Gleeson was in devastating form prior to his enforced departure.

“He was the difference between the teams today,” declared an ecstatic St Mary’s coach, Dan Shanahan. “His puckouts were good and he hasn’t conceded a goal in four games.”

Galway have been sensationally dumped out of the All-Ireland hurling championship after a remarkable evening at Parnell Park that saw Dublin pull off a famous Leinster SHC win.

There has been no wielding of the axe by the Clare management in the wake of last weekend’s 13-point hammering at the hands of Tipperary, with the team named for tomorrow’s game against Limerick showing just one change in personnel.

Martin Kavanagh fired 11 points for Carlow, but he was unable to get them over the line for victory as Galway claimed the win in their Leinster SHC opener at Pearse Stadium.

The initial fixture three weeks ago didn’t go ahead with UL protesting the coin toss that saw LIT granted home venue for the game.

This was a convincing and routine win for Galway as they easily bettered Dublin to claim both the league points on offer at Pearse Stadium.

Aaron Gillane was the hero as Mary Immaculate College booked their place in this year’s Fitzgibbon Cup final when they held off the NUIG challenge at Cusack Park in Ennis..

A storming first-half helped UCC secure a home quarter-final in the Fitzgibbon Cup, following their seven-point victory over NUIG at the 4G pitch in Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday afternoon. Unbeaten after three games, they topped Group A.

NUIG manager Jeff Lynskey was thrilled as the Galway college sent holders UL crashing out of the Fitzgibbon Cup to create a Group A decider against UCC.

UCD were indebted to a brace of late frees from Ronan Hayes as they recued a share of the spoils with NUIG after their entertaining Fitzgibbon Cup Group A encounter at David Billings Park.

They were struggling for consistency all through the Munster minor round-robin, but Tipperary finally found it on the big day.

Galway 0-26 Dublin 2-19

Dublin nearly stunned the All-Ireland champions in Salthill but Paul Winters two second-half goals were not enough to edge victory for Pat Gilroy’s side in Pearse Stadium.

Waterford 2-13 Tipperary 3-9: Waterford produced a sensational comeback to beat Tipperary in the Munster Minor Hurling Championship at the Gaelic Grounds.

Tipperary 4-15 Cork 1-14: Tipperary blitzed Cork for a crucial first win of the Munster MHC round-robin which keeps alive their hopes of progressing.

Limerick 1-17 Tipperary 2-12: Limerick drew first blood at the Gaelic Grounds with a 1-17 to 2-12 win against Tipperary in the Munster Minor Hurling Championship yesterday.

Kerry 1-15 Tipperary 0-4

The Kerry minor footballers breezed into the semi-finals of the Munster championship with this emphatic victory over Tipperary.

Paul O’Shea from Kilcummin will captain the Kerry minor footballers as they begin their quest for a historic fifth consecutive All-Ireland minor crown.

Republic of Ireland 1 Azerbaijan 0: It took until the last second of the final minute in injury time but U21 defender Shaun Donnellan ensured the good times for Irish underage football continued last night.

As much as the diminishing number of Premier League regulars in the senior Ireland squad is a concern, deeper problems are evident among the U21 panel, though Noel King’s main striker Reece Grego-Cox insists the non-league circuit is ideal for him at this stage.

Jason Flynn's 1-9 haul eased All-Ireland title holders Galway to an anticipated victory at Parnell Park, setting up an Allianz hurling league promotion shoot-out with Limerick next weekend.

Norway 2 Rep of Ireland 1

Ireland 4 Israel 0: Reece Grego-Cox felt honoured to escalate Ireland’s U21 European Championship qualification crusade yesterday against Israel.

Galway native Ryan Manning has his sights set on guiding Ireland to the U21 Euro finals and earning senior promotion.

If Martin O’Neill was seeking encouragement about the talent pool for the next campaign, the Ireland manager should have received some assurance from the display of the next generation.

Declan Rice admits the desire to resume working with Roy Keane endures but helping Ireland’s U21s break their major finals duck is his immediate objective.

In an U21 qualifying group which underdogs Kosovo have taken the early initiative, victory for Ireland in Azerbaijan today (4pm Irish time) is a must for their 2019 European Championship hopes.

For the first time this summer, Limerick’s U21 hurlers were made to sweat.

Joe Canning and Conor Cooney weighed in with 0-18 between them at Croke Park as Galway came good with a storming second-half performance to claim the Leinster SHC title.

No surprises here. Not even the hint of any.

Cork 1-24, Waterford 0-8: Cork eased into the semi-finals of the Munster MHC with this 19-point rout of Waterford The Déise, who entered the contest off the back of a heavy defeat to Clare, were aided by a slight breeze in the opening period and yet found themselves seven in arrears at the break, 0-11 to 0-4. 

Clare 1-24 Waterford 0-9: A powerful second-half performance saw Clare ease into the Munster Minor Hurling Championship semi-final in front of a crowd of 1,622 at Cusack Park in Ennis last evening.

Kerry 0-12 Galway 1-22: Joe Canning made his first start of the season as Galway eased to victory against Kerry in this Division 1B clash at Austin Stack Park, Tralee.

Galway 3-31 Laois 1-11: Galway thrashed Laois by 36 points the last time these sides met in the league back in 2008, and for a good while yesterday it seemed they might even surpass that margin.

Cork IT 0-19 NUIG 0-19: There may have been nothing between them on the scoreboard, but NUIG’s marginally superior score difference over the previous two rounds saw the visitors secure a quarter-final berth at CIT’s expense.

University of Limerick 2-21, NUI Galway 2-12: The hurlers of UL booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Fitzgibbon Cup with this second comprehensive victory on home turf.