A LOOK at the results from all the sport last weekend at home and abroad.
It was a busy weekend of sport across the globe with the NFL play-offs taking much of the audience as the defending champions were eliminated. Elsewhere, there were dropped points at the top of the Premier League table.
Closer to home, Limerick were crowned Munster Hurling Cup champions while the finalists in the Club Hurling Championship were confirmed.
Check out some of the weekend highlights below.
Hurling
Limerick proved far too strong for Clare in the Munster Senior Cup final as they won by a score of 0-27 to 0-18 to claim a 12th piece of silverware under John Kiely.
Ballygunner booked their spot in the All-Ireland final beating Slaughtneil by a score of 2-19 to 1-17. The Waterford side will face Kilkenny’s Ballyhale Shamrocks after TJ Reid snatched the win with a last minute penalty for the defending All-Ireland champions against St Thomas’ of Galway.
Kildare’s Naas are due to face Kilmoyley of Kerry in the Intermediate All Ireland final as they beat Toreen and Banagher respectively.
In the Junior club championship, Cork side Ballygiblin are set to face Kilkenny’s Mooncoin after both teams tore apart their respective semi-final opponents Fullen-Gaels and Salthill Knocknacarra.
Gaelic Football
In the McGrath Cup final, Kerry beat Cork by a score of 2-17 to 0-11.
Dublin beat Laois to pick up their first O’Byrne cup in five years despite being a man down after John Small saw red.
Monaghan beat Donegal to bring home the Dr. McKenna cup for the first time in 19 years.
Rugby
Munster had another convincing win in the final round of the Champions Cup against Wasps winning out 45-7 to set up a Round of 16 clash with Exeter Chiefs. Star man Simon Zebo became Munster’s top European try scorer passing the great Axel Foley.
Stade Francais, La Rochelle, Sale and Montpellier all won their individual games beating Connacht, Glasgow, Ospreys and Exeter respectively. Clermont, Scarlets ,Bath and Castres all suffered defeat at the hands of Ulster, Bristol, Leinster and Harlequins respectively as the knockout ties were confirmed.
Champions Cup Round of 16 Draw
Racing 92 (A1) v Stade Francais Paris (B8)
Ulster Rugby (A2) v Stade Toulousain (B7)
Stade Rochelais (A3) v Union Bordeaux-Bègles (B6)
Leinster Rugby (A4) v Connacht Rugby (B5)
Bristol Bears (B4) v Sale Sharks (A5)
Munster Rugby (B3) v Exeter Chiefs (A6)
Harlequins (B2) v Montpellier Hérault Rugby (A7)
Leicester Tigers (B1) v ASM Clermont Auvergne (A8)
Soccer
The battle for the title race took a turn as the seemingly unstoppable Man City drew with Southampton, while Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-1 to narrow the gap at the top to just nine points with the Merseysiders having a game in hand.
Major wins for Newcastle and Norwich aided to their survival hopes as the latter moved off the bottom of the table. Newcastle are now outside the relegation zone in 17th.
Chelsea found some old form beating Tottenham 2-0 while a late equalizer for Brighton condemned Leicester to another draw. Marcus Rashford’s 93rd minute winner against West Ham moved Manchester United within nine points of third placed Chelsea with two games in hand.
Aston Villa and Wolves also had wins against Everton and Brentford. Meanwhile, Arsenal missed out on two valuable points drawing to Burnley at home.
American Football
A thrilling weekend of action took place in the NFL over the weekend as the divisional rounds threw up some classics, including the elimination of the defending champions.
We will have a new winner of the Lombardi Trophy after the Los Angelas Rams held off a late comeback from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady’s men trailed by 27-3 but levelled with .42 left on the clock. There was time for Matthew Stafford to lead a drive downfield with the Rams sealing the win with a field goal.
The San Francisco 49ers upset the number one seed Green Bay Packers while the Cincinatti Bengals beat the Tennessee Titans.
On Sunday evening, last year’s finalists, the Kansas City Chiefs made it to OT after Patrick Mahomes drove his side the length of the field for a field goal with just .13 left. In OT, Mahomes connected with tight end Travis Kelce to steal the win and advance to the conference championship game.
The Chiefs host the Bengals in the AFC Championship game while the Rams take on the 49ers in the NFC game.
NBA – Basketball
The Philadelphia 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks both saw victory on the road against the Charlotte Hornets and San Antonio Spurs respectively.
The Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors all had victories at home to the Memphis Grizzlies, Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets and the Utah Jazz respectively.
This means the Nets (29-17) are now tied in second with the Chicago Bulls (29-17) behind the Miami Heat (30-17) in the Eastern Conference.
In the west conference, the Phoenix Suns (37-9) are still top closely followed by the Golden State Warriors who are 3.5 games behind with a record of 34-13.
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