HOCKEY:The Irish boys and girls under-18 teams got off to mixed starts at the EuroHockey Youth Nations Championship in Edinburgh yesterday, the girls beating Belgium 5-3 in their opening pool game, while the boys lost 4-0 to Germany, writes Mary Hannigan.
Two goals from Rosie Carrigan and another from Zara Delany gave Ireland a 3-1 lead at half-time, Anna O'Flanagan and Nicky Evans adding two more after the break to complete a comfortable win. The boys held Germany scoreless in their first half but conceded four goals in the second.
European Youth Championships (at Edinburgh) - Women - Pool A: Ireland 5 Belgium 3; Netherlands 2 Lithuania 0. Pool B: Germany 5 Scotland 1. Today: Ireland v Lithuania, 12.0. Men - Pool A: Ireland 0 Germany 4; Netherlands 5 France 1. Pool B: Belgium 2 Russia 2. Today: Ireland v France, 10.30.
RUGBY:The dispute between Edinburgh Rugby Limited and the Scottish Rugby Union now looks set to end up in court.
The dispute centres on the distribution of Celtic League and European Cup fees, with Edinburgh, in the same pool as Leinster, claiming the SRU owe them a six-figure sum, which the union deny.
With no end to the wrangle in sight, Edinburgh stopped 12 of their players training with their Scotland team-mates last week.
The future of the club was plunged into doubt yesterday when they submitted their resignation to the SRU.
It was then alluded to by the SRU that, as a consequence, Edinburgh would be unable to play Celtic League or European Cup fixtures next season.
RACING: English jockey Tony Culhane has been suspended for 12 months and his weighing-room colleague Dean Mernagh nine months following an investigation into a number of races between 2003 and 2004.
Two unlicensed individuals in Culhane's family were disqualified - warned off - after the conclusion of a Horseracing Regulatory Authority security department probe into 37 races.
Culhane was found in breach of Rule 220 (i), namely aiding or abetting individuals to lay or back horses with the benefit of inside information. These were Culhane's brother-in-law Gary Lyons, and his father-in-law Dave Watkins. Mernagh was in breach of Rule 243 - for communicating inside information to Lyons or Culhane.
