Sligo survived a brief but real scare in the Bronx tonight before their experience and class told late on to see off a spirited New York.

Monaghan 1-10 Donegal 1-9: The roar from the Monaghan support following Colin Walshe’s 73rd-minute winner against Donegal in Castleblayney yesterday was so loud it could probably be heard at Austin Stack Park in Tralee.

Roscommon 1-9 Monaghan 2-10: Three years ago, these sides clashed in Division 3. Monaghan got to the top flight a year ahead of Roscommon so the words of Malachy O’Rourke should be heeded by the disappointed Rossies after they let a winning hand slip from their grasp.

Aiming to win the Westlodge Hotel Fastnet Rally for an unprecedented fourth time, Daragh O’Riordan (Ford Fiesta WRC) heads a close-to- capacity entry for what is the final counter in the Tritons Showers National Rally Championship and the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 series.

The Republic of Ireland finished their Uefa U17 Championships Qualifying Round group in pole position after a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Lohja, Finland, yesterday.

Meath driver Stephen Daly became only the fifth ever driver to make a successful defence of the famed Leinster Trophy.

The most prestigious award in Irish motor racing, the Leinster Trophy, awaits the winner of Sunday’s Formula Ford race in Mondello Park. Drivers like John Watson, Eddie Jordan, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen have all lifted the famous trophy at the Kildare venue and on Sunday Meath’s Stephen Daly will be hoping to retain the trophy for another 12 months.

The timing of a press release from the Donegal Motor Club on Wednesday lunchtime stating its intention to continue as part of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship is hugely surprising.

Local hero Garry Jennings (Subaru EWRC) heads up the entry for the Todd’s Leap Ulster Rally that begins this afternoon in Enniskillen.

On course for a top three finish in Rally Finland the Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle had their hopes dashed when they slid wide on a right hand bend, clipped a tree and damaged the front axle of their Citroen DS3 WRC during Saturday’s second leg.

Pressure is something Tyrone’s Kris Meeke reckons he has handled for most of his rallying career.

The Joule Donegal International Rally that begins this afternoon is the best-supported event within the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship and also the only three-day event in Irish rallying.

A broken anti-roll bar on the penultimate stage denied the Irish pair of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle a possible podium position on the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, where the Volkswagen Polo WRC team claimed the top three places.

Further to their maiden WRC win, the Irish duo of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) tackle this weekend’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round five of the World Rally Championship, in confident mood. They are also expected to benefit from redefined aerodynamics on the front end and a new bumper and redesigned wings.

Monaghan drivers dominate the weekend’s rallying landscape with the Moffett brothers Sam (25) and Josh (22) competing in tomorrow’s Plains Rally in Wales while Stephen Wright contests the Sezoens Rally in Belgium.

Mayo 3-15 Monaghan 0-11

Mayo claimed a fully merited second win of the current Allianz Football League Division 1 campaign against 13 men Monaghan at Elverys McHale Park this afternoon.

UCC 0-13 IT Sligo 0-8

Queen’s 0-8 Sligo IT 1-9 (after extra-time)

Motorsport: Out of the reckoning for a podium position after sliding off the road on Friday, the Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) recovered to win the Power Stage and finished 10th overall in Rallye Monte Carlo.

With their Citroen DS3 WRC armed with several significant upgrades to the engine, suspension, aerodynamics and gearbox, the Irish crew of Meeke and Paul Nagle expect to be fighting for the leading places on Rallye Monte Carlo that cranks into gear this evening.

Motorsport

Holders Tyrone are on the verge of a place in the Dr McKenna Cup semi-finals following their 1-12 to 0-3 win over St Mary’s at Omagh today.

McKenna Cup

Tyrone began the defence of their Dr McKenna Cup title with a 1-12 to 1-10 win over 12-man Armagh in a feisty encounter today which saw 19 cards flashed at the Athletic Grounds – four of them red.

Former triple British Rally Champion Keith Cronin is delaying his assault on the WRC2 category of the 2015 World Rally Championship.

For Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, today’s final round of the World Rally Championship, Rally GB, is the closest they get to competing on home ground.

On the cusp of his maiden Irish Tarmac Championship success, Donegal’s Declan Boyle (Subaru WRC) is taking nothing for granted ahead of the Todds Leap Ulster Rally, the penultimate round of the Clonakilty Black Pudding-supported series in Enniskillen this afternoon.

The Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) made a bright start to Rally Poland – round seven of the World Rally Championship – and hold third place, seven seconds behind the VW Polo WRC of leaders Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia heading into today’s seven stages.

It was a victory to savour for the locals as Donegal cousins Declan Boyle and Brian Boyle (Subaru) won the Letterkenny-based Donegal International Rally, round four of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship.

Motorsport: Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle (Subaru WRC) finished 5.2 seconds in front of the Ford Fiesta WRC of Monaghan’s Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly at the end of the first leg of the Donegal International Rally, round four of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship.

Dunlop champion Declan Boyle is an absentee from Sunday’s third round encounter the Seven Oaks Hotel Carlow Rally.

These are busy times for Monaghan driver Sam Moffett.

Even though Finland’s Esapekka Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm (Skoda Fabia S2000) dominated most of the 10 stages in yesterday’s opening leg of the Discover Northern Ireland Circuit of Ireland Rally, the event remains delicately poised and set for a frenetic finish through today’s eight stages.

On home ground, it is not surprising that there is a wave of expectation on Craig Breen to win the Discover Northern Ireland Circuit of Ireland Rally, round four of the European Rally Championship that gets underway in Belfast this morning.

Truagh Gaels 2-21 Kiltane 2-13

Truagh (Monaghan) 0-17 Eskra (Tyrone)0-12

Over terrain that will be relatively familiar, Keith Cronin knows that any advantage he can accrue over Frenchman, Sebastien Chardonnet will be a bonus as they go head to head for the most lucrative prize within the WRC3 feeder category of the World Rally Championship.

The Waterford-based Raven’s Rock Rally, round four of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, was stopped after six of the day’s nine stages after popular Dungarvan driver, Paul Mulcahy was killed when his Toyota Starlet collided with a stone fence on the fourth stage near Kilmacthomas.

Cork racing ace Matt Griffin and team-mate Duncan Cameron took their AF Corse-run Ferrari 458 GT Italia to a second victory in this season’s International GT Open Championship at the Nurburgring, Germany.

There is a strong Irish presence in the Jim Clark International Rally, the second round of British Rally Championship, that begins with a stage around the streets of Duns in the Scottish borders this evening.

Few, if any, drivers have more experience of the terrain within the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes than Denis Cronin, himself a winner of the Killarney spectacular in 2010.