User:rorynoonanDate:29/04/2013Time:08:30:01Edition:29/04/2013Monmonecho290413Page:56Color:

EE - V1

SPORTEvening Echo Rugby: Munster

save the best tillast: 44-45

Football: Corkadvance toleague final: P53

Soccer: Dunne: It’svital for us to get thewin in Bray: P43

RUGBY

City to face Braywithout Kavanagh

SOCCERCORK CITY will bewithout striker DarylKavanagh for theirre-arranged leagueencounter against BrayWanderers at the CarlisleGrounds this evening(7.45)The Carrick-on-Suir manhas a hamstring strain thatsidelines him tonight butdefenders DarrenDennehy and JohnnyDunleavy have beenpassed fit to play after asquad session atBishopstown yesterday.Kavanagh’s place inattack will go to eitherDenis Behan or DannyMorrissey in what is amust win game for theLeesiders.

The original fixture was‘snowed off’ on March 19but since then City havewon just once againstUCD in 10 matches andalso missed out on aSetanta Cup finalappearance.“Dundalk was a must wingame for us so this iseven more so because wehave to start winninggames again and movingup the table,” said Cityboss Tommy Dunne.Bray’s injury crisiscontinues with Kevin andShane O'Connor,long-term injury victims.● See P43 for more.

By SEÁN McCARTHY

By NOEL SPILLANE

RONAN O’GARA looks to haveplayed his last game for Mun-ster and will call a halt to aglittering career that has seenhim play 236 times for theprovince.

An emotional O’Gara saluted theprovince’s fans, accompanied by hisson Rua after the semi-final fuellingspeculation that he might be about tocall it a day.

The big question for the player him-self, who has 128 international caps tohis name, will be whether his next ca-reer move will be working in the me-dia, with Sky already believed to haveapproached the star, or whether he be-gins his journey toward his ultimategoal of coaching Munster.

Ever the consummate professional,he said in the aftermath of the game

that he wasn’t thinking about whatwould come next in his career.

“It is not a day for thinking aboutthat,” he said. “Today our sole focuswas on Clermont. It was a massive oc-casion. You’d be disrespectful to yourteam-mates if you were thinking anyother way.

“This competition made me appreci-ate rugby so much and I’ll sleep on ituntil the end of the season.

“You put so much into it. We’ve beenthere before, but it is an unbelievablecompetition. It is a cracking atmo-sphere, as good as it gets in rugby,” hesaid.● See P44-45 for more.

Munster legend salutes fansafter glittering playing career

Cork advance tofinal to face Mayo

LADIES FOOTBALLCORK will play Mayo intheir ninth Division 1National League final in10 years, following their4-12 to 2-8 win over Laoisyesterday.Eamonn Ryan’s chargesled at half-time (3-5 to0-4) courtesy of a hat-trickby Valerie Mulcahy atSeán Tracey Park inTipperary Town.In the second semi-final

Mayo secured a surprisewin over Monaghan,defeating the reigningchampions 1-10 to 0-9 atBallinamore, with CoraStaunton scoring all ofMayo’s points (1-10) to setup a final clash with Corkon Saturday, May 11.● See P53 for more.

By MARY WHITE

Munster’s Ronan O’Gara is tackledby Clermont’s Damien Varley, right,and Morgan Parra, during theirHeineken Cup semi-final match, atthe Mosson Stadium in Montpelli-er, France, on Saturday. Picture: AP

O’Garais setto callit a day

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