A new week rolls around again so let’s get stuck into some of the stories making the headlines for KCLR and Scoreline.ie on the first Monday in April.
Beginning with Gaelic Games and there was plenty of action locally yesterday. In Kilkenny, we saw Mullinavat retain their senior football league title with a 2-7 to 0-10 win over Tullogher at the MW Hire Training Centre in Dunmore. Level at half time, the reigning senior county champions kicked 1-4 in the second half to shade a tightly contested game and throw down a marker ahead of the start of the championship.
In Carlow, the Bolger Cup Shield continued last evening with St. Mullins hosting neighbours and rivals Mount Leinster Rangers in a 6pm throw-in. That game finished 0-15 apiece while in the senior football league division 2, Railyard were 1-13 to 0-14 winners over Eire Og.
Staying with the Carlow side of things and both the senior footballers and hurlers start their championship campaigns this coming weekend. Tom Mullally’s hurlers are out on Saturday in the Joe McDonagh Cup to take on Kildare who missed out on promotion to Division 1B yesterday in a three-point defeat to Offaly in the 2A league final. It’s also the first round of the Leinster championships for the county’s footballers who face Wicklow in Aughrim on Sunday.
Selector Simon Rea joined Scoreline over the weekend to reflect on a difficult league campaign for Niall Carew’s side. Hear his full interview on the latest edition of the Scoreline Extra podcast, out now.
On the camogie front, Kilkenny’s minors took on Cork in Freshford yesterday. Mike Wall’s side were leading by there at the break thanks to a goal from Lauren Ronan but Cork battled back in the second half to secure a 1-11 draw. Carlow were beaten in the minor B championship by Laois 4-11 to 2-8. Meanwhile, Mount Leinster Rangers are also through to the Leinster Camogie Division 3 final following a 2-7 to 0-10 win over Naomh Barrog; they’ll play Harps of Laois in the Leinster final in a fortnight’s time.
Castlewarren Going Up
Locally, one of the two promotion spots in the second division of the Kilkenny & District League is going to Castlewarren Celtic. The Loughboy-based club beat Evergreen C 4-1 yesterday to move back to the top of the table on their last game of the season. Evergreen still have a chance to finish top and take the league title by beating Tullaroan next weekend but a win for Tullaroan will see them head to Division 1, leaving Evergreen in Division 2 while ensuring Castlewarren finish as champions.
We also saw the draw for the quarter-finals of the KCLR McCalmont Cup made yesterday. Deen Celtic will take on Clover United, Evergreen 46 host Highview Athletic, Callan United welcome Thomastown United A while Bridge United will play the winners of Fort Rangers and Freebooters who still have their last sixteen game to play in a fortnight’s time.
While we had Kilkenny & District League chairman Rob Higton in studio, we asked him what the plans for the future of the leagues were, with many expecting some consolidation between the four divisions. Hear his thoughts and recap the draw on Scoreline Extra this morning
New Oak Boys continued their unbeaten league run this season with a 3-0 win over Hanover Harps yesterday in the Nationalist Premier Division while Kilree Celtic had a 6-1 win over Ballymurphy in the Keating Memorial Cup quarter-final.
And in the Premier League, two clubs are on the look out for new managers before the season comes to an end.
After less than seven months in charge, Chelsea have sacked Graham Potter, an experiment that’s definitely back-fired on the new club ownership. They were beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa at the weekend.
Leicester have also parted ways with Brendan Rodgers after four years in charge.
Newcastle also did their Champions League qualification a massive favour yesterday with a 2-0 win over Man United at St. James Park with Joe Willock and Callum Wilson scoring in the second half.
We’ll have more stories across the day on air and online here at Scoreline.ie. You can also join Martin Quilty to recap some of the weekend’s sporting action and look ahead to the next few days on Full Time this evening just after the 6pm news.
