Lauren McCann

Northern Ireland

Ian Baraclough has named his 26-man squad for Northern Ireland’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Uncapped duo, Dion Charles and Nathan Gartside, have received their first call ups to the senior squad ahead of the qualifiers with Italy and Bulgaria and the friendly with the US.

Accrington striker, Charles, has been in fine form for his club, scoring 18 goals so far in League One.

Meanwhile Derry City stopper is drafted in for the first time as a result of long-term injuries to Peacock-Farrell's able deputies, Trevor Carson and Michael McGovern. Baraclough, who is starting his first full qualifying campaign as manager, also recalled Niall McGinn as a replacement for Jordan Jones, who was a late withdrawal through injury. Corry Evans and Ciaran Brown return to the squad whilst Jonny Evans and Paddy McNair are included despite having recent injury problems of their own.

Northern Ireland travel to Italy for their opening World Cup 2022 qualifier on Thursday before hosting the US in a friendly on Sunday and rounding off the international break three days later with their second qualifiers against Bulgaria at Windsor Park.

Danske Bank Women’s Premiership

The new season kicks off on April 28 as the Women’s Premiership has once again been granted elite status to continue during lockdown. Glentoran begin their title defense with a home fixture against Crusaders, who they defeated on the final day last year to clinch the league crown. Linfield, who had won four successive league titles before the last campaign will be hoping to beat their Big Two rivals to the title this time around and will host Sion Swifts in a mouthwatering opening encounter.

Cliftonville will travel to the Brandywell to take on Derry City to complete the first set of fixtures. Last year’s season lasted just 10 games because of the pandemic, but this campaign is set to feature 20 rounds and will finish in early October. The first set of derby fixtures will take place on May 11 and it promises to be another exhilarating title race.

Irish Premiership

Linfield moved 11 points clear at the top of the table for a brief spell on Friday night with their 2-1 win over Crusaders at Seaview. Coleraine then cut the Blues’ lead to 8 points and reaffirmed their title ambitions with a narrow 1-0 win over Carrick on Saturday. Oran Kearney’s side crucially still have two games in hand over the leaders. Larne’s hopes of European football next year were dealt another blow as they played out a drab 0-0 draw at home to Cliftonville, leaving them five points off the Bannsiders, having played a game more.

Dungannon remained rooted to the bottom of the table after suffering a 1-0 loss against Portadown, whilst Ballymena and Warrenpoint played out their second draw in a week, as David Jeffrey’s men fought back to draw 2-2 at Millview, having twice fallen behind to the hosts after missing an early penalty. Glentoran gained revenge over Glenavon, defeating Gary Hamilton’s men 3-1 at the Oval, having lost to the Mourneview outfit during the week.

Irish Cup

The IFA announced this week that the first round of the competition will take place on April 27 and the final a month later on May 21. All Championship and Premiership Intermediate clubs will be granted elite status for taking part in the Irish Cup, meaning that they can recommence full training from March 31, play friendly games against other clubs who will compete in the Cup and will be provided with Covid-19 testing throughout the duration of their cup run.

Clubs outside of the Premiership haven’t trained since December and haven’t played competitively since before the first lockdown in March 2020, as last year’s season was curtailed by the pandemic and the league structures below the Premiership weren’t granted elite status to start the new season in September. Five clubs have already pulled out of the Irish Cup but will be frustrated at the fact elite status has now been granted to non-Premiership sides ahead of the competition’s start date.

Six Nations

Swashbuckling Ireland rounded off their Six Nations campaign with a commanding 32-18 victory over England in Dublin on Saturday.

In arguably their best performance under coach Andy Farrell, Ireland recorded their first win over England in five attempts, thumping their opponents, despite playing the majority of the second period with a man less as Bundee Aki was dismissed.

Ireland punished a sloppy England side, scoring tries in the first half through Keith Earls and Jack Conan, whilst Johnny Sexton further extended their lead by kicking 22 points. Ben Youngs and Jonny May touched down late on but it wasn’t enough for Eddie Jones side who finish the tournament in fifth place.

Ireland sit second in the Six Nations table, but their final standing will not be determined until France take on Scotland next weekend in a rearranged game. That fixture also has permutations for who will lift the Six Nations title, as France defeated Wales with a last-minute bonus point try in Paris at the weekend, denying the Welsh a chance at winning the Grand Slam, and denting their title hopes. That result means that France can claim the title if they beat Scotland with a bonus point and a 21-point difference next weekend.

Ulster Rugby

Ulster cruised to a comfortable 49-3 win over Zebre at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday to end their Pro 14 campaign on a high.

A youthful Ulster side took full advantage of the visitors being reduced to 13 men in the second half to claim a routine victory in their last game of the season, which helped them to finish second in the table on 64 points.

Andrew and Lowry scored first half tries before Baloucoune, Lyttle and Roberts also got on the scoresheet and Murphy touched down twice in the second period for the Province. Ulster now have a two-week break to prepare for their European Challenge Cup fixture against Harlequins on April 4.

Lauren McCann is is an English and Spanish student at QUB. Listen to her on The Sporty Scoop every Wednesday.

SPORT - The Scoop's Sports Round-up