1. #LEOPARDSTOWN Today is day three of the festive horse racing feast at Leopardstown and it’s shaping up to be a real Christmas cracker. The feature race of the day is the Lexus Chase (2.35pm) where Quito de la Roque (2/1) and Rubi Light (9/4) head up the early morning betting.
Check back soon for Mark Hobbs’ preview of today’s card.
2. #PREMIER LEAGUE A Gareth Bale brace ensured that Tottenham avoided a post-Christmas slump at Carrow Road last night. The Welsh winger scored twice in the second half as Tottenham beat Norwich 2-0 and stretched their advantage over Chelsea in third place to four points.
Earlier in the day, Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Wolves at the Emirates while Swansea and QPR shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
3. #POWER OUT Fifteen-time world darts champion Phil Taylor is out of this year’s PDC Championship. “The Power” was switched off at the Alexandra Palace by a remarkable performance by Dave Chisnall who moved into the last 16 with a 4-1 win.
4. #AIRTRICITY LEAGUE 2011 league champions Shamrock Rovers confirmed yesterday that Stephen Kenny has been appointed to succeed Michael O’Neill in Tallaght. The former Derry City boss will be officially presented as the Hoops’ new manager later this afternoon.
5. #CRICKET It was a day for the bowlers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as 15 wickets fell for just 274 runs on day three of the first test between Australia and India.
Mike Hussey’s innings of 79 not out means that Australia lead by 230 runs at the end of today’s play. Check out the full scorecard here.
6. #SPL If you’re planning an evening on the couch later on, you could do a lot worse than flick over to Sky Sports 1 at 7.45pm — it’s only a festive installment of the Old Firm derby as Celtic and Rangers go head-to-head at Parkhead. Tasty.
