SPORTS DIGEST: ALAIN BERNARD of France duly competed the sprint double by claiming the gold medal in the 50 metres freestyle to add to his success in the 100 freestyle earlier in the week on the final day of competition at the European Swimming Championships in Eindhoven, reports John Kenny.
Bernard has been in the spotlight throughout the championships with his three world records, with questions about his recent improvement being raised by many of his fellow competitors.
The Frenchman, though, recovered from a poor start to power down the 50 metres to win in 22.66 seconds, 0.16 of a second outside the world best he had set in the heats.
The evening began in dramatic fashion as Dutch swimmer Marlene Veldhuis broke the fifth world record of the week in winning the women's 50 freestyle in 24.09 to break the eight-year-old mark set by Inge De Bruijat the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Ireland's interest in the championship ended with Gráinne Murphy failing to advance from the heats of the 400 metres freestyle.
Overall, though, its been an encouraging and progressive meet for the small Irish squad of only five swimmer headed by national coach Keith Bewley.
Ton eases the pressure on Strauss
ENGLAND BATSMAN Andrew Strauss admitted he was a relieved man after scoring his first century in 31 innings as the tourists seized control of the final Test in Napier, New Zealand.
The Middlesex left-hander hit an unbeaten 173 - his highest Test score and first ton since August 2006 - and Ian Bell 110 as England posted 416 for five to lead by 501 runs with two days remaining.
"It was a relief when I got that hundred away - it was a long while coming. I was a pretty special day for me," said Strauss.
Olympic knock for the North
NORTHERN IRELAND will not be considered for staging a London 2012 Olympics football match due to delays over building a new national stadium, according to reports.
With the Irish Football Association looking to move away from the ageing Windsor Park, a move to a new multi-sport stadium on the site of the former Maze Prison has yet to come to fruition. Political bureaucracy has meant work is still not even close to starting.
That seems to have ruled Northern Ireland out of staging matches either in qualifying or the tournament proper.
Play-off anguish for Pembroke
PEMBROKE WANDERERS suffered the anguish of losing their European Cup Winners Trophy gold medal play-off on penalty strokes in Ghent yesterday, having finished 1-1 after extra-time against CUS Catania, writes Mary Hannigan.
The defeat means Ireland miss out on promotion to next season's A Division, the European Cup Winners Cup.
The Italians appeared to have snatched victory when they broke the deadlock with six minutes to go in normal-time, but Lorna Hill levelled for Pembroke three minutes later to take the game in to extra-time.
There were, though, no more goals, and when penalty strokes went to sudden death, after the teams scored two apiece in the first round, Catania went through (3-2).
Italy, then, are promoted, along with Belgium (La Gantoise beat HC Moscow in the day's other promotion play-off), leaving Pembroke, like Moscow, with bronze.
Crotty and Ryan net win
GOALKEEPER Sineád Crotty came to the Republic of Ireland's rescue several times as the Noel King's under-17 side defeated Norway 1-0 courtesy of a first-half strike by Amy Ryan.
After 30 minutes of their final match in the Uefa Under-17 Second Elite Qualifying phase in Perpignan, Karen Duggan and Julie Ann Russell linked up in midfield and provided a through-ball to Ryan who rounded her marker and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper in a superb move.
