MEN’S FOOTBALL:

Just four points separate the top four teams as the League of Ireland begins its penultimate set of fixtures tonight.

Table-toppers Shelbourne face a Drogheda team already consigned to the relegation play-off, while second-placed Derry City are at fourth-placed form team St Patrick’s.

Four-time reigning champions Shamrock Rovers, who are level on points with Derry, face already relegated Dundalk on Sunday.

MEN’S CRICKET:

Sikandar Raza smashed 133 not out from just 44 balls as Zimbabwe scored 344-4 against The Gambia in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier to set a new world record for the highest total in a men’s international Twenty20 game.

The Gambians could only muster 54 in reply and lost by 290 runs, which also smashed the record for the heaviest defeat.

Zimbabwe’s win sealed their spot in the final African qualifying competition.

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL:

Slovakia host Wales tomorrow for the first leg of their Euros 2025 play-off qualifier.

The winners will face either Ireland or Georgia for a place at next year’s tournament in Switzerland.

Other matches tomorrow include Scotland up against a Hungary team who are 23 places below them in the world rankings, Northern Ireland visiting Croatia and the world’s fifth-best team Sweden travelling to Luxembourg.

MEN’S RUGBY UNION:

United Rugby Championship action resumes tomorrow evening, with the Pretoria-based Bulls looking to move into second place with a win at Treviso.

Tonight’s other fixture sees struggling Zebre visit Llanelli to take on the Scarlets.

The top two clash on Saturday, when league leaders Leinster and Johannesburg’s Lions both put their 100 per cent records on the line in front of an expected crowd of over 20,000 in Dublin.