead raiding party
Elletelle is set to lead an Irish raiding party on Friday's Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket which kicks off a Group One European Group One weekend that culminates in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. p
Haatef sprints to Diamed glory
Kevin Prendergast's Haatef won the Group Two John Guest Diamed Stakes at Ascot yesterday. Tenth in Newmarket's 2,000 Guineas on his seasonal reappearance, Haatef has found his niche over shorter distances and tanked along under Richard Hills, riding him for the first time. p

Other

O'Callaghan removed
Rowing News : In a move which will send shockwaves through the sport of rowing in Ireland, the new board of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union has removed Mick O'Callaghan from his post as Ireland team manager. p
Caulfield bows out of Irish scene
Hockey Round-Up : "If I was a second-hand car you wouldn't buy me, the mileage is too high," said Irish captain Linda Caulfield on Saturday on the announcement of her retirement from international hockey, the 28-year-old from Wexford bowing out with 151 caps to her name. p
Gebrselassie sets new world marathon record
Sports Digest/ATHLETICS : Less than 10 minutes after breaking the world marathon record in Berlin yesterday, Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie was handed a cell phone - it was Paul Tergat calling from Kenya to offer his congratulations, writes Ian O'Riordan . p

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