A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Burnett all set to make professional debut on Hatton card
BOXING:BELFAST bantamweight Ryan Burnett looks set to finally make his pro debut against an opponent to be named on the Ricky Hatton undercard at the Manchester Arena on November 24th.
Manchester-based Burnett won gold and silver for Ireland at the 2010 Olympic Youths in Singapore and 2010 AIBA World Youth Championships in Azerbaijan.
He turned professional with Hatton Promotions over eight months ago but his debut has been delayed because of medical issues.
However, he has now been added to the November undercard, which will be headlined by Hatton’s comeback fight against ex two-weight world champion Vyacheslav Senchenko.
Hatton, who turns 34 next Saturday, and Ukraine-born Senchenko will meet over 10 rounds at welterweight.
Keane reported to be in Turkey to meet Kasimpasa officials
SOCCER:Roy Keane was reported to have landed in Turkey late last night to meet with officials from Super Lig club Kasimpasa. On Sunday, the Turkish club's vice-president said an agreement had been reached with Keane and indicated he would be named as their new manager yesterday.
No such confirmation arrived, but reports claimed the former Ipswich Town and Sunderland manager was in Istanbul and expected to sign a deal “within the next 24 hours”. Keane’s representative was unavailable for comments last night.
If appointed, Keane will take over a team second in the Turkish top tier, one point behind Galatasaray after six games, having defeated Fenerbahce 2-0 at the weekend. Their previous manager Metin Diyadin was sacked despite winning promotion last year and overseeing a brisk start to life in the top division.
Keane managed Sunderland to promotion from the Championship in 2007 before standing down in December 2008, halfway through a second season in the top flight. In January 2011, he was sacked by Ipswich after 20 months.
Falcons swoop for late field goal
AMERICAN FOOTBALL:The Atlanta Falcons, the Arizona Cardinals and the Houston Texans maintained their perfect starts with victories in the NFL on Sunday while the New Orleans Saints misery continued as they slumped to 0-4 with a loss at Green Bay.
The Falcons needed a late field goal to beat the Carolina Panthers and the Cardinals won in overtime against Miami while Houston marched to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history with a 38-14 win over Tennessee.
The San Francisco 49ers shut out a hapless New York Jets, winning 34-0 at the New Meadowlands while the New England Patriots avoided a third straight loss with a come-from-behind romp over Buffalo.
Atlanta rallied to win on Matt Bryant’s 40-yard field goal in an outcome that may have left Panthers head coach Ron Rivera regretting the decision to punt on fourth and one with his team leading 28-27 and 59 seconds left on the clock.
Carolina quarterback Cam Newton fumbled on third down which ultimately set up the crucial field goal.
Kilkenny man Brennan takes K1
CANOEING:Kilkenny had more than one reason to celebrate last weekend. Mickie Brennan of Thomastown Paddlers won the K1 (racing kayak) class at the biggest canoeing race of the year, the Liffey Descent on Saturday. Clubmate Anthony Forristal was third.
Over 600 competitors took on the 28-kilometre run, and a strong flow on the river and a tailwind helped produce fast times. The fastest boat home was the K2 of Deaglán Ó Drisceoil and Tom Brennan in one hour 47 minutes and 54 seconds, with the father-and-son combination of Malcolm and Liam Banks second. Ireland’s top women’s sprint canoeist, Jenny Egan, partnered Ben Farrell to win the mixed K2 double in 1:56.07.
The visiting Czech Republic team did well and Toni Hales was the fastest in the Canadian canoe section. The 20-year-old, who has medals in international competition in both canoeing and rafting, said the Czechs had found the weirs testing. “We didn’t take them all on the right lines. But we survived,” he said.
– LIAM GORMAN
