1. #ALL-IRELAND SHC Clear the diary for 4 September – Kilkenny will contest their sixth successive All-Ireland Hurling final after beating Waterford by six points in headquarters yesterday, 2-19 to 1-16.
After the game, Déise boss Davy Fitzgerald refused to comment on speculation that the game would be his last as manager, saying that he would “take a breather” before making any decisions.
2. #BAGMAN Adam Scott won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational last night, but all of the talk this morning is about his caddy Steve Williams.
The Kiwi, who was Tiger Woods’ bagman until recently, couldn’t resist having a pop at his former employer last night, describing Scott’s victory as “the best win of my life.”
3. #AIRTRICITY LEAGUE Sligo Rovers returned to the top of the Premier Division yesterday after some late drama against Dundalk in Oriel Park. Raffaele Cretaro looked to have given the visitors all three points when he struck with two minutes to play before an injury-time penalty from Mark Quigley salvaged a draw for Dundalk.
Elsewhere, St. Pat’s rounded off a week to forget by squandering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home against UCD.
4. #ATHLETICS Derval O’Rourke stepped up her preparations for this month’s World Championships in South Korea by claiming a ninth senior 100m hurdles title at the Senior Track and Field Championships yesterday.
Robert Heffernan (10k walk) and Ciara Mageean (1500m) were the other big winners on the final day of the national event in Santry.
5. #TRAPATTONI Shay Given feels the FAI shouldn’t waste any more time in extending Giovanni Trapattoni’s contract.
Speaking yesterday, the Irish stopper said that he could be convinced to extend his international career after Euro 2012 if the right manager was in charge.
6. #COMMUNITY SHIELD It may be a relatively meaningless trophy, but Manchester United put in a performance to savour in yesterday’s Community Shield, overturning a 2-0 deficit to beat their “noisy neighbours” Manchester City 3-2.
The pick of the goals? That would have to be Nani’s first, capping some excellent build-up play by Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley to level the game at 2-2.
