Cathal Dunbar scored a goal in each half as a powerful second period from IT Carlow kept their dreams of a first Fitzgibbon Cup title alive as they reached the final with victory over Mary Immaculate at DCU Sportsgrounds.

Just as everything came right for Clare as they recovered from an 0-8 to 0-6 deficit early in the second half to hit five out of the last seven points for victory, it went horribly wrong for Kildare

Wicklow's footballers notched up their first league points with an impressive victory over Waterford at Aughrim.

Clare dug deep to claim their first win of the National League campaign with a deserved one-point success over 14-man Kildare in Ennis.

Mary Immaculate are into the semi finals of the Fitzgibbon Cup after beating UL 2-21 to 1-21 after extra time.

A converted free by John Heslin in the fifth minute of injury-time secured a vital brace of National Football League Division 2 points for Westmeath against Clare in Mullingar on Sunday afternoon.

Thirteen man Limerick maintained their unbeaten start to the season on a damp and dreary Saturday night in Dungarvan.

Second half goals from Shane Ryan and Gary Cooney were enough for a the Limerick side that were down by two points at half time.

Mary Immaculate booked their place in the Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-final following a 4-24 to 1-19 win over Limerick Institute of Technology at the Mary I GAA Grounds.

IT Carlow made a winning start to their Fitzgibbon Cup campaign as they defeated UCD by seven points in their Group D clash at Billings Park.

The Munster head coach was able to select JJ Hanahan as his starting fly-half to face Racing 92 in Sunday’s crucial Heineken Champions Cup pool clash at La Défense Arena.

A goal five minutes into injury time by Tipperary and Borris-Ileigh teenage star James ('JD') Devaney gave Our Lady’s Templemore the narrowest of victories over Thurles CBS in the Tipperary Derby in the Dr Harty Cup at The Ragg.

Kiely is looking towards the end of January as much as next weekend’s Munster League final against Cork.

Gavin Cooney hit two goals for the Banner.

In a game that saw the sides level five times, Limerick came out on top with three of the last four points against a Clare side that had to wait until the second half for their first score from play.

The Irish Examiner broadcast its first-ever inter-county match live today, with the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League meeting of Tipperary and Clare.

Simon Zebo scored his first try of the season to secure the bonus point for Racing 92 before the break at the Paris La Défense Arena.

That 2020 campaign will officially begin this Sunday with the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League game against Clare at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh, which will be broadcast live on the Irish Examiner Sport Facebook page.

And so to the match between the haves and the have-lots to wrap up the opening weekend of Heineken Champions Cup rugby.

Sarsfields ended Moorefield’s dominance of the Kildare senior football championship with victory in yesterday’s replayed final in Newbridge.

Champions St Joseph’s are 60 minutes away from retaining their title after a semi-final victory over Doonbeg at Cusack Park on Saturday.

Cratloe. Indefatigable Cratloe, whether it’s with the big ball or small, they just keep rolling along from week to week and match to match in pursuit of county senior titles.

The Cork U20s overturned an early nine-point deficit to secure the county’s first All-Ireland football title since 2010.

Dublin U20 manager Tom Gray expressed relief after surviving Galway’s spirited challenge in the Eirgrid All-Ireland football semi-final at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.

Cork are through to the final of the Bord Gais Energy Munster under-20 hurling Championship.

Defending champions Tipperary have eased into the Bord Gais Energy Munster Under-20 hurling final.

They were clinging on by their fingertips at the finish in Portlaoise but Meath are through to the Super 8s for the first time after edging an epic Round 4 qualifier.

Ciaran Archer was Dublin’s main target man as they demolished Longford in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park to advance to the Leinster U20 Football Championship semi-final.

Not for the first time in Clare jerseys, David Tubridy and Gary Brennan rose to the occasion with huge displays to propel their team to victory in Mullingar and to within touching distance of the Super 8s.

Cian Lynch, Declan Hannon, Gearoid Hegarty, and Graeme Mulcahy have been restored to the Limerick team for tomorrow’s Munster hurling final.

Diarmuid Whelan struck a magnificent 10 points as Laois ended Kildare’s reign as Leinster and All-Ireland U20 champions at the first stage in St Conleth’s Park last night on Tuesday evening.

Clare fended off a strong Leitrim resurgence in the second-half as Colm Collins’s side worked their way into Round 3 of the qualifiers with a convincing win over Leinster at Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

Leitrim dug deep at Croke Park this afternoon to record a magnificent extra-time success at the expense of Lancashire in the Lory Meagher Cup decider.

All-Ireland champions Limerick are all but guaranteed of a top-three finish in Munster after this 18-point thumping of Clare.

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.

Kerry manager Peter Keane has included four debutants in his first championship side, which will take on Clare in Cusack Park in tomorrow night’s Munster SFC semi-final (7pm).

A Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly-led Clare spoiled Waterford’s Munster championship homecoming to leave the Déise playing a dangerous game of catch-up in the coming weeks.

Clare secured safe passage to a fifth Munster semi-final meeting with Kerry in six years, but what they produced in this desperately poor provincial quarter-final fixture won’t be anywhere near sufficient to even remotely trouble Kerry.

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.

A 70th minute Keelan Sexton goal preserved Clare’s Division 2 status and, in the process, condemned both Cork and Tipperary to Division 3 football next spring.

Rory Gallagher isn’t shying away from it. Five games into a division they were favourites to be relegated from, unbeaten Fermanagh took another big step towards a fairytale promotion at Brewster Park yesterday and their manager isn’t blinking at the bright lights ahead.

Aaron Gillane pointed a free in the fifth minute of injury-time to snatch a draw for All-Ireland champions Limerick against the only team to beat them in last year’s championship.

The scoreline suggests a rip-roaring contest but that is a false reading.