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Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Unable to break the deadlock Drogheda and Waterford share the spoils
SSE Airtricity Premier Division: Drogheda United 0 Waterford 0 The points were shared but there were no goals to split between Drogheda United and Waterford at Sullivan & Lambe Park. As their July consisted of a Spanish training camp rather than a competitive European tie, Drogheda look refreshed going into the season's final stretch. There is no sense whatsoever that this a group that feels sorry for themselves post-European heartache. Nor does it appear Drogheda will fade away. Their strong start to the season has extended far beyond the campaign's opening weeks and months. They will have had eyes on this game as an opportunity to consolidate their place in the race for the top four. A draw, in that context, is disappointing. They had plenty of chances to win it; especially in the first half. Owen Lambe saw his goal bound shot blocked by Ryan Burke and after Thomas Oluwa surged into the box, Kyle White did superbly well to deflect his effort over. There were half chances aplenty as well and at the other end, Conan Noonan and Jordan Rossiter both forced saves from Luke Dennison. Noonan's especially is worthy of note. The on-loan Shamrock Rovers player forced a diving save from the United goalkeeper. Waterford had a three-match winning streak of their own ended against St Patrick's Athletic last weekend. Victories over Galway and Cork City have brightened the skies over the RSC of late. With the division's leading goalscorer Padraig Amond in tow, the visitors could never be discounted. He tried his luck against all three Drogheda centre-backs throughout, but it was in short supply for him in truth. United's best opportunity of the second half, which like the first they bested, was when Oluwa latched onto Conor Keeley's flick-on, but his attempt to beat Stephen McMullan at his near post rippled the side netting. DROGHEDA UTD: Dennison; Bolger, Keeley, Quinn; Lambe, Brennan, Farrell (O'Sullivan, 77), Kane; Markey; Oluwa (Kareem, 85), Thomas (Davis, 62). WATERFORD: McMullan; McDonald, Boyle, Burke; Horton, Rossiter, Olayinka, White; Noonan, Amond, Lonergan (Coyle, 86). Referee: Marc Lynch
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Response to info dot trial ‘really positive'
Dotty discs have been prompting passers-by to pause and ponder the past. A series of "Did You Know" circles on and around King Edward St share stories from South Dunedin's past. Dream South D project lead Rosie Hill said the dots, installed in June as a temporary trial, had been well-received. "The reception and the feedback has been really positive." Anecdotal feedback suggests people enjoyed the markers and they have sparked local discussion. A local walking group used the online map on Dream South D's page to visit every marker. "I think the nicest feedback from that was that it had sparked off a lot of stories and people sharing their memories of the area." The short histories range from Chinese settlers who ran market gardens in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to profiles of retail stalwart Alex Campbell Menswear and architectural landmarks such as the Mayfair Theatre and St Patrick's Basilica. Dream South D is now opening the initiative to public submissions. "We are just trying to spread the message as wide as possible, working with schools and different groups." The initial panels focused on post-European settlement stories, but the plan is to expand them to include Māori history. "We will be in touch with mana whenua and make sure that is represented in an appropriate way." Submissions remain open until the end of November and the group aims to add new markers next year. "It will be interesting to see what comes in really and then we will produce a bunch more," Mrs Hill said. How the project evolves remains open-ended. "Whether we, for example, create a physical map or look at doing like an app with specific walking trails. "Maybe a little booklet or a resource that is left for the community." Dream South D is a five-year project funded by the Department of Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua as part of its community-led development programme. Other projects planned by the organisation include a children's sports-gear swap and barbecue on Saturday, September 13, at King's High School. The organisation is also relaunching the South Dunedin Busking Festival. The event, organised by Nick Orbell and Craig Waterhouse, ran from 2017 to 2019. With their blessing, Dream South D plans to relaunch the festival. "They have been insanely generous and shared all of their previous information, which is wonderful." The festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 18, 11am-2pm, in King Edward St, to coincide with the Southern Heritage Trust's Heritage Festival. The Southern Heritage Trust and other committed community members would help organise the event, Mrs Hill said. • To contribute a "dots" submission, email hello@
Irish Examiner
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'It's play-off rugby now' - Munster must get the job done in make-or-break Cork clash
Nothing enhances performances better than a positive mindset and Munster's return to winning ways last weekend has flipped their task at home to fellow URC play-off contenders Benetton in Cork on Friday night on its head. Not that the challenge posed by the Treviso-based side, with a team loaded with Italian internationals spearhead by centre pairing Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex, has been downplayed but last Friday's 38-10 bonus-point win over Ulster has sent confidence levels soaring at the Irish province. The six-try performance was one of Munster's best of the season and in snapping a three-game losing streak that began with a Champions Cup quarter-final exit at Bordeaux-Begles, it allowed Ian Costello's team to finally shake off the post-European hangover that had threatened to engulf what remains of their campaign. That has served them immeasurably well in their preparations for this 18th and final round of the regular season, when only a victory will ensure a top-eight finish and knockout URC rugby beyond this weekend, as well as that all-important ticket to the 2025-26 Champions Cup draw. Failure to reach Europe's top tier competition for the first time in its 30-year history was described as 'inconceivable' by scrum-half Craig Casey but it took the older head of second row and World Cup winner Jean Kleyn to boil the challenge down to its essence ahead of this must-win game at a sold-out Virgin Media Park. 'It's basically a round of 16 for us, you have to win this game if you want to play the next one and that's what we'll do,' Kleyn declared. 'We'll play this game, hopefully we win it and then we'll travel to South Africa, Glasgow or wherever we need to do and do our best to win our game, then travel to wherever and do our best to win that game and then at the end of it hopefully we lift the cup. 'Rugby is an easy thing. We've done it before, we can do it again. We just need to get behind it. Last week was good for us. A really good confidence building training week, this week has been the same. 'Hopefully we can keep building that attitude. After the (Champions Cup) quarter-final, there's always that mental dip, the emotional downfall… the off-week we had really re-set us, we're in it now, there's a cut to training and the boys are eager. 'It's play-off rugby now, everyone wants to make their mark and have the chance to play. It's good to have that competitive nature around the place.' Munster will stick with the 23-man matchday squad which delivered that bonus-point win over Ulster a week ago, with an unchanged starting line-up and bench from the 38-10 derby win at Thomond Park last Friday when Peter O'Mahony, Stephen Archer and Conor Murray made their final appearances there ahead of their summer departures. Now it is Cork's turn for a fond farewell to the veteran trio and Virgin Media Park will be at its 8,800 capacity as hometown heroes Archer and O'Mahony start in the forward pack ahead of their retirements while scrum-half Murray's home swansong off the bench comes before moving overseas to a new club. Casey is set for his 100th and Kleyn his 150th Munster appearance also and the objective is for them all not to end their seasons this weekend. Naming an unchanged line-up for the first time this season is an undoubted boost to Munster's hopes of at least hanging onto to the eighth and final qualification spot in the standings and the 2023 URC title run, when O'Mahony led his side through a closing league run in South Africa with a win and a draw at the Stormers and Sharks before three road wins in a row should be motivation enough that anything is possible this time around. Yet Benetton, level on points with Munster and a place ahead in the standings, represent a significant hurdle to reaching those play-offs and Leamy is extremely wary of not looking beyond this Round 18 clash. Munster will need to find another gear from last Friday, and make further improvements to their still inconsistent lineout, to reach their objective. That will avoid the anxious wait for results from around the league with 10th-placed Edinburgh and ninth-placed Cardiff both in action on Friday and breathing down their necks. As defence coach Denis Leamy this week emphasised, Munster have no choice but get the job done themselves. 'There's no divine right to be in Europe. You have to work hard every day, and that's what our intention is on Friday night, to put our best foot forward and to work as hard as we can, and get the best out of ourselves.' MUNSTER: T Abrahams; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, D Kilgallen; J Crowley, C Casey; M Milne, N Scannell, S Archer; J Kleyn, T Beirne - captain; P O'Mahony, J Hodnett, G Coombes. Replacements: L Barron, J Wycherley, J Ryan, F Wycherley, T Ahern, C Murray, S O'Brien, A Kendellen. BENETTON: R Smith; I Mendy, T Menoncello, I Brex, P Odogwu; J Umaga, A Garbisi; T Gallo, S Maile, S Ferrari; S Scrafton, F Ruzza – captain; R Favretto, M Zuliani, L Cannone Replacements: B Bernasconi, M Spagnolo, T Pasquali, N Cannone, S Negri, N Casilio, T Albornoz, M Fekitoa Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland) End Information Classification - GREEN: Unrestricted
