ireland.com - The Irish Times

Red mist descends for Crouch
SOCCER/English League Cup quarter-final/Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0: In his youth, Peter Crouch would dream of pulling on the blue shirt of his heroes Chelsea and taking centre stage at Stamford Bridge. When the Liverpool striker returned to the club last night, he claimed the headlines for the wrong reasons. p

Cork to take trip despite strike action
GAELIC GAMES: Beaten All-Ireland football finalists Cork will still take their team holiday in Argentina and Brazil from December 31st, despite their current strike action over the way the county board has got to nominate the team selectors. Ian O'Riordan reports. p

O'Driscoll welcomes 'freshened up' regime
RUGBY: Ireland and Leinster captain Brian O'Driscoll was explaining yesterday why this was not a good week for him to read the newspapers. The Genesis Report, as filtered through the IRFU committee, was being kicked about and Leinster, with a sparkling backline that has so far failed to shine, had returned from Edinburgh knowing the knockout stages of the Heineken European are now a remote possibility. Johnny Watterson reports p

Soccer

Moyes takes chance to test fringe players
Uefa Cup Group stages: Everton manager David Moyes is calling on his fringe players to step up to the plate tomorrow so they can bow out of the group stages of the Uefa Cup with a 100 per cent record. p
Spurs set their sights on Arsenal's Diarra
Tottenham Hotspur will try to tempt Lassana Diarra from Arsenal next month and have also been linked with a move for the Ajax defender Urby Emanuelson. p
Bohemians sack Connor
Bohemians have terminated the contract of manager Seán Connor with immediate effect, writes Gavin Cummiskey. p

Rugby

Players' body won't respond till they get written
Genesis report: The Irish rugby players' representative body, IRUPA, will not comment on the Genesis Report into Ireland's poor showing at the World Cup in France until they receive a written version of the report. The report, widely publicised yesterday and the day before, was delivered orally to an IRFU committee. The IRFU subsequently made comments about the content of the report and some possible changes to the national team set-up. p
England may rue loss of Edwards
England formally approved the reappointment of Brian Ashton and his coaching assistants last night, but there was no great sense of triumphalism at Twickenham. The prospect of Shaun Edwards trotting off to assist Wales is causing considerable soul-searching within the English Rugby Football Union (RFU), and a grim day on the disciplinary and injury front also contributed to a noticeably defensive mood. p
Vickery suspended
Rugby Shorts: England captain Phil Vickery has been suspended until Christmas Day after pleading guilty to trampling on Clermont Auvergne lock Thibault Privat. p

Gaelic Games

Four counties to fight grants
At least four counties are set to bring motions to the GAA's 2008 annual congress protesting at the payment of Government grants to intercounty footballers and hurlers, it emerged last night. p
Cooper to take extended break in US
Kerry forward Colm Cooper could be accused of taking the team holiday to new heights after announcing his intentions to stay on in America for several months, reports Ian O'Riordan . p

Racing

Beef has another go at Leopardstown
Michael Hourigan regards anything his stable stalwart Beef Or Salmon does during the rest of his career as a bonus but that doesn't mean the Limerick trainer believes his Leopardstown specialist will be a back number when he tries for a remarkable fourth victory in next week's Lexus Chase. p

Other

Gleghorne hits four goals
HOCKEY: Ulster's Mark Gleghorne hit four goals for Ireland as they went on to beat hosts Chile 6-0 in the second of their matches in the Four Nations tournament in Santiago, reports Johnny Watterson . p
Birrell lands role with Scotland
CRICKET: The adage that it's hard to keep a good man down obviously holds true in the world of cricket after it was announced yesterday that former Ireland coach Adrian Birrell is to join Scotland in a consultancy role. The 47-year-old South African was at the helm with Ireland from 2003 until he stepped down after leading the country to the second round of the World Cup earlier this year. p
Sun sets on England hopes
CRICKET/Third Test: Mahela Jayawardene batted England out of the third Test and thus the series yesterday. Relentlessly, with infinite patience, dedication to the cause and a technique as flawless as the best Sri Lankan sapphires, the captain, on 51 overnight, took his score to 149, still unbeaten, accumulated over more than eight-and-a-half hours. p
There will be no clemency for Roger
America at Large: In the interest of full disclosure, yes, I have what they like to call a "history" with Roger Clemens. The well-chronicled flare-up took place 15 summers ago, in the visiting clubhouse beneath the Metrodome in Minneapolis, writes George Kimball. p
Bet, bite, beer, cure . . . bliss
Against the Odds: Casablanca was one of Vinny Fitzpatrick's favourite movies. He was a sucker for black and white melodramas and knew the script inside out. p

Sections

Search for

Services

Red mist descends for Crouch

Cork to take trip despite strike action

O'Driscoll welcomes 'freshened up' regime

Moyes takes chance to test fringe players

Spurs set their sights on Arsenal's Diarra

Bohemians sack Connor

Players' body won't respond till they get written

England may rue loss of Edwards

Vickery suspended

Four counties to fight grants

Cooper to take extended break in US

Beef has another go at Leopardstown

Gleghorne hits four goals

Birrell lands role with Scotland

Sun sets on England hopes

There will be no clemency for Roger

Bet, bite, beer, cure . . . bliss

Most popular stories

Property

Jobs

Motors

Dating