12/07 The Front Pages

The Front Pages

Two contrasting sports stories hit the front pages of the Irish Times and the Irish Independent today.

On home soil the Indo leads with, “Wee want a replay… GAA inquiry after ref confronted by angry fans.”

There were violent scenes after the final whistle was sounded in the Leinster SFC final at Croke Park yesterday when Louth supporters attacked referee Martin Sludden (pictured above being escorted by Gardai) while he attempted to leave the field.

Louth suffered the ultimate heartbreak deep into injury time when a controversial goal from Meath’s Joe Sheridan, who bundled the ball over the goal line, ended their dreams of winning a first Leinster title for over 50 years.

The Indo’s GAA analyst Eugene McGee said, “If fair play does actually exist then the goal should be cancelled and Louth be declared Leinster champions. A second, though less brave, action is to declare a replay.”

Meanwhile, in South Africa it’s; “Olé, olé, olé all the way as World Cup reign begins in Spain,” the Times’ report reads.

For the first time in history, Spain have won the FIFA World Cup. After 120 minutes of action the crucial moment came when Andres Iniesta ghosted in behind the Dutch defence and rasped one home to send the Spaniards into raptures.

There are reports in every paper you’ll pick up this morning, of course, but you can read Spain v Holland as it happened with JOE.ie.