Well-versed and cursed

FEW would associate Northern Irish fury over their recent 1-0 defeat in a World Cup play-off first leg with a Roman poet from 2,000 years ago.

But the referee, who wrongly awarded the contentious penalty against Corry Evans (right), was named Ovidiu Hagan. His first name is derived from the Latin poet Ovid, exiled by the Emperor Augustus to Tomis – the modern-day Constanza – in Romania.

This curious fact probably had little bearing on Corry’s aggrieved wife Lisa, who, after the erroneous decision, called