ireland.com - The Irish Times

Reality bites but positives remain
One came away from Lansdowne Road yesterday decidedly relieved that Ireland hadn't run into England first up. Then again, there wasn't much fun to be had in saving them till last either. p

Georgia facing sanctions for fans' missile attacks
The FAI will await a decision by UEFA on how best to punish the Georgian authorities for the behaviour of their supporters during the game against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday in the Lokomotiv stadium in Tbilisi, where a steady stream of missiles, including a knife and a glass bottle, were hurled at the visiting players. p

Rugby

England dump Ireland's hopes
Lansdowne Road: Match statistics: No one can say Ireland didn't give it a go, which perhaps made it all the more salutary. England weren't of a mind to let another Grand Slam slip by and were simply awesome in finally reaching their Six Nations Holy Grail. Talk about being put in your place. p
Woodward happy to put us in our place
It would have been one thing to beat England in a Grand Slam decider at Lansdowne Road in spring sunshine. It was altogether another thing losing it there. p
If your best isn't good enough, then so be it
Brian O'Driscoll's Six Nations Diary: A bad day at the office but credit to England for a wonderful defensive performance before turning their pressure into points. The seminal moment was the Mike Tindall try, a big turning point. It was galling to let them in for such a bad try from a defensive perspective. p
Not the way this was meant to be
By 4.30, the hottest ticket in town felt cold. By that time, Lansdowne Road was both sunny and funereal. The day felt wrong. We needed mud and mist or something intangible. Quietly and obediently, we sat through a lesson in the oldest stadium in the world. England imposed their vision of the future through a 42-6 thumping. p
Johnson's men don't stand on ceremony
England stuck to their own brand of protocol. They wouldn't budge for the President, Mary McAleese, and lined up where the Irish team traditionally stand, forcing the homesters to shuffle down the pitch and the President to test the Lansdowne turf with her good Sunday shoes. p
Azzurri no longer just making up the numbers
Scotland - 33 Italy 25 The relief of Scotland's supporters in Edinburgh was as palpable as that of its football followers in Glasgow p
Provincial plan only way for whitewashed Welsh
France - 33 Wales - 5 Wales may face an exodus of international players unless the plan for a system of five provincial teams next season is adopted. The former captain Mark Taylor indicated after Paris completed Wales' whitewash that if the present club structure were maintained he would play elsewhere and others would follow. p
Shannon's push for top four gathers momentum
All-Ireland League Round-up: Shannon maintained their push for a top-four finish in Division One of the All Ireland league and all but extinguished Blackrock College's in a 31-10 runaway win at Stradbrook. p
Force of nature rumbles on
Keith Duggan meets England captain Martin Johnson and finds him, evenin the act of sipping tea, overpowering p
Day when all the 'what-ifs' got pounded
Pounded. Physically and spiritually. One by one, the Irish players leave their dressing room, washed and suited and scarred. For each of them, the dream of a Grand Slam fled at various stages of the afternoon. It is all a matter of perspectives really. p
Hook right for once as Pope proves fallible
Once again we were reduced to a moral victory. A bit like the Yellow Ford before annihilation at Kinsale, the Irish won the battle of the red carpet. Or did we? Maybe the suits, the scarves and the Ireland's Call merchants in the stands got a kick out of the pre-match rigmarole, but to those of us watching without oval eyes it was all a little embarrassing. p

Soccer

Greener shows he's anything but green
Tom Humphries reflects on a job well done with boss Brian Kerr. p
Keep the weirdness going until Tirana
Tom Humphries/LockerRoom: Some notes from a strange time in a strange place. Sometimes you pinch yourself. Slap some cold water on the face. Check the readings. p
Scotland sneak it
Scotland - 2 Iceland - 1 A relieved Berti Vogts hailed his side on Saturday after they recorded their first competitive win at Hampden Park since his tenure started. p
Hughes can't do anything wrong
Wales - 4 Azerbaijan - 0 Try as he might to stifle it, Wales manager Mark Hughes has got the Welsh dragon breathing fire over everything in its path on the way to the Euro 2004 finals. p
There's nothing dynamic or attractive about England
Liechtenstein - 0 England - 2 England were the ideal guests. They adapted perfectly to the bijou scale of Liechtenstein, giving a self-effacing performance, winning by a tasteful margin and leaving the field to polite clapping from their own supporters. p
Group Six Bad run persists
Armenia - 1 Northern Ireland - 0 Northern Ireland remain scoreless after three European qualifying games and stay bottom of Group Six after their defeat to Armenia on Saturday. p
Things just aren't the same anymore
In little ways, in big ways, the new regime is already making its mark, writes Tom Humphries p
Doherty makes headway
Soccer/Georgia - 1 Republic of Ireland - 2: After the late goal for Switzerland that resulted from Ireland's desperate effort to grab one themselves back at Lansdowne Road in October the Irish were left looking like a team digging a hole from which they would not re-emerge during the course of this qualification campaign. How quickly things change. p
Carsley makes no mistake on return
Players'Quotes/Emmet Malone talks to the midfielder about his return to the international starting line-up after three years p
PlanetFootball
The big football news of the week was, of course, Jamaican reggae singer Maxi Priest's debut for Southall in the English Seagrave Haulage Combined Counties League - although, and we mean no offence, the fact that he's 43 doesn't say a great deal for Southall's youth policy. p
Albania lay down the gauntlet
Albania - 3 Russia - 1 Albania, who meet Brian Kerr's Republic of Ireland team on Wednesday, revived their chances of qualifying for Euro 2004 after scoring twice in the last 10 minutes to beat Russia 3-1 on Saturday. p

GAA

Fitzpatrick leads from the middle
Colleges Leinster SH final: St Kieran's - 3-10 St Peter's 0-11 St Kieran's, captain James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick led by example from midfield as the Kilkenny College retained their Coca Cola Leinster Colleges Senior Hurling A Title at the expense of St Peter's, Wexford, at Dr Cullen Park, Carlow, on Saturday. p
McAnallen to miss out
Tyrone's Cormac McAnallen is out of Sunday's crunch National Football League clash with Cork after being sent off in a club game yesterday.He received a straight red card playing for Eglish against Clan na nGael, and faces a month-long ban p
Setanta heroic in late forays for Cork
Cork 4-15 Tipperary 4-11 Two goals from second-half substitute Setanta Ó hAilpín steered Cork to victory over Tipperary in this Allianz National Hurling League tie in Semple Stadium on Saturday p
Laois strike early
Laois 3-14 Galway 0-15 Laois hurlers defeated Galway in the final round of the league to record their first victory over the Tribesmen since 1984. The home side lay the foundations for victory in the opening quarter of the game. p
Waterford recall days of summer
Waterford 2-18 Clare 2-15: It might have been a couple of weeks late for the Ides of March but there were stages in this Allianz NHL Division One A fixture when everything seemed a bit eerie. p
Kilkenny take their revenge
Kilkenny 2-19 Dublin 2-8: Seven weeks can be a very long time in hurling as Dublin discovered to their cost at Parnell Park on Saturday. The transition from being celebrated victors over the league and All-Ireland champions to hapless losers was swift and painful as Brian Cody's men exacted revenge for that February lapse in the Walsh Cup decider. p
O'Shaughnessy makes amends
Harty Cup final replay/St Colman's 2-13 St Flannan's 0-8 Taking inspiration from their Limerick senior players, Andrew O'Shaughnessy and Patrick Kirby, who scored 1-9 between them, St Colman's realised their ambition of a hat-trick of Dr Harty Cup titles with a convincing 2-13 to 0-8 win over St Flannan's in a rather low-key replay at Feenagh last evening. p
Wexford survive in style
Wexford 4-18 Offaly 1-13 It was a fairytale end for the Wexford hurlers as they pulled off an amazing 14-point victory over Offaly to keep their league hopes alive. p
Sheehan adds shine
Limerick 6-17 Derry 0-9 Four-goal Donnacha Sheehan had Limerick boss Dave Keane on cloud nine after he led the charge in a massive 31-point winning margin over NHL Division 1B basement side Derry at Kilmallock. p

Golf

Pack closes in on Harrington
Judging by his taste in movies, which on the eve of one of his biggest tests in his career just happened to be the James Bond film Die Another Day, Padraig Harrington knew full well that he was to face a battle of attrition - with the course, with himself, and with a posse of pursuers - in the final round of the Players' Championship at the TPC at Sawgrass. p
Funk to return to links for Irish Open
When the decision was taken to switch the Nissan Irish Open from its traditional date three weeks before the British Open to one immediately afterwards, it was hoped that its proximity to the season's third major would tempt a number of American stragglers to remain on in Europe a week longer to play in the tournament. p

Other Sports

Lennon crashes out heavily
Equestrian: World show jumping champion Dermott Lennon will be sidelined for several weeks after breaking his shoulder in a fall at the World Cup show in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Saturday night. p
Leinster still up for grabs
Women's Hockey/Weekend round-up: True, the weekend programme cleared up most of the remaining league issues around the country, but there's still the small matter of the Leinster division one title to be resolved. p
African dominance hits new heights
Athletics/World Cross Country: On the weekend when African dominance of the World Cross Country Championships was reinforced in total, the Irish suffered far more pain than gain in their efforts to make an impression on the team results. p
Rowing united on way forward
Rowing/IARU a.g.m: Two votes, an introduction and an impressive presentation that suggested Ireland may land the World Under-23 Championships in 2005 provided the talking points at the well-attended e.g.m. and a.g.m. of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union in Dublin on Saturday. p
Rock rattle in five against Railway Union
Men's Hockey Round-up: The last Saturday of the Leinster Senior League was played with some abandon and yielded a stream of goals, notably with new title holders Three Rock Rovers going 5-1 up against Railway Union before easing to a 5-4 win at Grange Road. p
Big wins for Smith and O'Neill
Athletics Schools Cross Country International: Sean Smith and Brendan O'Neill provided Ireland with two outstanding individual victories at the Schools Cross Country International, staged on Saturday at the ALSAA course in Dublin. p
Bill's dream of peace in ruins as Eamon reverts to type
TV View/Mary Hannigan: Bill O'Herlihy was feeling chipper. You could tell by the way he was merrily swinging about in his chair. Ireland had just beaten Georgia to get their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign "back on track" - but much, much more significantly, one half of his regular panel seemed quite pleased about it . p
Aintree jitters for bookies
Racing: Bookmakers could be in for another bashing as the money continues to pile on Youlneverwalkalone in next Saturday's Aintree Grand National. The number of favourites and well-backed horses that won at the Cheltenham Festival left the layers reeling, and Ladbrokes are expecting a huge amount to be staked on Youlneverwalkalone. p
Agassi's winning streak goes on at Key Biscane
Tennis: Two-time defending champion Andre Agassi won his third title of the year and the sixth Key Biscayne crown of his career yesterday with a stunning 6-3, 6-3 win over fifth seed Carlos Moya of Spain. p

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