Man United beaten by City in semis; another Mayo stalwart departs

Manchester United are out of the League Cup at the penultimate stage, after they were beaten 2-0 by rivals City at Old Trafford last night. With the game goalless at half-time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were left to rue some poor defending in the 50th minute as John Stones bundled home a free-kick to give the visitors the lead. The game remained in the balance until the 83rd minute when Fernandinho's well taken effort from the edge of the box confirmed a place at Wembley for Pep Guardiola's side, on a night they paid tribute to Colin Bell, who died on Tuesday aged 74. City will play Tottenham in the final, which has been moved back to April 25th.

Mayo have lost another stalwart, after Seamus O'Shea yesterday confirmed his retirement from intercounty football. O'Shea's departure follows that of Tom Parsons, David Clarke and Donie Vaughan this week. The quartet all retire having come agonisingly close to lifting Sam Maguire - most recently last month - but as fellow county veteran Liam McHale says, all four can exit with their heads held high: "That's the thing for me, was my effort honourable? I can look back now and say, 'Yeah, it was'. That's how I reflect on it and all of those guys retiring now can say the very same."

In today's America at Large column Dave Hannigan looks at the life of sports journalist Jeannie Morris, who died in December aged 85. Morris was a trailblazer, who didn't suffer fools and holidayed in Connemara. He writes: "In an age when distaff reporters were so scarce that many stadiums proudly boasted strict 'No women and children allowed in the press box' policies, she was forced to cover one Bears game against the Minnesota Vikings sitting outside with the cameramen. In a blizzard. Whenever she was refused entry to locker-rooms after games because of her gender, she demanded players be brought out to her so she could ask them questions. They duly were."

Leinster's Champions Cup clash with Northampton next week is under threat, due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the English side's squad. The Saints' fixture against Leicester Tigers on Saturday has been abandoned.