Your weekly sporting recap

ANOTHER busy week for the sports scene in the Borough. Starting from the back, Coleraine FC advance into the Semi-Final of the Irish Cup after a 2-0 defeat of North West neighbours Limavady United. Goals from Joel Cooper and Matthew Shevlin in the second half made the difference on Saturday afternoon in a hard-fought contest between both sides. Coleraine now prepares for a Cliftonville clash this weekend in the Premiership, Limavady looks towards a midweek clash against Queens in their bid to join Coleraine in the Premiership next season.

The Sam Walker Cup came to a conclusion in the 3C's Snooker Club in Limavady after Gregory Cooke defeated Leonard McConaghie. This was the third consecutive year that the pair had met in the finals.

Football

The last four were decided over the weekend in the Irish Cup's next round, which makes it an all-Premiership affair. Coleraine drew Larne, while Dungannon Swifts drew Cliftonville, who were in the final last year, which Dungannon won after a penalty shootout.

Portstewart put on nothing short of a dominant performance over Banbridge Town on Saturday, defeating the visitors 5-0, which included a Tiarnan McKinney hat-trick that put Portstewart way out of Banbridge's reach. The Seahawks now look towards Ballyclare Comrades in the next round of the Premier Intermediate League. Things are tight in the middle of the table, whilst Moyola Park leads the race at the top. 

GAA

Derry are set to face a real test against a resilient Louth; both teams will be hoping for a firm footing on Sunday for a game which was sold out ten days before the starting date. It is a compact venue with a capacity of around 4,000. Louth fans were on the ball to snap up most of the tickets early, so there will not be a lot of Derry voices in the crowd. 

The Ulster GAA Council has issued funding to 152 clubs across the province for necessary work around their playing facilities. The amount released was £857,924, with £67,856 divided between 18 clubs that met the criteria.

IN a campaign where fate seemed to be against Derry, they now drop back to division three despite a battling display against a Westmeath team looking set to move up to Division1B.

For full coverage of Sport across the Borough, see this week's Coleraine Chronicle.