Sonia back on track
After her disappointments at the Atlanta Olympics and
in Athens, Cork's Sonia O'Sullivan is happily back to
winning ways following her performance at the World
Cross Country championship in Marrakesh in Morocco.
Sonia struck gold and became World champion in the Long
Course Championship on Saturday and the 4,000 metres on
Sunday. Hopefully a lot more success to come.
National Leagues
Limerick and Cork are the only two counties with 100%
records after week two of the National Hurling League.
League champions Limerick defeated All-Ireland
champions Clare in Division One A at the Gaelic Grounds
while Cork saw off the challenge from neighbours
Waterford by seven points. In the top division Antrim
pulled off a deserved win over Dublin in Casement Park,
dominating the early stages of the game. It was the
22nd minute before Dublin scored, the men in Saffron
eventually winning by six points. Galway outclassed
Offaly at Athenry, scoring 3-15 in the process. Wins
also for Kilkenny, who got a boost lst week with the
annoucement that star forward DJ Carey is coming back
from his short-lived retirement from the game.
Tipperary drew with Laois.
League run-ins North and South
Top of the table soccer clashes at the weekend in the
National League with the last run-in to decide the
destination of the championship. Title condenders St
Pat's and Shelbourne were both in action. St Pat's
played out a 1-1 draw with Cork City. Shels and Finn
Harps obviously had their minds on the FAI Cup
Semi-Final meeting between the two on 4 April. They
played a 0-0 draw at Ballybofey on Saturday night.
Shels remain top two points ahead of Pat's, who have a
game in hand. Cork City, Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians
trail the top two and are fighting it out for a place
in Europe next season.
At the other end of the table last season's champions
Derry City are four places from the bottom, with
Drogheda and Kilkenny City propping up the table.
North of the border Cliftonville can seriously talk of
titles after their 1-0 home win at Solitude. Chasers
Linfield and Portadown played out a 0-0 draw, with
Glentoran the only one from the teams directly behind
Cliftonvllie to win. Loyalty to one's club these days
is a very rare thing. Nice to see that Cliftonville's
goal-scorer Jody Tolan in this day and age has put his
trial with English Premiership side Bolton Wanderers on
hold, as he has no intentions of missing out on
Cliftonville's success if they win the title. As he
said in Monday's Irish News: ``We have a real chance of
winning the league title and it means so much for me to
be part of the side right now. The team can make
history, why would I want to leave behind the chance of
winning the league with the club I love playing for.''
A big game in Scotland this week as Celtic take on
fellow title contenders Hearts at Parkhead. And just
when things were looking rosy more headlines hit the
papers. Manager Wim Jansen has reportedly a `get out'
clause in his contract at Celtic. He also admits that
he and Celtic General Manager Jock Brown ``were not
drinking pals''. All this before one of the most
important games of the season. Jansen denies using
Celtic to build his reputation in anticipation of a
return to a lucrative job in Holland. We'll see. A
sellout crowd expected for this most crucial of games.
Anyway, I've secured my ticket and I'm off on the razz
in Glasgow!
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY
Contents Page for this Issue
Reply to:
Republican News
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)