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They've all gone footy mad in East Belfast today with the arrival of Man Utd (minus Cristiano Ronaldo) for a glamour freindly against Glentoran. The sight of Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick coming off the plane at the City Airport reminded me that I hadn't updated readers on the crunch Parliamentary Soccer derby in London at the weekend (see previous postings "A Game of Four Halves").

So somewhat belatedly I can confirm that the Stormont players beat Cardiff on penalties in their semi final, only to succumb to a 3-0 defeat by Westminster in the final.

With no goals in open play I can't pick out the hot shots. But the goalie and captain, David McClarty, nominates central midfielder Roy Beggs Jr. for his "man of the match" award. The East Antrim MLA was apparently "a real bundle of energy". I'm sure as Deputy Chief Whip Mr McClarty would not allow his membership of the same party as Mr Beggs to cloud his impartiality as a football pundit.

One person who won't be at the Glens ground for the Man Utd. match tonight will be my colleague Martina Purdy, who is chairing the West Belfast Talks Back debate with the Education Minister Catriona Ruane, the Culture Minister Edwin Poots, the Policing Board chairman Sir Desmond Rea and the new Irish senator journalist Eoghan Harris. She'll let you know how the evening goes tomorrow.

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