Saturday sport: Wins for Leinster and Connacht; Junior and Intermediate club championships

Sat, 07 Jan, 2023 - 12:14

Updated: 9.30pm

Here's the latest from today's sporting action...

Soccer

Tottenham are through to the fourth round of the FA Cup after a 1-0 win over Portsmouth in north London in which Harry Kane grabbed the game's only goal in the second half.

Out-of-form Southampton got a much-needed win at Selhurst Park as they beat Crystal Palace 2-1.

Meanwhile, 2021 winners Leicester have avoided a banana skin at the Priestfield Stadium to advance after a 1-0 win over the Football League's basement outfit, Gillingham.

Elsewhere, West Ham got a 1-0 away win over Brentford, and later Liverpool take on Wolves at 8pm.

***

Celtic have gone 12 points clear at the summit of the Scottish Premiership this afternoon after beating Kilmarnock 2-0.

A 45th minute goal from Jota got the homeside on the scoresheet, before an own-goal from Ash Taylor just minutes later sealed Kilmarnock's fate.

Rugby

Ulster have lost 31-29 away to Benetton in the United Rugby Championship (URC), while Connacht took a 24-12 win over Sharks in the 5.15pm game.

In the final Irish outing of the day, Leinster got a win away to Ospreys, ending 24-19.

***

The Vodafone Women's Interprovincial Series also got underway this afternoon.

🕑 Full-Time

Ella Roberts, Anna Doyle, Elise O'Byrne-White, Jenny Murphy (x2) and Katie Whelan all crossed the tryline in #EnergiaPark

A bonus point win for Leinster on the opening weekend of the Women's Interpros

🔵⚪️ 38-10 🟢⚪️#LEIvCON #FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/cejjJZJ8J6

— Leinster Domestic (@LeinsterBranch) January 7, 2023

Leinster got a bonus-point win over Connacht at Energia Park where it ended 38-10, while Munster beat Ulster 34-0 at Musgrave Park.

GAA

Last year's champions Dublin have bested Antrim 3-26 to 2-22 in the Walsh Cup.

Meanwhile, there were five football games down for decision in the O'Byrne Cup.

Meath and Laois ended in a draw on 2-10 to 0-16, while Westmeath got a win away to Wexford, 0-6 to 1-16, and Kildare were narrowly defeated by Louth, 1-10 to 0-14.

Longford had a strong win over Carlow, seeing them off 0-15 to 0-4, and Offaly got off to a winning start under Liam Kearns, beating Wicklow 1-9 to 0-7.

***

It was also semi-final day in the AIB All-Ireland Intermediate and Junior Club Football Championships.

In the Intermediate semi-finals, Galbally Pearses took a 4-4 to 1-9 win over Dunmore MacHales (Galway). The Tyrone men will now face Rathmore from Kerry, who beat Wexford's Fethard 2-16 to 1-10 at Páirc Uí Rinn.

In the Junior ranks, the Kerrymen again got the crucial win as Fossa beat Meath's Castletown 3-24 to 0-11 to claim their spot in the decider, while Stewartstown Harps from Tyrone took a 1-13 to 1-9 win over Galway's Clifden in the second semi-final.