Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup semi-final: Rathmore Grammar v Loreto Milford (Friday, Owenbeg, 2pm) GOING into last Friday’s Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup quarter-finals the general expectation was that St Pius X Magherafelt and Aquinas would survive tough challenges but emerge to contest this first semi-final.

ANTRIM manager Emma Kelly has set out her side’s league ambitions and has made no bones about targetting the Division Four title as the 2022 All-Ireland junior champions embark on their 2023 campaign.

The Allianz Football League is back with a bang this weekend with the All-Ireland champions travelling to Donegal and Castleblayney hosting what is certain to be a feisty neighbourly encounter.

Any whiff of cordite is smothered in these frost-blanketed days and the big battles seem so far away.

Danske Bank MacRory Cup play-offs: Holy Trinity Cookstown 2-8 St Pat's Cavan 1-7; Patrician High School, Carrickmacross 2-10 Our Lady's, Castleblayney 0-9 Holy Trinity, Cookstown made it through to the Danske Bank MacRory Cup quarter-finals when they had four points to spare over St Pats Cavan at Paddy Cullen Park on Saturday afternoon.

EVERY point counts in dog-eat-dog Division Two and Clare return to action after next weekend’s break against Kildare in a home fixture that could have a massive bearing on their season.

I have often heard it said about sportspeople that “they are completely different off the field” or “he isn’t like that in real life”.

Ulster GAA has hosted the first meeting of the Casement Park Community Engagement and Benefits Forum which will help to bring to life the many socio-economic and cultural opportunities that the new stadium will provide for west Belfast and the wider region.

CONOR Owens knows what it feels like to play on a big occasion having been part of the Tyrone minor squad that played in the All-Ireland final in 2021 but the Omagh CBS student is hoping that this Sunday he will have a happier ending in the MacRory decider.

AN expanded Ulster U17 inter-county calendar is among the complications making life difficult for counties as they discuss a potential return to U18 for minor club games.

TYRONE will be taking on "arguably the top three teams in the country at the minute", reckons Frank Burns, in the next stage of their Division One campaign.

DOWN forward Barry O’Hagan has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.

THE long journey west to Galway is rarely one Tyrone footballers relish; the journey home even less so, after six defeats in their last eight visits there.

MEATH GAA has said the person responsible for using an official Twitter account to describe club grounds in Co Down as "a kip" is "no longer" a member of its PR team.

WITH a visit to League leaders Roscommon (February 19) up next and a trip to and Kerry (February 25) after that, Armagh’s grandstand finish last Sunday could yet prove vital in the final Division One reckoning.

DERRY manager Rory Gallagher is happy to see his squad depth increasing but is calling for improvement when the League resumes after the break.