There is no doubt whatsoever that the personality of the 2010 World Cup so far is Diego Maradona. The inordinate amount of press that man is receiving bears true testimony to his charisma and while he has undoubtedly deserved some, if not most, of the fierce criticism thrown at him during the qualification process.

Cork City's home woes continued at Turners Cross last Friday night when Limerick won for the second time against Cork this season with a 2-1 victory. Despite bolstering their squad during the mid-season break, City were unable to prevent their fourth loss of the season to the league's third placed team.

Former world indoor hurdles champion, Derval O'Rourke, will face very stiff opposition on her home track at the CIT Athletic Stadium this Saturday when the 59th Cork City Sports takes place. The Douglas native, who has started her outdoor season in a most impressive manner with a recent 12.80 second in the 100 metre hurdles, will face two of the best hurdlers in the world in a race which will surely benefit her preparations for the upcoming European Championships to be held in Barcelona at the end of July.

Club Name: Leeside Lions Australian Rules Football Club.
Activity: Leeside Lions compete in the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland the ARFL. The sport is full Aussie Rules. The league runs from May to September on a Home and Away basis. The Premiership is a 14-a-side competition and there is also a pre-season 9-a-side competition held in April.

Preparations are in full swing for this weekend's inaugural Blarney Bowl that will feature many activities for all the family. The main attraction of the day is the meeting of great rivals the Cork Admirals and Dublin Dragons in the first ever Blarney Bowl American Football match.

There was heartbreak for the Republic of Ireland women's U-17 at the UEFA Championship in Switzerland last weekend when they lost agonizingly to Spain on penalties in the final. The fairytale Championship for the 'Girls in Green' saw them qualify for the women's U-18 World Cup courtesy of finishing in the top three at the European tournament.

The ten-yacht Clipper Fleet will leave Kinsale on Wednesday 7 July next bound for Cork as the Clipper Festival comes to the specially constructed pontoon on Albert Quay. The entire fleet arrived in Kinsale early this week on the Cork stopover of the 35,000-mile round the world race.

Hello punters!
A lot of you dyed in the wool punters out there will remember the record effort of national hunt trainer Michael Dickinson in the Cheltenham Gold Cup during the 1980s, when he provided the first five horses home, and completed a whitewash of all of the prize money.

ESB Munster Minor Football Final
Cork v Kerry Sunday Fitzgerald Stadium @ 11.45am
The timing of this final does not reflect greatly on the Munster Council to, that the best footballers at Minor level should have to play at this time spoils for them what should be the highlight of their young careers.

I have travelled across South Africa so many times in the past couple of weeks that I do believe I could become a guide for the national tourist board of this huge country. Writing this piece I am on my way back from Cape Town where I worked on that quite amazing game between Portugal and North Korea last Tuesday and saw seven high quality goals for my trouble.