A round-up of today's other stories in brief
St Kieran’s claim league crown
GAA:An unanswered six-point scoring salvo in the final 10 minutes steered St Kieran's to yet another trophy yesterday when they came from behind to defeat a gallant St Brendans, Birr 1-11 to 1-6 in the Leinster Colleges Senior Hurling A League final.
A fortunate goal from Ciarán Prendergast helped St Kieran’s lead 1-5 to 0-5 at the interval.
St Brendan’s missed frees and their goal from Paddy Mullins in the 45th minute was their last score of the game. Chris Bolger and Jack McGrath led the St Kieran’s rally at the death.
ST KIERAN’S: N Keogh; D Hennessy, R Lennon, W Allen; C Wafer, A Cleere, E Byrne; M Donnelly (0-5, four frees, one 65), P Kenneally; J McGrath (0-3), E Morrissey (0-1), C Bolger (0-2); C Treacy, C Prendergast (1-0), B Leydon. Subs: D Burke (for B Leydon 27m), R OHanrahan (for C Wafer 37m), S Farrell (for Treacy 39 mins).
ST BRENDAN’S: K Bergin; C Walsh, B Connors, K Donovan; C Mulrooney, E Hayes, C Fitzgerald; S OConnor (0-2 frees), P Mullins (1-0); E Nolan (0-3 frees), K Dunne, C Doughan; D Cleary, C Guilfoyle (0-1), S OConnor. Subs: J Molloy (for D Cleary 49m), B Donnelly (for S OConnor 58m).
Referee: Brochan Reilly (Laois)
Three-in-a-row for Young Munster
RUGBY: Young Munster made it three Limerick Charity Cup wins in a row when they defeated Shannon, 25-13, in a lively final at Dooradoyle last night.
Shannon made the perfect start when Emmett McLoughlin got in for a try after seven minutes which Tadg Bennett converted.
But, by half-time, Young Munster led 15-7 thanks to tries by Ger Slattery and Aaron Carroll, one of which Willie Staunton converted and he also kicked a penalty.
In a second half dominated by the Young Munster forwards, substitute Darragh Payne drove over for a try after Staunton had landed a second penalty and he also converted Payne’s try.
All Shannon could manage was a brace of penalties by Bennett.
SCORERS
Young Munster – Tries: G Slattery, A Carroll, D Payne; Pens: W Staunton 2; Cons: W Staunton 2. Shannon – Try: E McLoughlin; Pens: T Bennett 2; Con: T Bennett.
Eto’o’s long ban
SOCCER:Cameroon banned skipper Samuel Eto'o for 15 matches last night and vice-captain Eyong Enoh for two games after they persuaded team-mates not to travel to Algeria for a friendly last month.
Cameroon’s players went on strike in November, forcing the abandonment of the Algiers friendly, saying they had not received money promised for their appearance in a four-nation tournament in Morocco the previous weekend.
De Villiers inspires
CRICKET: AB de Villiers agonisingly fell for 99 on day two of the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Centurion, but his innings helped ensure a huge first-innings lead for the hosts.
At stumps the Proteas were 209 ahead on 389 for nine. De Villiers’ innings was worthy of a 13th Test hundred but he ended short when he was caught on the cut against three-wicket Thisara Perera.
Bonds gets two years’ probation
BASEBALL: Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball's career home-run record holder, was sentenced to two years of probation for obstructing a US probe of steroid use in professional sports.
US District Judge Susan Illston issued the sentence yesterday in federal court in San Francisco. Prosecutors had asked her to send Bonds to prison for 15 months.
The US Probation Office recommended that the former slugger serve probation and no jail time. Bonds’s attorneys also asked that the former San Francisco Giants left fielder be sentenced to probation. Bonds must also pay a $4,000 fine (€3,000), the judge added.
Illston put the sentence on hold after lawyers for Bonds said they would file an appeal in the case. Bonds, 47, was found guilty of obstruction in April for what prosecutors called his evasive response in 2003 before a federal grand jury when asked if trainer, Greg Anderson ever injected him.
Bonds gets two years’ probation
SWIMMING: Sycerika McMahon and London Olympics-bound Barry Murphy, set three Irish senior records between them on the opening day of the Irish Short Course (25m) swimming championships in Lisburn.
McMahon, the two-time European junior gold medallist, set two of those record-breaking times in the 100 metres breaststroke and the 200m individual medley.
In the first event of the evening, the 16-year-old, from the Leander club in Belfast, took the gold medal in an Irish Senior record time of 1.07.83 cutting .10 off her own Irish record for the event.
McMahon, who also harbours hopes of making the Irish squad for the London Olympics, followed up her win in the 100m breaststroke, by claiming the women’s 200m butterfly fly title in 2.13.52 destroying the rest of the field and winning by nearly seven seconds.
Her second Irish senior record came in the final of the women’s 200m Individual Medley (IM) when she again blitzed the rest of the field to take her third gold medal of the opening day in 2:12.41 beating Gráinne Murphy’s two-year-old Irish record by .30 of a second.
Dubliner Barry Murphy won the men’s 100m butterfly in 53.34 seconds beating the old time of 54.06 set in 2009 by Stephen McQuillan of Ards. Murphy also won the gold medal in the 50m breaststroke, in a time of 27.53 seconds and took his third gold medal with a win in the final of the 100m IM in 55.71 seconds.
Froch aiming to fulfil his ‘destiny’
BOXING:Carl Froch has vowed to fulfil his destiny by beating fellow champion Andre Ward in "the big one" tonight and crown himself the best super-middleweight.
The two meet in the final of the innovative Super Six tournament in Atlantic City with Froch’s WBC title and Ward’s WBA belt on the line. Froch takes on unbeaten American Ward in a clash of the competition’s two best performers and though Mikkel Kessler – who pulled out through injury – and IBF champion Lucian Bute would dispute it, the winner will be regarded as the top man in the division.
Meanwhile, John Joe Nevin helped Paris United to an away win over Ken Egan’s and Con Sheehan’s Leipzig Leopards in the World Series of Boxing in Germany last night.
The Cavan BC bantamweight, boxing at lightweight, hammered out a unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) over Denmark’s Rashid Kassem. Egan and Sheehan were not in action for the Leopards.
Impressive Meenan catches the eye
SOCCER:Ireland finished second in yesterday's Fifpro tournament for out-of-contract footballers in Oslo where a James Chambers penalty miss was the difference between Trevor Croly's side and the hosts in the penalty shoot-out that decided the final.
Earlier in the day Darren Meenan, who played last season with UCD, had scored the only goal of the game against Sweden as Ireland progressed to the decider. In it, they came from behind with Derek Forlan cancelling out an Adem Guven goal.
Afterwards, PFAI general secretary Stephen McGuinness said that Chambers, Forlan, John Russell and Meenan had all attracted attention from clubs with the latter the subject of significant interest from Danish clubs present.
Sligo Rovers announced last night that they have re-signed Joseph Ndo and Raffaele Cretaro for next season. It is also believed that Romuald Boco is set to return to the club.
