AGAINST THE ODDS:Vinny and his pals have their sporting knowledge tested to the full in a pub quiz

'WHAT ARE the five disciplines of the modern pentathlon?" asked Angie. It was the final round of the Boru Betting-sponsored sports quiz in Foley's last Friday and eight questions stood between The Five Find-Outers and victory.

The team, named after the characters in a series of Enid Blyton novels, consisted of Vinny, Macker, Fran, Brennie and Kojak.

Individually, you wouldn't have fancied them against the professionals who trawled the city carving up top prizes, such as the VIP trip to Punchestown, complete with a €100 free bet each, at stake in Foley's.

Vinny knew the pot-hunters the moment they pushed through the swing doors. One type ordered umpteen pots of tea and munched on pub-sized bags of crisps; the other had a designated driver who sipped Mi-wadi while his mates supped Foley's finest creamies.

There were other brain-boxes, whom Vinny recognised, from the nearby Dollymount Inn and The Schooner, bookish lads equally adept at general knowledge quizzes and sport-only ones.

"Good on the flat and over the jumps," thought Vinny.

Foley's had been heaving at kick-off, the regular Friday crowd supplemented by the newcomers. Angie and Andy, her boss from Boru Betting, had taken entries from 24 teams.

The lads were in their customary spot under the telly and Macker called for a huddle just as Angie announced things were about to get under way.

"Look, we all know a bit about sport, particularly football, racing and golf. Okay, we're high handicappers on the GAA and rugby, but if we can ride those out, we've a squeak. Don't horse down the pints. I don't want anyone falling over in the final round."

And so, The Five Find-Outers soon found out how much they knew, or thought they knew. Each of the eight rounds was a separate category and the opening set of golf questions fell into their laps.

"Name the course where the Ryder Cup will be played this year," was Angie's opening drive.

"Easy. Valhalla," said Vinny.

"How many wild cards does the US Ryder Cup captain have?"

"Four," said Vinny, quick as a flash. And so it went.

Vinny answered four of the eight questions off his own bat; the others chipped in with one apiece, with Brennie answering the stinger - Tom Watson's middle name: Sturges.

After round one, The Five Find-Outers were on eight points, sharing the lead with five other teams. The game was afoot.

Racing was up next and it included a couple of questions from the recent Cheltenham Festival - the number of Irish-trained winners (seven), and the number of winning favourites (two), which the lads mopped up.

There was a five-pointer if you could name the finishing order of the five horses trained by Michael Dickinson in the 1983 Gold Cup. For Vinny, it was a godsend. He took the pencil from Macker and quickly scribbled: Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House.

"Does she want the jockeys too?" he asked with a smile.

After two rounds, they were on 20 points, and led by one. When their name was called, there were raucous cheers from the locals.

"Stop smelling yourselves lads, we've got the GAA and rugby to come," warned Macker.

Sure enough, they stumbled. The Gaelic football wasn't so bad. Kojak was a member of Clontarf and a regular at Dubs matches. He saved them by naming the half-back line on the 1995 Dublin All-Ireland winning team - Paul Curran, Keith Barr, Mick Deegan - but hurling cost them their lead.

They surpassed themselves in the rugby when Fran, whose sons went to a posh, fee-paying school, struck against the head by knowing Eddie O'Sullivan's home town was Youghal.

He also recalled the name of the England fullback, Marcus Rose, when Ginger McLoughlin scored that famous push-over try in Twickenham.

At the break, The Find-Outers were two points adrift of the leaders, a crack outfit from Ballinteer called The Toffeemen. With football, motor sports, the "mixed bag" and Olympics to come, Vinny felt they needed the breaks to fall their way.

Fortified by an interval extra pint, the lads caught fire in round five, reeling off eight right answers, topped off by the correct order of the Irish penalty takers in Genoa in 1990 - Sheedy, Houghton, Townsend, Cascarino and O'Leary. "Easy, sure I was there," grinned Macker, as The Find-Outers moved up to outright second.

None of the lads were petrol heads but somehow they avoided the pits. Vinny rescued a point by remembering that Jody Scheckter was South African, and an inspired Brennie guessed that Murray Walker had come up with the line about Mars bars helping you work, rest and play.

With two rounds to go, The Find-Outers trailed The Toffeemen by one but, significantly, there was a three-point gap to the next team.

"C'mon lads, keep the head," said Macker quietly.

The mixed bag did exactly as it said on the tin. Vinny pulled out a left-field answer when Angie asked in what sport would you come across a sulky. "Harness racing," he whispered. Vinny also knew four sports you won going backwards - backstroke, tug-o'-war, rowing and, the underhand one, darts.

With The Toffeemen coming unstuck, The Find-Outers had drawn level as Angie called for order ahead of the last round.

"If anyone uses a mobile phone or is caught cogging, their team will be disqualified," she barked.

The tension was palpable as Angie reeled off the eight questions in the final round.

"Right, lads, you've got five minutes before you hand up the answers."

Six of the eight questions were okay, but The Find-Outers were unsure of two: the events in the modern pentathlon and what the five Olympic rings represented.

Vinny racked his brain on the pentathlon. "Swimming is one, shooting I think as well, and fencing. There's something to do with horses and there's a run of some sort," he murmured.

As Angie called for time, Fran chipped in. "Do the rings represent the five continents?"

Macker looked up, blew Fran a kiss and scribbled the answer.

"Vinny, we're relying on you."

By now The Toffeemen had handed up their answers and looked smug. "Come on, lads, let's be having you," said Angie. Vinny puffed his cheeks. "Here goes," he said. "Swimming, fencing, shooting, showjumping and cross country running, I think."

Macker filled in the answer sheet and passed it up. "Brilliant, lads. We can do no more," he said.

A few minutes later, Angie gave the answers to the final round.

"With a final-round maximum, the winners by one point are . . . The Five Find-Outers."

Macker and Brennie erupted, knocking over stools as they jumped up, hollering. Fran and Kojak engaged in high fives. Vinny sat there shaking his head.

"Would you Adam and Eve it?" he muttered as he beamed broadly at Angie. The returning wink topped off a great night.

1pt ew Chelsea Harbour in Grand National (20/1, Ladbrokes)

1pt Pádraig Harrington to win Masters without Tiger Woods (18/1, Stan James)

1pt lay Arsenal to lose to Liverpool tonight (Wednesday) in Champions League quarter-final first leg (5/4 general)