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Don't expect the beautiful game
SOCCER/Liverpool v Chelsea: THEY'VE STAGED their
share of duds since taking over as European Capital of Culture, not
least the concert to launch the whole shebang back in January, but
not even the locals are claiming that tonight's Champions League
encounter at Anfield will be particularly easy on the eye. p
Brennan 'disgusted' by Parnell Park scenes
GAELIC GAMES NEWS: GAA PRESIDENT Nickey Brennan
yesterday described the level of indiscipline during Sunday's
Dublin-Meath football league match as "appalling" and
"unacceptable", and promised a further investigation into the
controversial events at Parnell Park. p
Kenna takes reins at Galway United
SOCCER: AS WIDELY predicted, Galway United yesterday unveiled former Irish international defender Jeff Kenna as their new manager in succession to Tony Cousins who was sacked on March 30th. p
Soccer
Menace of Anfield a big factor
IT'S JUST short of five years since Chelsea joined European football's top table by beating Liverpool to qualify for the Champions League for the first time. In the seasons since, they have won two Premiership titles to establish themselves as one of England's top sides but the richest prize of all continues to elude them. pLiverpool v Chelsea
Five of the best pUnited try to draw on happy memory
MICHAEL CARRICK says memories of last season's defeat by Milan in the Champions League semi-final remain raw at Manchester United. The midfielder is adamant, however, that such thoughts will not haunt the side in Barcelona tomorrow night. Instead, he says, recollections of a more glorious European evening will come to the fore. pBohemians' powerbrokers need to build on firm foundations
ON SOCCER: THAT OLD chestnut about poachers turned gamekeepers could pretty much have been thought up for the pair driving things at Bohemians these days. pSOCCER SHORTS
Other soccer stories in brief p
Verbal bouquets will fall on deaf ears
EUROPEAN CUP: IT'S UNLIKELY Munster will be affected by pre-match rhetoric so the verbal bouquets being tossed in their direction shouldn't prove too much of a distraction ahead of Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final against Saracens at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. pWilkinson ruled out of England tour to New Zealand
ENGLAND OUTHALF Jonny Wilkinson has been ruled out of the forthcoming tour to New Zealand because of injury. pClerc's injury a real body blow for busy Toulouse
IT'S SQUEAKY bum time in the season, as Alex Ferguson is wont to say. All the trophies are coming up for grabs, save for the recently completed EDF Cup; be it the Heineken Cup, the English Premiership, the French Championship, the Magners League, the Challenge Cup or whatever. And, if a country is fortunate enough to have an interest at this juncture, semi-final weekend in the Heineken Cup is as seismic as a Six Nations' weekend. p
Tipperary won't rest on laurels in Portugal
IF PROOF were needed of Tipperary's determination to put Sunday's Allianz National Hurling League victory to bed as early as possible, then it came with yesterday's early-morning rise. Instead of walking up with the thought of a few days of deserved celebrations, they caught a flight from Cork for a week of warm-weather training at Villamoura in Portugal. pKerry-Derry final on ahead of rugby
BECAUSE KERRY and Derry requested that their Division One final of the Allianz National Football League be fixed for Sunday, the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) have opted for Parnell Park in Dublin, with a 2.15pm throw-in. p
McGrane sees no reason to change his game plan
EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS ROUND-UP WHY CHANGE? Win or lose, the beauty of life on the road for a tour player - although there are also downsides - is there is always another stop-off point the following week. The difference for Damien McGrane this time is he arrived in Shanghai for this week's BMW Asian Open as, to use his own words, "the top dog". pWeekley the new fans' favourite
US TOUR A YEAR after missing out on a proper victory celebration, Boo Weekley gleefully shared his second consecutive title at the Heritage Classic with the fans in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina on Sunday. pIt's as simple as black and white
POWERPLAY: Richard Gillis talks to Peter McEvoy about a new nine-hole game called PowerPlay which he hopes will make as big an impression as cricket's Twenty20 game pThe sweet sound of Ping is music to golfers' ears
GOLFING MEMORABILIA: Gary Moran looks at the Ping putter which guided its inventor, Karsten Solheim, to the World Golf Hall of Fame pA round and about
Martyn Turner Irish Times cartoonist and member of Curragh GC pFar away . . . fairway . . . KJ . . . pay day . . . runway . . . g'day
CADDIE'S ROLE: THOSE of you who travel long distances on business will be familiar with the feeling of not having any idea where you are when you wake up in strange surroundings and wondering how you got there. A day or two of meetings and you find yourself back at home feeling as if you had been in a virtual dream in some faraway place. pShort Game
Other golf stories in brief p
Conditions look ideal for Magic
PUNCHESTOWN PREVIEW A LOT WILL be decided during the first ever five-day festival at Punchestown but a decision that should be pretty straightforward for day-one punters to make is if Twist Magic will be different class to his opposition in the €220,000 Kerrygold Champion Chase. p
Allen falls to errors and accident
Snooker: STEPHEN HENDRY summoned nerves of steel to win the last three frames and take a thrilling, 10-9 victory over the qualifier Mark Allen from Northern Ireland in the first round of the World Championships yesterday at Sheffield. pSports digest
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