Deignan a main man

DIGEST:Starting his first Grand Tour at the weekend, Letterkenny's Philip Deignan finished in the main bunch on the opening two days of the 2007 Tour of Spain.

He rolled in towards the back of the peloton on both stages. Lampre-Fondital rider Daniele Bennati won Saturday's 146.4 kilometre stage based around Vigo, beating triple world champion Oscar Freire Gomez (Rabobank) to the line.

The Spaniard took the stage honours yesterday in Santiago de Compostela and moved into the race lead.

HANDBALL:Dublin's Eoin Kennedy (St Brigid's, Blanchardstown) claimed his fourth consecutive Senior Singles title in style when he defeated legendary Kilkenny handballer Michael "Ducksy" Walsh (Talbot's Inch) 21-10, 21-6 in a hard-fought but ultimately disappointing final of the M Donnelly All-Ireland Softball (60x30) Championships, at the National Handball Centre, Croke Park, on Saturday night.

This was a much-hyped final, with all tickets being sold out and the capacity crowd were eagerly anticipating a closely-fought affair. But the 28-year old Dubliner proved to have too much gas in the tank, mesmerising the 41-year-old Kilkenny maestro, as he displayed his full array of passing shots and kill shots allied to some exquisite serving.

Meanwhile, in the Minor Singles final, also on Saturday at headquarters, there was an easy victory for Limerick's C J Fitzpatrick (Cappagh) over Kilkenny's Ciarán Neary (Talbot's Inch) over two games on a scoreline of 21-0, 21-7.

In the Intermediate Doubles final, there was a 21-8, 21-8 win for Kilkenny's Eddie Burke (O'Loughlin Gaels, Kilkenny City) and Michael Clifford (St Canice's, Kilkenny City) over Tipperary's Paul Mullins and Adrian Johnson (both Clonmel) over two games.

MOTOR SPORT:Finland's Marcus Gronholm pipped reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb by 0.3 seconds to win the New Zealand rally on Sunday after the closest finish in the championship's history.

Gronholm, driving a Ford, completed the three-day event in a combined time of three hours, 52 minutes and 53.9 seconds to claim a record fifth win in New Zealand and extend his lead in the championship standings to 10 points with five rounds to go.

Loeb was 0.7 seconds behind Gronholm in his Citroen heading into the 18th and final stage and although the Frenchman won the stage he was only able to chip 0.4 seconds off his rival's lead.

Finland's Mikko Hirvonen drove his Ford into third place, one minute, 42.5 seconds behind Gronholm, who celebrated his victory by jumping onto the roof of his car.

"It was an incredible fight all weekend, it's the closest and best battle of my career and fantastic for my championship hopes," said Gronholm. "It's never been that close before. We could have been sad but, fortunately, it was our day today."

Gronholm and Loeb traded the lead several times over the weekend with the gap between the pair never more than 15 seconds. Both drivers were on the course at the same time during the last stage and served up a desperate sprint finish.

EQUESTRIAN:Conor Swail scored the biggest Irish win of the weekend when claiming the €42,000 winner's cheque in the Spanish Grand Prix in Gijon last night. The Co Down rider was one of 13 through to the jump-off and a time of 52.47 seconds with his Aga Khan ride Rivaal was fast enough to flatten the opposition and leave the 35-year-old out in front by just under a quarter of a second.

Cameron Hanley was also in winning form yesterday, galloping S.I.E.C. Aristo to victory in the Audi speed prize at the Swiss fixture in Giubiasco, where he also picked up a second and two third places. The younger element were on form too, with 21-year-old Enda Carroll missing out on victory in the following young horse final by just three-tenths of a second on the six-year-old Unduraga Rose, with Thomas Ryan fourth on the year-older Apart.

But Tipperary man Ryan was back with a vengeance in the afternoon's Grand Prix, joining compatriots Hanley and Damien Dixon in a 13-horse jump-off for the top money. The 22-year-old opted for a safe clear against the clock, crossing the line in 54.25 seconds with Urleven van de Helle, leaving him almost 10 seconds off the pace set by the Dutch winner, 19-year-old Maikel van der Vleuten.

CRICKET: England went down by 38 runs in a rain-affected match at Headingley as India kept the NatWest Series alive. The Duckworth-Lewis victory leaves the seven-match campaign nicely poised at 3-2 in favour of Paul Collingwood's side.

Collingwood was left stranded on 91 not out when rain halted proceedings for the third time in a disjointed contest with England 242 for eight. Although India piled up 324 for six, they faced a revised target of 311 from 45 overs and were 38 runs short of the requirement when the umpires led the players from the field at the end of the 39th over.