User:rorynoonanDate:29/12/2012Time:10:44:28Edition:29/12/2012Satsatecho291212Page:56Color:

EE - V2

SPORTEvening Echo

Munster star duoon bench

Demons holdNeptune offAS the UCC Demons captain Shane Coughlansat on the bench after his side’s thrilling 68-66win over Bord Gais Neptune he found it hard tounderstand why his team has almost collapsedin their last three victories,

Coughlan, in his 15th season at Super-League level, once again showed his classwith a stunning reverse jump shot that hurtNeptune when the game was on the line.Coughlan summed up his team’s perform-

ance: “We were OK in the first half, but to befair, Neptune were well below par and we werefortunate to have a 17-point interval lead,”Shane said.Coughlan, who recently celebrated his 32nd

birthday, is finding the going tough in recentmonths as his side have lost a number of keyplayers.“I was not playing 38 minutes 10 years ago

in my prime and tonight when the game was onthe line I was ending up with the ball and whenyou are fatigued it does not help.“The bones are sore again and although we

won I am sure Neptune will be tougher oppon-ents when we play them in the cup in January,”added Shane.● See P51 for more.

BASKETBALL

By SEAN McCARTHY

RUGBYTHE big talking pointahead of tonight’s RaboDirect Pro 12 clash withUlster at Thomond Park(5.30pm) is of Cork pairJames Coughlan and Ron-

an O’Gara starting onthe bench.

Ian Keatley, who playedthe atrocious conditionswell against Connacht lastweekend, retains the num-ber 10 jersey ahead ofO’Gara.

Coughlan, who hasn’tput a foot wrong since re-

turning from injury, alsostarts on the bench and this

is most likely to keep theplayer fresh with such importantgames looming.

The Munster bench is far super-ior in strength and experiencethan the visitors’ one and clearlycoach Rob Penney is expecting a

war of attrition where impact subs

can make all the difference in a tightsituation.

Internationals Peter O’Mahony, SimonZebo and Conor Murray make a return tothe starting lineup for the Reds in thefirst of four vital games for the provinceover the coming four weeks.

Damien Varley returns in place ofMike Sherry and he’s expecting a toughgame.

“They have some great players upthere and they are running away with itat the top of the table.

“But it would be a great way for us tofinish 2012 by winning against them. Wehave a few big weeks ahead of us.”● Full-back Denis Hurley will becomethe 25th Munster player to win 100 com-petitive caps this evening.

He is the son of Gerry, a member of thefamous 1978 All-Black conquering squad.● See P53 for more.

Impact role for O’Gara and Coughlan James Coughlan.

Ronan O’Garacould besprung fromthe bench.

FergiebrandsToon awee club

SOCCER

THE fallout fromManchester United’s Box-ing Day clash with New-castle continued yesterdayas Red Devils boss Sir AlexFerguson launched an as-tonishing tirade at Magpiescounterpart Alan Pardew.The Scot has been the

centre of attention since hismarch on to the Old Traf-ford pitch on Boxing Day tocondemn referee MikeDean for awarding the visit-ors’ controversial secondgoal in the hosts’ 4-3 win.Dean confirmed on

Thursday he would not bereporting Ferguson.Ferguson insists he did

nothing wrong, and defen-ded his conduct, admittinghe was “an emotional guy”.However, he is clearly

furious with Pardew, who onThursday claimed Deanmight have handled thesituation in a different wayand that Ferguson waslucky not to get sent off.“Alan Pardew has come

out and criticised me,” Fer-guson said. “Alan Pardew isthe worst at haranguing ref-erees. His whole staff,every game.“He forgets the help I

gave him. The press havehad a field day out of it.They have addressed everypossible avenue. The onlyone they left out is BarackObama. He is too busy.“That is unfortunate. I

carry that because I am themanager of the most fam-ous club in the world. Weare not like Newcastle, awee club in the north east.”● See P52 for more.

Kenton Walker, UCC Demons,battles with Ian McLoughlin,Bord Gais Neptune, during theNivea for Men's SuperLeagueBasketball game at the Mar-dyke Arena. Picture: Jim Coughlan

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