There were two Irish goalscorers in last night's six Championship matches - Scott Hogan scored the winner for Birmingham against Barnsley and his fellow Irishman Darragh Lenihan was among the goals in Blackburn's win over Hull City. Second-placed Leeds were held away to Brentford, as they paid the price for a goalkeeping blunder from Kiko Casilla - click here for a round-up of all the night's matches. Emmet Malone has written an interesting piece about the deep divisions on how to produce better young football players in Ireland: "the bigger question right now given the Rovers controversy and looming implications of Brexit, though, is how to improve standards and then bridge the gap between the under-19 league and the senior game . . ."
In his column this morning (Subscriber Only) Gordon D'Arcy explains how head coach Andy Farrell is putting a fresh shape on Ireland's attack to partner the fundamentals from the Joe Schmidt era: "Farrell has seven weeks from late January to early March to prime this squad. That's why a bonus point victory over Wales, keeping old ways yet implementing new methods, is exceptional." St Michael's overpowered Gonzaga to reach the last four of the Leinster Senior Cup yesterday - keeping their quest for back-to-back titles very much on track. The 34-3 victory was the result of a dominant performance from their pack and the accuracy of Chris Cosgrave's boot. Today at 3pm Kilkenny College take on Newbridge College in the third quarter-final of the week. That's live on Premier Sports 2 from 2.55pm.
Following the release of the GAA's annual report yesterday, Sean Moran has all the details, as Croke Park continues to drive the GAA's financial progress. While his column explains how the GAA are eyeing up the necessity for the 'smack of firm government': "in this world of calm waters, attendances are a constant potential source of turbulence. They are frequently dependent on something over which the association has no control – how fixtures take shape and are drawn out of the hat." The Fitzgibbon Cup final between UCC and IT Carlow throws-in at the DCU Sportsgrounds at 7.30pm tonight.
Meanwhile Tiger Roll is no better than "50-50" to bid for an historic third victory in the Grand National at Aintree - with the immediate reaction to his mark of 170 and the compression of the handicap being one of frustration. The 10-year-old had an official rating of 150 when victorious in 2018 and defied a mark of 159 in last year's renewal. Brian O'Connor has the latest on the 'will he – won't he' saga here.
