Manchester United remain locked on points with Leicester City in fourth place after beating Crystal Palace 2-0 last night. Leicester remain ahead of them on goal difference after their impressive 2-0 win over Sheffield United, with Ayoze Perez and Demarai Gray on target. United weren't quite as comfortable winners though - the excellent Wilfried Zaha shouted in vain for a first-half penalty while Jordan Ayew had what would have been an equaliser pulled back by the tightest VAR offside call on a luckless night for Palace. In the Championship, Leeds are now just a point off the promised land after beating Barnsley at Elland Road, and in La Liga, Real Madrid's win over Villarreal secured their first title in three years. Tonight in the Premier League West Ham host Watford at 8pm. The funeral of Jack Charlton will take place next Tuesday in Newcastle, and will be limited to just 20 people due to coronavirus restrictions. This morning Johnny Watterson describes the former Republic of Ireland manager as "chipped off the same block of granite as Jock Stein, Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Brian Clough, all of them brand names of their time, whose word was law, who nobody challenged and who became epochal figures."
Today is the day that competitive GAA is permitted to resume, and the action kicks off with the Leinster schools finals, 125 days after the were initially scheduled for. In the 'A' decider Rochfortbridge contest their first ever final against three-in-a-row chasing Naas CBS, a reward for hope after the schools refused to call quits on the competitions during the lockdown. This weekend sees the season spring belatedly to life with county championship matches being staged across the country, and Wexford GAA has contacted Croke Park, urging that representations be made on behalf of counties to allow bigger crowds to attend matches and questioning the 'one size fits all' – or 'all sizes fit 200' – approach to venues. TG4 are showing the Wexford Club Hurling Championship meeting of St Martin's and Oulart-the-Ballagh tonight, throw-in is at 7.30pm.
The fans may be gone but the excitement is still there for Tiger Woods, who resumed his hunt for a record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour win at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, on Thursday. The 15-time major winner was happy making his first appearance on the tour since the coronavirus outbreak put much of the sports world on hold in March, finishing the day at one under par. Tony Finau is the first round leader on 66, while world number one Rory McIlroy is four shots adrift and the best of the Irish after day one. He tees off for his second round at 1.17pm (Irish time), playing alongside Woods and Brooks Koepka.
Meanwhile Andrew Porter in his latest lockdown diary entry, is reflecting on how his short break in Mayo and Clare was a perfect tonic before a return to serious training: "It's important to switch off, because even though we've been in lockdown you don't properly switch off unless you have a complete change of scenery, getting away from the hustle and bustle of a city to enjoy the countryside." Sonia O'Sullivan dedicates her column this morning to Frank O'Mara - now 60, the former World Indoor 3000m champion is using the discipline of his athletic training in his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease.
