GAA live updates: Westmeath lead Kildare in Leinster SFC; Clare trail Limerick in Munster SHC

Fixtures:

Munster SHC Round Three: Clare 0-8 Limerick 2-15 (HT)

Leinster SFC semi-final: Kildare 0-10 Westmeath 1-8 (HT)

Ulster SFC semi-final: Armagh v Down, St Tiernach’s Park, Clones, 4pm

Both teams are missing loads of chances to grab a hold of this. The only one really doing that is Sam McCartan, who gets a lovely solo point. Jack Robinson scores one off the bench for Kildare. 61 Mins: Kildare 0-16 Westmeath 1-15

A screamer of a two-pointer from Sam McCartan puts Westmeath back in front. 57 Mins: Kildare 0-15 Westmeath 1-14

61 Mins: Goal for Clare! Tony Kelly bruies a penalty for the hosts. Barry Nash should really have been sent off for stopping Kelly getting the goal in play, but maybe he gets the benefit of English’s red card a few minutes ago. Clare 1-14 Limerick 2-23

Kevin Feely has levelled the game in Tullamore! 56 Mins: Kildare 0-15 Westmeath 1-12

58 Mins: Red card for Limerick. Adam English sees a second yellow for a needless and late tackle around the neck of Diarmuid Stritch. Rodgers misses the free. The ref probably needed to put the foot down, with a lot of high takcles in the game. Clare 0-14 Limerick 2-23

56 Mins: Limerick get back-to-back scores to settle things, with Casey and O’Brien getting the scores. Then O’Brien gets another. Clare 0-14 Limerick 2-22

53 Mins: Clare are getting to grips with things finally, notching a couple of points in succession. Peter Duggan puts an unnecessary hit on Quaid and sees yellow. Clare 0-14 Limerick 2-14

Darragh Swords should really have equalised for Kildare, but Bradnon Kelly makes a similar mistake at the other end. 50 Mins: Kildare 0-14 Westmeath 1-12

50 Mins: Shane O’Brien and Barry Nash both get yellows for seperate incidents, both of which end up in points for Rodgers. Clare 0-12 Limerick 2-18

Kildare hit back with a two-point-free from Alex Beirne and a fisted point from Kirwan. Back to a one-point game. 48 Mins: Kildare 0-14 Westmeath 1-12

47 Mins: Peter Duggan takes a bang on the elbow and wins a free for Rodgers to slot over. Clare 0-10 Limerick 2-17

Sam McCartan gets a big score for Westmeath, a two-point-free. 44 Mins: Kildare 0-11 Westmeath 1-11

44 Mins: David McInerney comes on and is immediately booked for an incident with Shane O’Brien off the ball. To be fair, he doesn’t deserve it. Then up the other end, Mark Rodgers has a crack at goal, but Quaid denies him again brilliantly. Clare 0-9 Limerick 2-16

Eoin Cully hits a point for Kildare and then Tadhg Baker replies for Westmeath. 42 Mins: Kildare 0-11 Westmeath 1-9

41 Mins: Clare look devoid of energy right now. Tony Kelly gets in to have a shot on goal, but it never looked likely to hit the net. Mark Rodgers adds another wide from the resulting 45. Clare 0-8 Limerick 2-16

Ben McCormack has come on for Kildare as both teams return for the second half. 37 Mins: Kildare 0-10 Westmeath 1-8

36 Mins: The second half is underway, and it starts with a foul from Conor Cleary on Shane O’Brien. An early score for O’Connor is the result. Clare 0-8 Limerick 2-16

Seán Moran is in Cusack Park and sends his update at half-time:

“Inasmuch as it counts for anything in the Munster hurling championship, Clare trail Limerick by 13 points at half-time in Ennis. The visitors put in a blistering 35 minutes to which Clare had no answer. The 2024 All-Ireland champions revisited their defensive shortcomings of the opening match against Waterford and were wide open for Aidan O’Connor’s fourth-minute goal, which put them in front 1-1 to 0-2. From then on, they were sharper and more clinical, defensively making last ditch interventions to prevent Clare goals – Will O’Donoghue hooking Shane O’Donnell and Seán Finn intercepting a ball to the same player from Tony Kelly. Adam Hogan did a stint in the sinbin for hauling down Shane O’Brien in the 19th minute. Mark Rodgers’s frees kept the scoreboard ticking for Clare but not fast enough to keep up with the hungry visitors. Rodgers should have had a penalty in injury-time for a jersey pull as he ran in on goal but the referee waved play on."

Here is Limerick’s opening goal of the first half:

Munster SHC, half-time: Clare 0-8 Limerick 2-15

An unreal half from Limerick sees them well clear of Clare at half-time.

Leinster SFC, half-time: Kildare 0-10 Westmeath 1-8

Darragh Swords got a crucial two-pointer just before half-time for Kildare.

37 Mins: Mark Rodgers nearly breaches the Limerick defence but his jersey is pulled and he drops the ball. He swings at it on the ground and it’s saved by Quaid. The ref missed the pull as well, so no score for Clare. Clare 0-8 Limerick 2-14

34 Mins: Limerick are tackling in groups all around the pitch and Clare can’t deal with the pressure right now. Clare 0-8 Limerick 2-14

GOAL for Westmeath! Brian Cooney scores a scremer! He dummies it and turns along the endline before squeezing it into the top corner from a tight angle. 31 Mins: Kildare 0-7 Westmeath 1-8

Whatever Mark McHugh was going mad about wasn’t punished by the referee. Brandon Kelly gets a really classy score to put Westmeath in front. 29 Mins: Kildare 0-7 Westmeath 0-8

30 Mins: Gearóid Hegarty sees yellow for a closed fist tackle on Tony Kelly. Rodgers comes back up the pitch and takes it, but drops it short. Clare 0-7 Limerick 2-13

Brandon Kelly gets a classy score, chipping the ball up into his hands and popping it over. Then Westmeath draw it level after Senan Baker dummies the shot and kicks one off his left. Mark McHugh is now going mad about an off the ball incident. 27 Mins: Kildare 0-7 Westmeath 0-7

27 Mins: Aidan O’Connor gets another free, and then Diarmuid Byrnes plays a crossfield ball from the puckout, and finds O’Connor again. He controls it well and cracks it over. Clare 0-7 Limerick 2-12

Kevin O’Sullivan gets a good score back for Westmeath, and then Senan Baker pops one over. 24 Mins: Kildare 0-7 Westmeath 0-5

Darragh Kirwan curls over his first score of the game, a left-footed effort on the loop. 22 Mins: Kildare 0-7 Westmeath 0-3

23 Mins: There’s an uncharacteristic miss by Mark Rodgers inside the 45′. Then Shane O’Donnell comes back up the field and tries to lay one on Shane O’Brien, catching him very high with the shoulder and getting a yellow card. David Reidy replaces O’Brien for now and O’Connor pops the free over. Clare 0-6 Limerick 2-10

20 Mins: Adam English gets a cracking score from a tough angle, running away from goal. Clare 0-6 Limerick 2-9

Westmeath make thier own goal chance, but they can’t convert either. 18 Mins: Kildare 0-6 Westmeath 0-3

18 Mins: Penalty for Limerick! Black card for Clare. Adam Hogan pulls down Shane O’Brien in front of goal, and it’s a straight-forward decision for Michael Kennedy. They were already on a good run and could go well ahead here.

GOAL! Perfect penalty from Byrnes. Clare 0-5 Limerick 2-8

Ben Loakman gets his third score with his third shot for Kildare. Shane Corcoran get his first score of the game, but Kildare are denied another goal by Jason Daly and seem to be making hay up front. 14 Mins: Kildare 0-6 Westmeath 0-3

14 Mins: Hegarty gets his first score of the game for Limerick. They seem to have more energy than Clare so far. Seán Finn makes a last-second interception to stop O’Donnell being played in for a goal and O’Brien scores a point at the other end. Clare 0-4 Limerick 1-6

12 Mins: Tom Morrissey gets a point from play and Mark Rodgers notches a free in response. Clare 0-4 Limerick 1-4

Ben Loakman and Tommy Gill get back-to-back points for Kildare, but Eoin Cully’s goal effort is stopped brilliantly by Jason Daly in the Westmeath goal. 10 Mins: Kildare 0-4 Westmeath 0-2

9 Mins: Clare work really hard to bring the ball up the pitch after another Limerick point, but they lose it and concede another long range free. Byrnes can’t get that one. Clare 0-3 Limerick 1-3

Ray Connellan gets another point to level the game. 7 Mins: Kildare 0-2 Westmeath 0-2

7 Mins: Barry Nash gets a point for Limerick. Shane O’Donnell latches onto a ball from the puckout, but is hit hard by Byrnes, who he never saw coming. O’Donnell looks okay thankfully and it looked a fair hit. Clare 0-3 Limerick 1-2

An excellent start for Kildare, but Ray Connellan replies with a brilliant score on his left foot. 4 Mins: Kildare 0-2 Westmeath 0-1

4 Mins: Peter Casey gets Limerick’s first score, skinning his man and popping it over from close-range. Then there’s a small tussle on the sideline and Peter Duggan’s helmet comes off, but the ref deems the incident innocuous.

GOAL for Limerick! Limerick break into a load of space and it’s worked to Aidan O’Connor for a close-range finish. David Reidy hits back for Clare with a point. Clare 0-3 Limerick 1-1

2 Mins: And we’re off in Cusack Park. The first chance comes for Clare, after possession was turned over and then lost by Limerick. Shane O’Donnell pops it over. The 2024 hurler of the year then wins a free in the next play, which Mark Rodgers slots over. Clare 0-2 Limerick 0-0

One change for Kildare ahead of throw-in against Westmeath.

Here’s Westmeath’s team named to start.

Here are the lineups for Clare v Limerick, which throws in at 2pm.

Clare: Éibhear Quilligan; Rory Hayes, Conor Cleary, Adam Hogan; Diarmuid Ryan, Niall O’Farrell, Cathal Malone; Darragh Lohan, Ryan Taylor; Tony Kelly, David Reidy, Seán Rynne; Mark Rodgers, Peter Duggan, Shane O’Donnell.

Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Mike Casey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Kyle Hayes; Adam English, Darragh O’Donovan; Cathal O’Neill, Aidan O’Connor, Tom Morrissey; Gearóid Hegarty, Shane O’Brien, Peter Casey.

Here’s how the Munster Hurling Championship table looks ahead of Clare-Limerick.

Cork - P2, 4pts

Clare - P1, 2pts

Tipperary - P2, 1pt

Waterford - P2, 1pt

Limerick - P1, 0pts

Wicklow nearly beating Dublin, Down dumping out Donegal, Kilkenny taking a hammering from Galway - what good does analysing the championship really do us? When teams can be so inconsistent, logic generally goes out the window writes Ciarán Murphy.

[Ciarán Murphy: Rational analysis be damned when counties blow hot and cold with reckless abandon]

Joe Canning also thinks that Limerick’s Munster campaign could be derailed in their match today. With Aaron Gillane and Cian Lynch out, Clare have a great opportunity to make things hard for their neighbours writes the Galway legend.

[Joe Canning: Clare would have a hard time explaining away a loss to Limerick on Sunday]

With today’s Clare-Limerick clash, the Munster table will even out with each team having played two games. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll be much closer to knowing what’s going to transpire in the business end. Nicky English writes that Limerick should be very wary of Clare’s prowess up top if they don’t want to end up without a point in their first two games.

[Nicky English: Clare’s forward power can tilt balance against weakened Limerick]

With Brian Hayes in Cork, Shane O’Brien in Limerick and Peter Duggan in Clare, hurling has seen a renaissance of tall ball-winners in close to goal. However, their skill sets are different to a typical, old-school 14. Denis Walsh looks into the comeback of the big man to full-forward lines in hurling.

[Hurling’s full forwards have come full circle as the game evolves]

In Westmeath, the mood is optimistic, even after news broke of Luke Loughlin’s season-ending injury. The Lake County ran up four goals last time out to upset the favourites in Leinster, and face a Kildare team who slipped back down to Division 3 in the leagues. Gordon Manning spoke to a couple of experts, including Loughlin, to assess the mood ahead of their semi-final.

[Westmeath still dreaming of a rare Leinster title despite Luke Loughlin injury blow]

Hello and welcome to live coverage of today’s championship action. It’s a shorter bill than we’ve been used to for Sundays this year, but there’s still plenty of intrigue as the football championship pushes towards the provincial final and the hurling tables take shape.

First up, Limerick look to shake off their defeat against Cork as they travel to Cusack Park to meet old rivals Clare (2pm). Clare opened their season with a win after a poor 2025, but even still, their only two wins in that year came against the Treaty County.

Meanwhile, in football, Kildare and Westmeath look to book their spot in the Leinster final against Dublin (2pm). Westmeath are coming off a brilliant performance to upset Meath, but have lost their star man, Luke Loughlin, to injury.

Later on, Armagh and Down face off in an Ulster semi-final (4pm), after Monaghan’s late late show saw them take the other place in the final. Down turned over Donegal in a massive upset in the quarters, but Armagh will still be big favourites.

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