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Plenty to keep us entertained at home

MOSTLY HURLING:An appreciation for a weekend packed full of sporting and cultural significance, writes JOHN ALLEN

Hodgson's reign starts with little drama

Rabotnicki 0Liverpool 2:AS AN avid reader of some pretty heavyweight fiction, Roy Hodgson knows opening chapters are extremely important. Just like novelists, managers benefit from good starts and he will be satisfied with last night’s assured formal opening to his Liverpool reign.

Hession keeps final date

ATHLETICS EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY THREE:A COUPLE of other Irish medal chances seemed to disappear under the dark skies of Barcelona last night.

Amauri and Juventus show up the gulf in class

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG: Shamrock Rovers 0 Juventus 2:NOT QUITE the nightmare that might have been feared by some amongst the home support but a long way too from the dream scenario of Rovers taking a draw or better to Modena for the conclusion of this tie in a week’s time.

Routine checks of life jackets crucial

SAILING:SAFETY AT sea is a regular topic among sailors in all disciplines, racing or cruising, and technological advances continue to offer higher standards. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) are standard on large vessels, but personal, portable devices are not as widespread.

Roche ready for San Sebastian Classic

CYCLING NEWS:LESS THAN a week after taking an excellent 15th in the Tour de France, Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) will line out tomorrow in the San Sebastian Classic, aiming for a strong performance.

Morgan adds in a little magic

CRICKET TEST MATCH:EOIN MORGAN’S hopes of taking his seat on the England flight to Australia for this winter’s Ashes received a huge boost at Trent Bridge yesterday after the left-hander claimed a maiden Test century in just his third match to help England close the first day in control on 331 for four against Pakistan.

Gillick must aim to make every second count of the 44

MOST OF us spend our days where 44 seconds count for nothing. Disappear in a flash. For David Gillick this is one of those days where 44 seconds count for everything – and may feel like an eternity. If he can make every second count then by about 8.25pm this evening, Irish time, Gillick should have a European Championship medal next to his name. He has 44 seconds to make history.

Natural High can give Weld that Friday feeling

TODAY’S MEETING:DESPITE BEING the undoubted King of Ballybrit, Dermot Weld hasn’t saddled a winner on the Friday of the Galway festival for the last five years. But that statistic can bite the dust with Natural High in this evening’s €65,000 feature.

Lee proves the most local of heroes

GALWAY FESTIVAL DAY FOUR:IT TOOK Graham Lee nearly 20 years, but Overturn’s victory in yesterday’s Guinness Galway Hurdle finally proved to be a “dream come true” homecoming for the locally born jockey.

Golf Digest

The round-up of the day's golf news

Tseng rides high on strong finish as McVeigh impresses

WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN:TAIWAN’S YANI Tseng, a two-time major winner, produced a birdie, eagle finish yesterday to share the first round lead with Australian Katherine Hull on four-under-par 68.

McGrane's pragmatism serves him well

YOU DON'T always travel the straightforward route to achieve your life's goals. Yesterday, three Irishmen - two of them Major champions, all three of them winners on tour - came together on the first tee of the Killeen course with the waters gently lapping up to the rocks and the different roads travelled to this stage of their careers was apparent. No going straight from A to Z for them.

Howell tracked by home brigade

IRISH OPEN:FATE SOMETIMES delivers a strange calling card.

Pienaar signs two-year deal with Ulster

RUGBY NEWS:SOUTH AFRICA half-back Ruan Pienaar will officially become an Ulster player at the start of September after agreeing a release from his Natal Sharks contract.

Fenn confirms retirement

LEAGUE OF IRELAND PREMIER DIVISION:AS THREE-TIME League of Ireland winner Neale Fenn confirmed his retirement from football yesterday, his former club Bohemians were eyeing a return to the top of the table, something they can achieve by beating joint league leaders St Patrick’s Athletic at Dalymount Park this evening.

Hughes comes in at Fulham

NEWS ROUND-UP:MARK HUGHES was last night confirmed as Fulham’s new manager after agreeing a two-year deal.

Hibernian looking at exit

HIBERNIAN ENDURED a disappointing return to European football as a resounding 3-0 defeat in Slovenia left them facing a mountainous task to reach the Europa League play-off round.

Early goal a killer admits O'Neill

SHAMROCK ROVERS boss Michael O’Neill said he was proud of the effort put in by his young side against Juventus in Tallaght last night, but conceded that there was an overwhelming sense of disappointment too as “you can’t get away from the fact that, in the end, we lost the game”.

Harte brings in Brian McGuigan at the expense of younger brother

MICKEY HARTE has thrown in a familiar figure from the past for Dublin to contend with in tomorrow’s renewal of acquaintances at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage by naming Brian McGuigan in his team at the expense of younger brother Tommy.

Kildare driven by not just any Geezer

GAELIC GAMES ALL-IRELAND QUARTER-FINAL:WHAT NEWS from the Lilywhites? Well, for starters, after defeating Monaghan last Saturday, Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney name-checked the greatest Bainisteoir of them all, Mick O'Dwyer, as an inspiration.

O'Neill's main aim is not to concede

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG:A LITTLE like their visitors tonight, Shamrock Rovers are hoping the next few years will be better than the last few and it would be hard to imagine anything that would signal the readiness of Michael O’Neill’s young team to build on all the groundwork done to date in Tallaght quite like putting one over on Juventus in the Europa League.

Irish Open: Testing holes at Killarney

Irish Open: Philip Reid'sguide to the most testing holes at Killarney Golf Club

Tipperary settle after early Clare blitz and finish strongly

UNDER-21 HURLING MUNSTER FINAL/Tipperary 1-22 Clare 1-17:TIPPERARY RECOVERED from a disastrous start to topple All-Ireland champions Clare in a thrilling provincial decider at Semple Stadium yesterday.

Celtic and McGeady head for the door

Braga 3 Celtic 0:CELTIC GAVE themselves a mountain to climb bigger than the rockface overlooking AXA Stadium last night after crashing to Braga in the Champions League third qualifying round first leg.

Sports Digest

A roundup of today's other sports news in brief

Vic Ziegel: writer, raconteur, New Yorker

AMERICA AT LARGE:ON AN early March afternoon in 1970 at the Lion’s Head, Al Koblin, an off-duty barman who would later become the pub’s part-owner, stumbled through the front door and interrupted a baseball conversation with what, considering the terrified look on his face, seemed a strange question: “Quick! Does anybody know if Vic Ziegel is in town?”

Pakistan to feel strain of schedule

CRICKET TEST MATCH: Venue:Trent Bridge First ball: 11am On TV: Sky Sports 1

McCarthy survives a rough ride

THERE WAS a moment in the still of Barcelona yesterday, when we wondered, if it wasn’t for bad luck, would the Irish athletes have any luck at all?

Lightweight Lemaitre proves a heavyweight

FRESH OUT of Annecy, France, Christophe Lemaitre last night won the heavyweight title of fastest man in Europe – despite being, comparatively, something of a lightweight. Awesome stuff from the youngster just turned 20, and who recently become the first so-called white man to run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds.

Gillick in complete control

TWO THINGS: discipline in the blocks, then control it. If it really is that simple, David Gillick now has every chance of claiming the 400 metres medal he craves.

McCain to grab headlines again with Overturn

OVERTURN CAN successfully provide the Guinness Galway Hurdle with a flavour of possibly the greatest Aintree Grand National story of all when he lines up in this afternoon’s €250,000 festival feature.

McCoy sets the pulses racing

GALWAY FESTIVAL DAY THREE:TONY McCOY travelled to Ballybrit yesterday believing he would be riding Dancing Tornado in the Tote Galway Plate but a late switch to JP McManus’s other runner, Finger Onthe Pulse, resulted in the champion jockey’s first ever victory in the famous steeplechase.

Shin seeks second major title

SOUTH KOREA’S Shin Jiyai chases her second women’s British Open title, on top of the world and on top of her game.

Killarney Diary

A roundup of today's news from Killarney

Today's Tee-times

Irish in bold, * denotes amateurs

Greene the putting machine captures first senior title

SOUTH OF IRELAND AMATEUR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP:IT BECAME a familiar sight as the afternoon wore on. John Greene, his unruly black locks blowing in the wind, marching triumphantly forward from long range to pick the ball out of the cup.

Vibes are good for a home-grown success

IRISH OPEN:BE CAREFUL what you wish for. In the case of the 3 Irish Open, the wish list is as deep as Lough Leane. Good weather. Good golf. An Irish winner.

All Ireland League Fixtures 2010-2011

Division 1A

New format for All Ireland League

RUGBY NEWS:THE IRFU have announced the All Ireland League fixtures for the coming season. It marks the end of the trial format of eight teams in Division One A, with the top two clubs in Division Two B promoted automatically, while third place will face the bottom side in One A in a play-off, to enter a 10-team league for the 2011/12 season.

Big guns in final squad

NEWS ROUND-UP:DIEGO MARADONA may be conspicuous by his absence when Argentina pitch up at the Aviva Stadium next month, but the side his successor, Sergio Batista, sends out will have El Diego’s fingerprints all over it.

Hodgson has limited options

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG:FK Rabotnicki v Liverpool

Earley expected to be fit to face Meath

TEAM NEWS:KILDARE ARE confident veteran midfielder Dermot Earley will have recovered sufficiently from the hamstring injury sustained last weekend against Monaghan to take the field against Meath in Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park.

Antrim pushed right to the limit

UNDER-21 HURLING ULSTER FINAL:Antrim 0-21 Armagh 0-16

Spillane still upbeat despite Down record

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL:KERRY AND Down share a rivalry that doesn’t really apply to the present tense, but the richness of GAA tradition attached to their previous four championship meetings means they cannot be ignored in the lead-up to Saturday’s clash.

Juve expect pure football

FOR THOSE of us brought up on tales of Milan’s arrival back in 1974 at St Mel’s Park, where they were famously held to a scoreless draw by Athlone Town, the sight of the Juventus bus pulling into Tallaght stadium yesterday was a strangely disappointing affair.

Nothing fishy about this certain kind of magic

CELEBRITY FANS:The idea of catching a fish and then three hours later putting it on your plate is very appealing, says KEITH BARRY,magician, 33

Down prove too sharp for Kerry

FROM THE ARCHIVE 1968 ALL-IRELAND SFC FINAL/Down 2-12 Kerry 1-13:Down boast the proud record of never having lost to Kerry in the Championship, with one of those victories clinching their third All-Ireland title win. Here is PADDY DOWNEY's match report on that game from September 23rd, 1968

Killarney Diary

By PHILIP REID

GAA critics demand law is upheld - when it suits them

On Gaelic Games:The association occupies a place in the public affection like that of men in uniforms peering out of palaces over an array of tanks, writes SEAN MORAN

Shanahan still has role to play for Waterford

THERE WAS Dan Shanahan, strolling glumly from the field as the match continued, presumably disgusted with then Waterford manager Justin McCarthy’s decision to replace him. Shanahan refused to grasp the outstretched hand.

It'll be close but Tyrone should just shade it

DARRAGH Ó SÉ WEEKLY COLUMN:I like the new-look Dublin but still feel Tyrone will have too much quality all over the field in the big Saturday evening clash at headquarter.

Sports digest

Todays other stories in brief

Stevens optimistic despite cancellation

MOTOR SPORT:DESPITE BEING forced to cancel for the second time in three years, organisers of the Phoenix Park Motor Races remain confident the event has a long-term future. The lack of major sponsorship and tremendous organisational difficulties have put a severe strain on the staging of the historic road racing event in recent years.

Farah ends Britain's long wait in Europe

ATHLETICS:TO THAT eminent list of European 10,000-metre champions – Emil Zatopek, Alberto Cova, and, er Martti Vainio et al – we can now add Mo Farah. Although it should be pointed out that Farah is not strictly European, there’s no doubt this marked a welcome return to the good old days of British distance running.

So near and yet so far for gallant Heffernan

ATHLETICS/EUROPEANS:WE KNEW once the decisive break was made that Robert Heffernan probably wasn’t going to win a medal. Still hopeful, perhaps, but in the one event where there is no such thing as a sprint finish, Heffernan was trapped in that loneliest of places. There was no escaping it, and that’s where he finished – fourth.

The Last Derby can prove a Classic dish for Geraghty

THERE AREN’T many major steeplechases that Barry Geraghty hasn’t won. In fact through their absence, the Irish Grand National and today’s €200,000 Tote Galway Plate stick out like sore thumbs in the former champion jockey’s big-race CV. But The Last Derby can fill at least one of those blanks in the biggest chase of the Irish summer calendar.

Invisible Man hits bookies hard

GALWAY’S INCREASING international appeal proved costly for the bookmakers yesterday evening as the well-backed British raider, Invisible Man, turned the only steeplechase on the card into a procession.

Ask Jack has all right answers

GALWAY FESTIVAL DAY TWO:RACING’S TACTICAL possibilities are endless but Ask Jack proved by winning yesterday evening’s €120,000 Topaz Mile EBF Handicap at Galway that sometimes just going straight to the front and staying there is all there is to it.

Murray hoping it's seventh time lucky in semi-final

PAT MURRAY has seen it all at Lahinch, but after reaching his seventh semi-final thanks to two sterling displays, he’ll be forgiven for thinking he’s been caught in a time warp when he takes on the unheralded John Greene of Carlow at the classic Clare links this morning.

Lowry in defensive form

IMAGINE IF you had a winning lotto ticket in your hand, only for it to blow away in the wind. Would you laugh, or cry? On a magical Sunday in Baltray just over a year ago, Shane Lowry – despite seeing runner-up Robert Rock’s name scribbled onto the winning cheque for half a million euro – laughed and cried, only the tears were of sheer joy at the enormity of what he, as an amateur, had achieved in winning the 3 Irish Open.

Lennon to keep it tight in hope of avoiding old ghost

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND/Braga v Celtic:NEIL LENNON should beware the ghost of Gordon Strachan in Portugal tonight. Celtic’s newly appointed manager knows Strachan, one of his predecessors, was haunted throughout his Parkhead tenure by his first match in charge of the club.

New audit reveals Barca's €77m loss

AN AUDIT of Barcelonas accounts by new president Sandro Rosell has uncovered a post-tax loss of €77.1 million for the 2009-10 season compared with a net profit of €11 million reported in June by the previous board of directors.

Torres hands Hodgson and Liverpool fans a big boost

FERNANDO TORRES has put a spring in Roy Hodgson’s step by pledging his immediate future to Liverpool. Speculation that the Spain striker would leave Anfield this summer has swirled around for months, but instead of heading for Manchester City or Chelsea it seems Torres intends staying on Merseyside for a while longer.

Tipp to end Clare's reign

UNDER-21 HURLING MUNSTER FINAL/Clare v Tipperary:IF THE leading Tipperary players have recovered sufficiently from their senior exertions in defeating Galway last Sunday then the reign of All-Ireland champions Clare may come to an end this evening.

Smyth makes history and the semis

ATHLETICS:THESE CHAMPIONSHIPS may lack the big-time speed merchants such as Usain Bolt, but an unlikely substitute emerged here last night in the form of Derry sprinter Jason Smyth. He finished fourth in his 100-metre heat, in 10.43 seconds, to qualify for this evening’s semi-finals – then promptly found himself in demand by practically every TV and radio crew on his way through the mixed zone.

McIlroy at ease with favourite tag

GOLF:THE CLARET Jug never made it back to Holywood, that town in north Down which nowadays is synonymous with Rory McIlroy.

Ireland squad holds few surprises

SOCCER:JUST AS he did two years ago, Giovanni Trapattoni has rewarded the players who gave up the early part of their summer to come and play for him by naming the likes of Paul Green, Keith Fahey and Cillian Sheridan in an extended squad for the forthcoming game against Argentina.

Pairing of Louis and Zach represents the new era of respect

CADDIE'S ROLE:Oosthuizen’s caddie blazed the trail for black South Africans, writes COLIN BYRNE

Sports Digest

A round-up of other sports news in brief

Maundy Money should prove a leading player

DAY TWO PREVIEW:COLM O’DONOGHUE’S chance of King George glory on Cape Blanco at the weekend was ruined by Harbinger’s freakish winning performance but the jockey will be relying on Maundy Money for some compensation when he lines up in this evening’s €120,000 day two Galway Festival feature.

Weld pays tribute to Townend

DAY ONE REACTION:DERMOT WELD hasn’t built up such a momentous Galway record by not knowing who to turn to when it comes to steering his horses past the post first and the legendary trainer wasn’t slow in proclaiming Paul Townend as a future champion jockey after his success on Force Of Habit in yesterday evening’s festival opener.