May Zidane enjoy a last glorious encoreSideline Cut: There is always something heavily anti-climactic and even sad about the World Cup finalSat Jul 08 2006 - 01:00
Exuberant Limerick put troubles behind themLimerick 2-29 Offaly 2-19: Was this the rebirth? Limerick hurling people have known too much trauma and disappointment in the…Mon Jul 03 2006 - 01:00
Think 1990 before you knock UkraineSideline Cut: It is common for people to salivate over the thrilling, guilty pleasure of watching two countries reduced to the…Sat Jul 01 2006 - 01:00
Zidane rages against fading of the lightSideline Cut: Zinedine Zidane has become well acquainted with Lionel Messi through the hypnotic turns the slouching Argentinian…Sat Jun 24 2006 - 01:00
Shevchenko should see Ukraine safely throughGroup H Ukraine v Tunisia He waited long enough to get here but this afternoon in Berlin Andriy Shevchenko has a great chance…Fri Jun 23 2006 - 01:00
Germans' gut feeling impossible to resistSideline Cut: A week into this whistle-stop tour of Germany's pulsing football cities there is the blossoming sense that the…Sat Jun 17 2006 - 01:00
Time for France to find their feet and the netFrance v Sth Korea: Surely, surely, the ongoing saga of French stage fright in front of the posts will end tomorrow night in…Sat Jun 17 2006 - 01:00
Sweden hoping to get back to winning waysSweden's World Cup is threatening to unravelThu Jun 15 2006 - 01:00
McIver breathes easily after tight callThe exit from the pitch in MacCumhaill Park is strangeMon Jun 05 2006 - 01:00
Huddled handful brave Limerick delugeSideline Cut: It may be grim up north, posh in the east and sunny down south but by God, it is certainly wet in the west.Sat May 27 2006 - 01:00
Black days aplenty in black or whiteGaelic Games / Focus on Sligo footballers: Sligo football may have had its share of disappointments but at least it is never…Sat May 20 2006 - 01:00
Ronaldinho not the Ronald we knowSideline Cut: Jimmy Greaves, the popular pundit from middle England, never failed to draw a laugh in the days when he turned…Sat May 20 2006 - 01:00
Lonely hurling outposts need nurturingSideline Cut: One of the best sporting boasts I ever heard was by a man who claimed to be "the worst hurler in Ireland"Sat May 13 2006 - 01:00
You'd be mad to take eyes off ArmaghSideline Cut: Has their been a richer time in the football championship? Tomorrow Cavan and Down spark it all off up in Clones…Sat May 06 2006 - 01:00
Play the game or our heads will explodeSideline Cut: This Munster-against-Leinster business is starting to make those of us from the many other provinces a little …Sat Apr 22 2006 - 01:00
Ferguson rally must be rattling MourinhoSideline Cut: The speed with which another Premiership year has all but disappeared is frightening.Sat Apr 15 2006 - 01:00
Grass is always greener on Munster sideSideline Cut: On weekends like this, it is always tempting to dream of what it must be like to be a Munster manSat Apr 01 2006 - 01:00
Dumping of Duke marks the MadnessSideline Cut: In the small hours of Friday morning, a sporting miracle occurredSat Mar 25 2006 - 00:00
Rowing over rules is a GAA recreationSideline Cut: The Gael is only truly happy when he is fighting with his fellow GaelSat Mar 11 2006 - 00:00
Return to the good old days bodes wellSideline Cut: Republic of Ireland soccer is much like a family theatre troupe; the chief actors do not really move on, they …Sat Mar 04 2006 - 00:00
Colleges GAA stars gleam mostly unseenSideline Cut: Back in 1992, UCG, as they were then known, won the Sigerson Cup for the first time since 1984Sat Feb 25 2006 - 00:00
What's the best thing on ice? Go figureSideline Cut: Of all the weird sports in the Winter Olympics, the last one I expected to fall for was the figure skating - and…Sat Feb 18 2006 - 00:00
All in the ethos when push comes to shoveSideline Cut: GAA brawls just ain't what they used to beSat Feb 11 2006 - 00:00
Steeltown dreamers evoke different timeSideline Cut: It is funny how things overlapSat Feb 04 2006 - 00:00
Connacht must rediscover formConnacht v Montpellier: Today marks a welcome return to the comparative glory of European competition for Connacht, who are …Sat Jan 14 2006 - 00:00
Touring Gael outstanding in his fieldSideline Cut: January is the touring season for the GaelSat Jan 07 2006 - 00:00
Big-time sport the unsubtle thief of timeSideline Cut: It is all the fault of sport, this business of the years getting faster and faster. I am convinced of itSat Dec 31 2005 - 00:00
Irish memoirs add to boxing's lore GeneralSports Books 2005 : The best books frequently have nothing to do with the ball sports which tend to dominate the airwaves and…Sat Dec 10 2005 - 00:00
Beware the managerial merry-go-roundSideline Cut: In the fickle environment of big-time soccer, a manager's worth is a volatile commoditySat Dec 03 2005 - 00:00
What a pity nobody shouted stopSideline Cut : Snow swept from Manchester across to Belfast as people held vigil for George Best on Thursday night.Sat Nov 26 2005 - 00:00
Frankie, my dears, he does give a damnRoscommon Football: Keith Duggan asks one of the country's most gifted forwards about his intercounty career with RoscommonSat Nov 19 2005 - 00:00
Remembering a dark and murderous day in the capitalBloody Sunday 85th Anniversary: Keith Duggan on how the events in Croke Park ultimately brought a farewell to arms.Sat Nov 19 2005 - 00:00
Rugby needs the All Blacks just nowSideline Cut: Around teatime on Saturday, as they were turning the lights out in Lansdowne Road, Irish rugby coach Eddie O'Sullivan…Sat Nov 19 2005 - 00:00
A rapturous homecoming in RameltonRUGBY/All Blacks visit Donegal: A black, cold November evening had set in by the time the famous guests finally reached the …Thu Nov 10 2005 - 00:00
The Follower: likes will not be seen againSideline Cut: It is a pity The Follower was not around to post his views on yesterday's farce in Australia.Sat Oct 29 2005 - 01:00
Munster by grace of fortuneEuropean Cup: 'That's why no one drives decent cars hereSat Oct 29 2005 - 01:00
Eager for a fresh challengeGAELIC GAMES/Interview/Mickey Moran: "That's the first question I was asked in the interview," Mickey Moran laughs when considering…Thu Oct 27 2005 - 01:00
Kerr's dream job was a poison chaliceSideline Cut : And so the deed has been doneSat Oct 22 2005 - 01:00
Connacht set to overcome SiciliansHeineken Cup / Pool Five Preview / Connacht v Amatori Catania : The visit of the Sicilians could not have come at a more perfect…Sat Oct 22 2005 - 01:00
All passion spent for Boys in GreenSideline Cut: Like the old chant goes, you'll never beat the IrishSat Oct 15 2005 - 01:00
Thurles waiting for a breakTipperary SHC final: It is one of the oldest themes in sport, the death of a dynastyFri Oct 14 2005 - 01:00
Cork make their case for the defenceHurling All Stars: Nominations: Cork's watertight defence proved all but unbreakable at the Vodafone GAA All Star hurling nominations…Fri Oct 14 2005 - 01:00
Few enough laughs in this funny old gameSoccer drama isn't what it used to be. The grand old soap opera of Irish soccer is flagging as badly as EastendersSat Oct 08 2005 - 01:00
GAA must learn from Northern exposureSideline Cut : Outside a Dublin pub on Sunday evening last, a tipsy Aughnacloy man took great delight in announcing to a Kerry…Sat Oct 01 2005 - 01:00
Even Gooch could not wither himKey man: In the life of Ryan McMenamin, nothing is ever simpleMon Sept 26 2005 - 01:00
Tomorrow's final has an epic feel about itSideline Cut: Those of us privileged enough to hear John McGahern reading in the Town Hall theatre in Galway on Thursday evening…Sat Sept 24 2005 - 01:00
Scoring prodigy has youth on his sideGalway Player Ger Farragher: In Galway this week, there is a shortage of replica hurling shirts, let alone ticketsThu Sept 08 2005 - 01:00
