MEN'S HOCKEY:Glenanne will be glad Stephen Butler's appeal against a one-match suspension was upheld last week by the Irish Hockey Association disciplinary committee. The decision means the midfielder and Ireland's top goal-scorer can take part in the Irish Senior Cup final against Annadale at Grange Road next month, writes Johnny Watterson.
The news comes in the event of the European Hockey Federation launching the start of a new European league. The usual suspects, Holland, Spain, Germany and England, will have three teams each in the proposed 24-team league, with Ireland, at the moment, eligible for one. But that could change depending on the 2007 results at European level.
The initial stages are to be run in October and November, while the final stage will take place in March, with the league winner taking home a prize of €20,000. After the first season of the new format a ranking system will be in place in order that weaker nations can break into the top competition. It will also allow countries, if they are good enough, to progress from having one club involved to having two clubs or three clubs.
WOMEN'S HOCKEY: While they will meet considerably more testing opposition at the European Championships in Manchester in August, Ireland's young squad gave coach Gene Muller plenty of cause for optimism in France over the weekend, where they won two and drew one of their three games against their hosts, writes Mary Hannigan.
"The future is bright," said a contented Muller after his team wrapped up the series with a 4-0 win yesterday, to add to Friday's 1-0 victory and Saturday's draw. Roisin Flinn did her Manchester hopes no harm at all with a goal in each game, including the equaliser five minutes from time on Saturday, forcing home the rebound from Rachel Mulligan's shot.
There were no surprises on the club front, with Hermes and Old Alexandra having comfortable wins over bottom-three teams in the Leinster first division. Pembroke Wanderers, though, were made to toil for their 1-0 win away to Corinthian, a result that keeps them level on points with Hermes in third place, with an extra game played. Alexandra are now four points behind Loreto but have a game in hand.
Meanwhile, former internationals Linda O'Neill and Catherine Murray got the goals, in a 2-1 win over holders Hermes II, that put Bray into the Irish Junior Cup final. Their opponents will be Old Alexandra II, Aisling Flinn and Aoife Budd giving them a 2-0 victory over Cork Harlequins II.
SHOW JUMPING:Team Ireland kicked off a year-long battle for promotion back into the Samsung Super League with a fighting second at the American Nations Cup in Wellington, Florida, on Friday night, writes Grania Willis. The Canadians claimed victory for the second year in a row, having established their supremacy from the outset, but Ireland and the American hosts were locked in combat at the midway break with the silver medal as the prize for the victors. Double clears from Cian O'Connor and Darragh Kerins, plus a four and a clear from Irish pathfinder Conor Swail, left Ireland on four faults at the finish to clinch second.
There were plenty of encouraging results on the continental circuit too, with wins for Jessica Kürten, Ivan Dalton and Dave Quigley, while Marion Hughes made a promising returning to action in Portugal with her team horse Heritage Transmission, which was sidelined for much of last season by injury.
Kurten's win came with Jipey Dark in one of the qualifiers at the German fixture in Braunschweig, but the world number seven slumped to ninth in yesterday's Volkswagen Grand Prix.
SNOOKER:Ronnie O'Sullivan cruised to a 9-1 win over Barry Hawkins in the Kilkenny Irish Masters final to claim the Paul Hunter Trophy. The Rocket was not at his sparkling best at the Ormonde Hotel, but having led 7-1 after the afternoon session, never looked back as he claimed the 13,500 winners' cheque.
And having pocketed a maximum 147 break on Saturday in his 6-5 semi-final win over Scotland's John Higgins, he took home 1,350 in additional prize-money for the competition's highest break prize.
CYCLING:Danish sprinter Glen Bak took the first victory this season for the Irish-registered Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M Donnelly Sean Kelly team, outsprinting nine other breakaway companions to win a 120km race in St Truiden, Brustem. Elsewhere in Belgium, Derek Burke and Paídi O'Brien were 33rd and 50th in the under 26 Brussels-Opwijk classic.
Meanwhile, one week after he took the Cycleways Cup in Navan, Brian Kenneally (Myhome.ie/Dunboyne CC) yesterday won the Newbridge Credit Union GP. North of the Border, Adam Armstrong (Queen's University) and Louise Moriarty (UCD) won the men's and women's All-Ireland Inter-Collegiate Road Championships at Nutts Corner.
BASKETBALL:Current Superleague champions St Vincent's failed to qualify for the play-offs after defeat to Shamrock Rovers Hoops at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday evening. The 105-95 result sees the Hoops secure third place in the northern conference and progress to an away quarter-final against southern conference runners-up the UCC Demons next weekend, writes Gavin Cummiskey.
Despite being ill last week, the MVP from last year's final, Jermaine Turner, produced a 39-point game for the defending champions while Kenny Gamble and Emmet Donnelly combined for 34 points. However, the Hoops' greater spread of scorers proved the difference, and after leading the conference for most of the campaign it would have been a notable collapse if the Tallaght-based club failed to progress to the play-offs.
Ballina's defeat of UCD Marian, 102-83, saw them finish second behind Killester, which ensures a home quarter-final against St Paul's, Killarney. The times and dates of these fixtures will be announced this week. The winners of Hoops against the Demons will play Killester, while either Ballina or St Paul's will meet southern conference champions the Tralee Tigers - who are now chasing a league and cup double.
Both Superleague semi-finals take place on Saturday, March 24th, at the University of Limerick Arena, with the final on the Sunday. Tralee already wrapped up the south by beating St Paul's last Tuesday, but Killester only followed suit on Saturday night when they overcame Belfast Star 103-73.
