THE resignation of Liam Austin last night did little to ease the crisis afflicting Cavan football after an extraordinary press conference held by Austin at a Kingscourt Hotel.
Austin was joined by all his backroom staff, including controversial trainer Hugo Clerkin, in resigning yesterday evening.
Angry team sponsor Brendan Murtagh, a Cavan football star in the 1960s, called on “those responsible for the sorry mess” to “do the decent thing”.
“These people have been very outspoken on the wrong that has been perpetrated against an entire management team here but they are right to have been outspoken on this issue.
“Whoever is responsible for losing a complete management team including the medical staff, which is just not acceptable, have got to take a long hard look at themselves and do the honourable thing.
“We are going down a very slippery slope here. We are considering our sponsorship position.
“From what I am hearing, there are certain people who have got to consider their position.
“We need urgent action to sort out this problem which has developed.”
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DARREN Corbett is to team up with Paul McCullough to relaunch his career.
The former Commonwealth cruiserweight champion, who lost his title and the chance of becoming British champion in December last year, will begin training with the coach of Dave ‘Boy’ McAuley, Ireland’s former world flyweight champion.
The Belfast-based McCullough, who coached at the Immaculata amateur club and at the Eastwood Gym, will be in Corbett’s corner when he aims to resume fighting next month or early March.
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FORMER world champion Dennis Taylor is preparing himself for one last stand on the professional circuit next week.
The Coalisland man, who retires from pro competition at the end of this season, will be part of Northern Ireland’s four-man team which competes for the inaugural Snooker Nations Cup in Newcastle starting on January 16.
The event, which will be covered by UTV, revives memories of the World Team Championships of the 1980s, which was won three times in a row by an All-Ireland team of Taylor, Alex Higgins and Eugene Hughes.
This time the competition has a four-man format with Taylor’s experience allied to the talents of Belfast’s Joe Swail and Derry duo Terry Murphy and Jason Prince.
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WORLD class Africans Gideon Chirchir and Hendrik Ramaala have been confirmed as entrants in the Coca-Cola International Cross-Country meeting at Stormont on January 23.
Bord Lúthchleas na hÉireann (BLE) have named a provisional squad of athletes who will represent Ireland at the meeting.
Local men Dermot Donnelly, John Ferrin, Ciaran Cavanagh and Mark Morgan will join the likes of Seamus Power, Noel Berkeley, Killian Lonergan and Noel Cullen in the men’s squad while the women’s entry will include Beechmount’s Teresa Duffy and Valerie Vaughan.
One of the Irish squad named for Stormont, Padraig McKinney, is favourite for the men’s event at Sunday’s Ulster Senior Cross-Country Championships at Aghyaran in Tyrone.
Finn Valley’s Helena Crossan and Margaret Synott, also selected for the Coca-Cola event, could fight out the women’s title in Aghyaran.
