It was one of the talking points of Saturday's All-Ireland semi-final when John Small collided with the head of Eoghan McLaughlin during Mayo's win over Dublin, leaving the Mayo man needing surgery on his jaw. In his column this morning, Kevin McStay writes that it was a "wild and dangerous foul" which should have been a red card. "Only John Small knows his intention. It would be wrong to assert he deliberately set out to injure the man. It was a split-second incident. But then all sports are composed of split-second incidents," he writes. The attention now turns to this weekend and the All-Ireland hurling final as Limerick look to defend their title and Cork hope to get back to the top of the Croke Park steps. This morning Dan Morrissey tells Keith Duggan about his All-Ireland final obsession and how he now has the chance to come out on the right side of it for the third time in four seasons. On the other side, Cork's Patrick Horgan has long come up short of the elusive title and can help guide his side to it on Sunday while Seán Moran writes this morning that UCC has given so much to Cork hurling over the last number of years.
Moving on, and there was an intriguing match-up at the British Open of snooker last night as women's player Reanne Evans - who has been granted a tour card as recognition of her achievements in the game - faced up against ex-partner and father of her child Mark Allen. It was quite the grudge match and indeed Evans snubbed Allen's attempt at a pre-match fist bump, before going on to take a 2-1 lead in the first three frames before Allen came back to win 3-2 and advance. Meanwhile, in tennis, Naomi Osaka spoke at a press conference for the first time overnight since she announced at the French Open that she would be taking a break from the media to mind her mental health. And last night's return to press duties was a tough one for the Japanese player as she became tearful and had to take a break after a question about her media dealings.
In athletics, Phil Healy speaks to Ian O'Riordan about making an Olympic final as part of the 4x400m relay team in Tokyo but she does also question how it may have impacted on her individual performances in the 200m and 400m where she failed to make it through the heats. "I went to the Games in personal best shape so I knew that there was an awful lot more, so definitely walking off the track in the 200m, I was very disappointed knowing that," she says.
Finally to golf and Shane Lowry heads into this week's first event in the FedEx Cup playoffs with a spring in his step after a successful day in Croke Park on Sunday where he watched the Offaly under-20s win the All-Ireland.
