The bar must be raised even higherMaybe in five years this will be remembered as a time of splendour for Connacht rugby. Or perhaps as just the beginning.Sat Apr 02 2005 - 01:00
Triple Crown days not to be taken lightlySideline Cut: It is fascinating how the public perception of a team can be so terribly altered over the course of one match.Sat Mar 19 2005 - 00:00
Flashes of genius rekindle some hopeSideline Cut : Ronaldinho's goal against Chelsea on Tuesday night was the stupendous highlight of 48 hours that made it feel…Sat Mar 12 2005 - 00:00
Mayo stay on course as hoodoo is brokenNFL Mayo 0-14 Cork 0-11: With each game in this league, the significance of what happened to Mayo in last September's All-Ireland…Mon Mar 07 2005 - 00:00
There is a little corner of Ireland stillSideline Cut: Not having a ticket for the rugby classic in Lansdowne Road last Sunday, I got to see it from the next best place…Sat Mar 05 2005 - 00:00
A year has raced by so heavilyAnniversary of Cormac McAnallen's death: Keith Duggan on how emotion alone could not pull Tyrone through last year, and only…Sat Mar 05 2005 - 00:00
Free spirits find common groundTwenty years ago, when the Irish squad met to prepare for what was considered to be an unpromising season, the instruction from…Sat Feb 05 2005 - 00:00
Mayo need Maughan and Brady to connectSideline Cut: With precious little fuss, the GAA National League season, once the unwanted orphan of the Irish sports calendar…Sat Feb 05 2005 - 00:00
Clock is ticking on Mourinho's masteryImpressive as Jose Mourinho's first seven months in Premiership management have been, his most nimble feat has been to restore…Sat Jan 29 2005 - 00:00
Golden era over but cup still glittersBASKETBALL/National Cup : On New Year's Day in 1985, Neptune basketball club met St Vincent's of Dublin in the quarter-final…Sat Jan 29 2005 - 00:00
Dubya's chance to right Johnson wrongSideline Cut: On the week that George Bush delivered his inauguration speech on the theme of freedom, American television was…Sat Jan 22 2005 - 00:00
Connacht must tread with cautionAlthough victory against Grenoble today in the return leg of the Challenge Cup is not considered a sure thing, there is a heavy…Sat Jan 15 2005 - 00:00
Meath more binned against than sinningSideline Cut : The sound of Seán Boylan complaining so fervently after last Sunday's sin bin smorgasbord in Portlaoise must …Sat Jan 15 2005 - 00:00
Nothing to be done . . . so we join a gymSideline Cut: They say there is a sucker born every minute and in Ireland, most of us sign up for gym membership every January…Sat Jan 08 2005 - 00:00
Remember when toys knew their place?Sideline Cut: It would appear that one of the hottest items on the many letters that are winging their way to Lapland this Christmas…Sat Dec 18 2004 - 00:00
When white men can't jump anymoreSideline Cut: In November, 1994, I got courtside tickets to an NBA game featuring the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix SunsSat Nov 27 2004 - 00:00
Reunions are about seizing the day againSideline Cut: The great truth about sport is the one we all learn too late: it all passes by so quicklySat Nov 20 2004 - 00:00
Fed up with all this horsing aroundSideline Cut: When all is said and done, I think I am with the horse in all of thisSat Nov 13 2004 - 00:00
Mutu lost in Premiership morality mazeSideline Cut: As he casts an eye around the world from which he was yesterday expelled, Chelsea's Adrian Mutu must wonder how…Sat Oct 30 2004 - 01:00
Kingdom dominate new-look shortlistAll Stars nominations: Just five of last year's Vodafone All Star football team have made it onto the 2004 shortlist, which …Wed Oct 20 2004 - 01:00
Reasons to be cheerful for KerrManager's reaction: "Ladies and gentlemen, the man of the momentThu Oct 14 2004 - 01:00
Combo are given the old one-twoTipperary SHC final/Toomevara 2-12 Eire Og/Golden 2-12: Toomevara remain the masters of TipperaryMon Oct 11 2004 - 01:00
Early exodus the final ignominy for MayoSideline Cut: For reasons too convoluted to go into, a group of us exited Croke Park last Sunday night through the Hogan Stand…Sat Oct 02 2004 - 01:00
The bottomless mystery of Mayo footballSideline Cut : It may be impolite this weekend to ask, but why have Mayo won only three All-Ireland football titles? And appositely…Sat Sept 25 2004 - 01:00
New kid breaking all the rules"I was walking up the town one night last winter and I met this guy I kind of knewSat Sept 25 2004 - 01:00
Returning to the heartlandAll-Ireland SFC Final/Mayo v Kerry: This weekend, the exiles will flood back into Mayo and, in particular, to Tourmakeady, the…Fri Sept 24 2004 - 01:00
Master and commanderAll-Ireland SFC Final/The Mayo management team: It is of little surprise John Maughan and Liam McHale remain at the epicentre…Thu Sept 23 2004 - 01:00
Moran loses his place to GeraghtyMayo team: Dermot Geraghty replaces Conor Moran at right corner back in the Mayo team to face Kerry in Sunday's All-Ireland …Wed Sept 22 2004 - 01:00
Full back's ability has no limitationsAll-Ireland SFC Final Countdown : Perhaps when it is all over, David Heaney will find a sympathetic ear in his Kerry counterpart…Mon Sept 20 2004 - 01:00
Fans should be jumping through hoopsSideline Cut: With the early darkness and the autumn comes another basketball season, another Irish winter in which one of the…Sat Sept 18 2004 - 01:00
Retiring but never retiredIn Focus/Brian Corcoran: It was nothing as clear-cut as a calling for Brian CorcoranMon Sept 13 2004 - 01:00
Irresistible romance of the all-too familiarSideline Cut: For this year anyway, there should be no complaints about yet another All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and…Sat Sept 11 2004 - 01:00
Irishman and his belly not easily partedSideline Cut: Depressing word, obesity. Cuddly did the trick just fine up to nowSat Sept 04 2004 - 01:00
Funny old Games got new leaseOlympics Overview: The wine all drunk and the fun all over, the world fled Athens last nightMon Aug 30 2004 - 01:00
Greek chorus a baffled paean to KenterisSideline Cut: Thursday night in the stadium might be construed as the moment the Greeks let their guard downSat Aug 28 2004 - 01:00
Not a perfect goodbye, but Sonia bows out with graceIt was far from the perfect goodbye but Sonia O'Sullivan's last night at the Olympics will be remembered as an oddly beautiful…Tue Aug 24 2004 - 01:00
Spitz project a millstone as compatriots turn on PhelpsAthens letter: When Michael Phelps returned to his room late on Monday evening, he must have been wishing he had never heard…Wed Aug 18 2004 - 01:00
Smoke disguises truth about PhelpsAthens Letter: Late at night is the best time to travel around the Olympic planetTue Aug 17 2004 - 01:00
Still the boy most likely to excelAll-Ireland SFC Quarter-finals: It might be said that Jason Sherlock has rolled back the years and is having a season redolent…Sat Aug 14 2004 - 01:00
The one Ring that binds themAll-Ireland SHC Semi-final: Fifty years ago, Cork and Wexford met in the All-Ireland hurling finalSat Aug 14 2004 - 01:00
US hoops stars set to court popularitySideline Cut: More by accident than design, the USA men's Olympic basketball team is set to do the impossible: win gold for …Sat Aug 14 2004 - 01:00
Sport the last bastion of faith and claritySideline Cut: The decision taken by the Vatican to consciously promote and foster a relationship with its flock of one billion…Sat Aug 07 2004 - 01:00
Has Daly one more ruse to crack Cody?All-Ireland SHC Quarter-final replay/Clare v Kilkenny: Last Sunday in Croke Park left everyone tinglingSat Jul 31 2004 - 01:00
Home is the exiled Dub, home to the HillSideline Cut: Not to jump the gun or anything but this could be the Year of the Dub. You have to hand it to the DubSat Jul 31 2004 - 01:00
Strain of victory gets Mulgrew's dander upAll Ireland SFC Qualifier Fermanagh v Donegal Underneath the stand in Clones, the players exit through a blue door made of iron…Mon Jul 26 2004 - 01:00
Clare shout may just not be formidable enoughClare v Kilkenny: No matter what happens, Anthony Daly and Clare have salvaged something from the summer: a marquee date with…Sat Jul 24 2004 - 01:00
Donegal will be eager to atone for freak fallAll-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round Four/Donegal v Fermanagh: The game nobody wantedSat Jul 24 2004 - 01:00
Cork will have to handle Antrim with careAntrim v Cork: Could this be a banana skin for Cork? Antrim's excellent performance against Waterford in a challenge in Loughgiel…Sat Jul 24 2004 - 01:00
Hills alive with sound of Armagh musingsAround Donegal, people are still a bit shook by what happened in Croke Park last SundaySat Jul 17 2004 - 01:00
