Haveron bemoans Larne's 'pathetic' performance — and more

Larne manager Gary Haveron said his side's defending in the first half of their 3-2 defeat by Carrick Rangers was "pathetic" and they "have let people come back into the mix" for the Irish Premiership title.

Goals from Danny Gibson, Joe Crowe and Paul Heatley gave the away side a comfortable lead at the break. Tiarnan O'Connor and Dan Bent netted in the second half for Larne, but they were unable to find a crucial third goal.

The Inver Reds are now without a win in their last three games after being held by 10-man Glentoran and beaten by Portadown.

"The first half performance, our defending is pathetic and I can't say it any other way," Haveron told BBC Sport NI

"The three goals we concede are criminal from our perspective and it is something we pride ourselves on and the last couple of games were brutal. A horrendous performance in the first half and the damage was done in the first half.

"The whole starting XI, if I could have made 11 substitutes at half-time, I would have done it."

Larne now have a two-point lead at the top of the Irish Premiership but have a game in hand over Coleraine in second position.

However, Haveron added his side have no one to blame but themselves for the gap now being so tight as the Inver Reds aim to clinch the Premiership title after Linfield won the Gibson Cup last season.

"The last couple of results are far from ideal," he continued.

"We have let people come back into the mix and that is only on us.

"It is how we react. We have Linfield here on Tuesday and we have to be a lot better than we have been. I am sure we will be and I will get a reaction from the players in the right way."

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Floydd Mayweather is about to be a professional boxer again.

The former five-division wolrd champion announced he will come out of retirement following his upcoming exhibition bout against Mike Tyson this spring, putting an undefeated 50-0 record on the line at the age of 48.

The last time Mayweather fought professionally was his 2017 bout against former UFC champion Conor McGregor, which he won with a TKO in the 10th round. He has participated in eight exhibition bouts since then, including his unscored sideshow against Logan Paul in 2021.

Mayweather's comment, from his release:

“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing - from my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards - no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event – then [sic] my events."

Mayweather's 51st professional fight is reportedly scheduled for this summer, with CSI Sports as his media partner. The fight's exact date, venue, broadcast information and opponent will reportedly be in the coming weeks, though we're also still waiting for Mayweather to nail down the date for his Tyson exhibition.

The decision to return to professional boxing comes amid rumored financial troubles for Mayweather, after years of "Money" making his wealth a central part of his identity. He also recently filed a $340 million against his former partners at Showtime Boxing, alleging aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, conversion and unjust enrichment.

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur apparently won’t be making the trip down to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine next week, but general manager Brian Gutekunst will, as he’s scheduled to talk to the press on Tuesday. Gutekunst’s scheduled time is 10:15 am Eastern on Tuesday, the second-earliest slot of the day, presumably to get it out of the way.

Gutekunst got out of holding a mid-season press conference this year, as the Packers had an early bye week and didn’t make a trade at the 2025 deadline. He spoke to the media on February 4th, a delayed end-of-the-year presser due to the timing of the team’s extensions for LaFleur, Gutekunst and executive vice president of football operations Russ Ball.

LaFleur not going to the combine is hardly a surprise at this point, since he didn’t travel in 2023, 2024 or 2025, either. The Packers often bring in many of the players that they end up drafting in April via their allotted 30 pre-draft visits, and have since the pandemic. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like the organization values those in-person prospect interviews in Indianapolis much for the coaching staff, since they make it up on the back end with prospect visits to Green Bay.

For what it’s worth, the Packers still haven’t scheduled a press conference for defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, who was hired nearly a month ago. Things are going to have to move pretty quickly here, since the combine ends on March 2nd, the legal tampering period begins on March 9th and the start of the new league year (including free agency) is March 11th.

On top of that, LaFleur still needs to hire a special teams coordinator, too, after Rich Bisaccia resigned on February 17th. So far, four coaches are reported to have scheduled interviews with the Packers for the vacancy, but one has since taken a college job.

The Oklahoma Sooners earned another run-rule win in the 2026 season, knocking off No. 14 Duke with an 11-1 win in six innings in the Mary Nutter Classic. Oklahoma bookended the game with a five-run inning in the first and sixth innings to earn the decisive victory.

True freshman Kendall Wells hit her eighth home run of the season, a two-run opposite-field bomb, to put Oklahoma on the board in the first. It was her fourth home run of the Mary Nutter Classic as she took over the team lead in long balls. Oklahoma scored two more on an error in right field, and Ailana Agbayani capped off the first inning scoring with an RBI single.

After Audrey Lowry gave up a run in the fourth, Ella Parker got it back to keep Duke at a five-run deficit. And then in the sixth, the Sooners were too much for the Blue Devils, capping off the game with a five-run inning. Alyssa Parker made it 7-1 on an infield single with the bases loaded. And then Nelly McEnroe-Marinas finished it off with a grand slam for just her second home run of the season.

Lowry was masterful working around first and fourth-inning jams. She kept Duke from jumping out to an early lead in the first and then limited the damage with runners in scoring position thanks to some great defense behind her. Lowry is now 8-0 on the season after working four innings and allowing six hits and one earned run. She didn't walk a batter and struck out one. Miali Guachino picked up from where she left off in the Friday night cap, throwing two scoreless innings in relief.

The Oklahoma Sooners are back in action on Saturday with two games. They'll take on Long Beach State at noon before facing California at 2:30 p.m. CT.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: No. 4 Oklahoma beats No. 14 Duke 11-1 on walk-off grand slam