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Results Based News

Leinster win European crown

Author: Craig Williams
Date: 24/05/2009

Leinster edged out Leicester Tigers 19-16 to win an enthralling Heineken Cup final at Murrayfield.

A tight encounter was decided by a late Jonathan Sexton penalty, after the Irish side upset the betting odds to deny the Tigers a domestic and European double.

Leinster made the stronger start and took the lead after just seven minutes of play, with skipper Brian O'Driscoll slotting a drop goal after his side had recycled the ball several times.

Two minutes later it was 3-3 as Dan Hipkiss made an excellent break and Leinster were caught offside at the ruck, leaving Julien Dupuy to kick the penalty.

Just before the 20-minute mark Leinster retook the lead as Sexton landed a superb drop goal from right on the halfway line.

Seven minutes later Sexton booted a penalty to stretch the lead to 9-3 after the Tigers were caught offside in a ruck, but with half-time approaching Leinster were reduced to 12 men when Stan Wright was sin-binned.

Dupuy made no mistake from the resulting penalty and right on the interval a lengthy spell of Tigers pressure ended with Ben Woods crashing over the line for the first try of the game.

Dupuy added the conversion to give the England outfit a 13-9 lead at the interval.

Straight after the restart Leicester extended their lead to seven points as Cian Healy was adjudged offside at a ruck and Dupuy landed his third penalty of the game.

Leinster responded in style as they piled on the pressure and Jamie Heaslip rumbled over after O'Driscoll had twice broken the gain line. Sexton converted and the game was all-level at 16-16.

The game then became a tight, tense affair, with both sides aware that one mistake could prove so costly.

Eleven minutes from time Leinster made the crucial breakthrough as the Tigers were ruled offside in the ruck and Sexton's kick from just outside the 22 drifted inches the right side of the far upright.

Brawn GP ace Jenson Button will start from pole position at the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, having edged out Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying.

A dramatic session saw Lewis Hamilton drop out in Q1 after a crash, while the two Toyotas of Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli struggled badly and will start from the back of the field.

At the head of the field, Button was a mere two one-hundredths of a second quicker than Raikkonen, with the second row of the grid made up of the second Brawn of Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

Felipe Massa starts from fifth in the second Ferrari, while Nico Rosberg finished sixth in his Williams after being a serious contender for the front row for much of the session.

In football, Falkirk secured their SPL survival at the expense of Inverness Caley Thistle with a dramatic final day 1-0 win in the Highland capital.

Substitute Michael Higdon was the toast of Falkirk after his second-half goal saved the Bairns and condemned Thistle to life in the first division next season.

Elsewhere, St Mirren survived despite losing 1-0 at home to Hamilton.

Kilmarnock brought the curtain down on their season with a 2-1 victory at Motherwell.

In cricket, Bangalore Royal Challengers will face Deccan Charges in the final of the Indian Premier League after coasting to a six-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings.

Hampshire won their Friends Provident Trophy quarter-final against Middlesex by 44 runs, Lancashire were 67-run winners over Essex and Old Trafford and Somerset won by six wickets against Sussex.

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