Jarlath O’Rourke’s double helped Crusaders to a 3-2 victory over Linfield in the Co Antrim Shield quarter-finals.

Harry Franklin headed in the opener for the Seaview hosts while Chris Shields and Liam Burns netted for Linfield.

Paul O’Neill hit all four second-half goals for Larne as the holders continued their bid for a fifth straight Shield success with a 4-0 win over Newington at Inver Park.

Jay Donnelly and Jordan Jenkins were on target in Glentoran’s 2-0 home victory against Carrick Rangers.

Aaron Jarvis scored the only goal as Premiership pacesetters Ballymena United beat Cliftonville 1-0 at Solitude.

Crusaders got off to the perfect start when Franklin headed home from Ross Clarke’s cross after just two minutes.

O’Rourke doubled the lead after 38 minutes by firing into the Blues net from the edge of the box.

Linfield pulled one back 14 minutes from time when Shields made no mistake from a penalty after Jimmy Callacher’s foul on Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo is attracting interest, Kevin de Bruyne could be set for a move to Saudi Arabia, while Liverpool are hopeful of keeping Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo, 24, is attracting interest from Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham after the Ghana attacker’s impressive start to the season. (Give Me Sport), external

Saudi club Al-Nassr are confident of signing Manchester City’s Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, 33, when his contract expires at the end of the season. (Team Talk), external

Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, 26, could be convinced to run down his contract at Anfield to join Real Madrid on a free transfer by England team-mate Jude Bellingham. (Sun), external

Real Madrid are stepping up their interest in Alexander-Arnold but Liverpool are hopeful they can convince the 26-year-old to stay. (Football Insider), external

Liverpool have identified Eintracht Frankfurt’s Egypt forward Omar Marmoush, 25, and Borussia Dortmund’s Germany attacker Karim Adeyemi, 22, as potential replacements for Egypt winger Mohamed Salah, 32. (Sky Germany – in German), external

Manchester United’s hopes of signing Colombia midfielder Richard Rios have improved, with Palmeiras willing to consider selling the 24-year-old for 20m euros (£16.7m) in January. (Caught Offside), external

Arsenal and Manchester United are tracking Wigan Athletic’s 22-year-old English goalkeeper Sam Tickle as they look to bolster their goalkeeping options. (Team Talk), external

Southampton’s hierarchy are set to meet to discuss manager Russell Martin’s future at the club. (Football Insider), external

Paris St-Germain’s France striker Randal Kolo Muani, 25, could leave in January but the Ligue 1 champions want at least 70m euros (£59m) for him. (AS – in Spanish), external

Bayer Leverkusen and Germany forward Florian Wirtz, 21, is keen to join Bayern Munich next summer. (Sky Germany – in German), external

Newcastle United are continuing to monitor Lille’s Canada striker Jonathan David, 24, as a potential January transfer target. (Football Insider), external

Hugo Viana, director of football at Portuguese side Sporting, is Manchester City’s favoured candidate to replace the outgoing Txiki Begiristain in the same role at the Premier League champions. (Fabrizio Romano), external

ENGLAND footie star Jill Scott has become a millionaire after banking a record amount.

Company records reveal that she earned nearly £720,000 last year, more than doubling her assets.

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Equity in Jill Scott 8 Ltd shot up from £477,479 to just under £1.2million for the year to May 31.

Jill, 37, also made two payouts to herself of £50,000 and £300,000.

The Sunderland-born ace has cashed in since the Lionesses won Euro 2022.

Jill was crowned jungle queen on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity months later and is captain on Sky’s A League of Their Own.

She also runs ­coffee shop Boxx2Boxx with her ­fiancée Shelly Unitt in Manchester.

A source said: “Jill had a hugely successful playing career.

“Since she’s hung up her boots she’s reaping the rewards.”

In June Jill told how she had enjoyed the opportunities which have come her way since hanging up her boots.

She said: “Since retirement, life has been totally different for me.

“I have had to adjust to this work-life balance, which feels quite strange!

“But I’m very much a person of simple pleasures.

“As long as I get that fix of seeing family and friends, I’m good.”

If flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja is looking for fresh competition to defend his title against, Tatsuro Taira thinks he will have the strongest case.

Undefeated Japanese sensation Taira (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will look to put his resume over the top for a crack at the 125-pound belt when he takes on Brandon Royval (16-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 244 main event, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN+).

Pantoja has already beaten the majority of the top-ranked contenders in the division, and some of them twice over. There’s only a few new matchups for the champ, and Taira is one of them if he gets through Royval.

Amir Albazi would have a case if he beats Brandon Moreno in the UFC Fight Night 245 main event on Nov. 2. Former RIZIN FF champ Kai Asakura has also been rumored for a crack at gold in his promotional debut. Nothing is seemingly set in stone, though, and Taira aims to show the promotion he’s the guy.

“I’m very excited to see the Albazi vs. Moreno fight,” Taira told MMA Junkie through an interpreter on Tuesday. “Of course,  I’m looking forward to Kai Asakura, how he can do as well. But just thinking of the results and records that I have in UFC, I’ve been the one who has been consistently winning and showing strength. I’m pretty sure I would belong as the next title contender.”

Taira made his octagon debut in May 2022 and has already rattled off six UFC wins, with four of those coming by stoppage. The 24-year-old has three Performance of the Night bonuses to boast, as well, and as a result has positioned himself for this breakthrough opportunity against Royval.

“I wouldn’t say (my rise up the division is happening) fast, but I would say it’s a good pace,” Taira said. “It’s been working well so far. I’m ranked No. 5 now and I definitely want to show the fans that I belong here and also I belong as a champion soon and become a very strong champion.”

Taira’s desire to become UFC champion is unwavering, and he said nothing has distracted his commitment to the sport. He is determined to keep his undefeated streak going for as long as possible, because the fear of losing is also a driving force.

“If I start thinking of losing and stuff, I do get kind of scared,” Taira said. “But once the fight is coming and I start focusing, I don’t really even think about my record. I just really focus on the fight. That’s how much I love MMA. I just want to keep winning.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.

El-Abd will initially combine his work with England with a final season as head coach of Oyonnax as the French second-tier side attempt to regain their place in the Top 14.

“I will have to compartmentalise the roles, but when I am here, I am all in,” he said.

El-Abd says that he does not plan to uproot the basis of the defensive system put in place during Jones’ stint.

Jones transplanted the fast, high-risk ‘blitz’ defence that he developed over four years and two successful Rugby World Cup campaigns with South Africa into England’s tactics.

“Now my job is to come in and take what is working, and there has been lots,” El-Abd added.

“We are going to continue to come up hard off the line and be dominant in the collisions and now we want to see where we can go even further.

“Teams will be watching us to see what they can do and we need to be one step ahead all the time.”

Northampton full-back George Furbank expects evolution, rather than revolution, from El-Abd.

“I think Joe recognises that our defence has taken leaps and strides recently so I don’t think he’s coming in to rip the paper up and start afresh,” said Furbank.

“He’s just looking to add layers and keep improving it. It is not going to be too complicated, but he’s definitely going to bring his touch to it, which is just exciting.”

Dustin Poirier is used to being a closing act in the UFC octagon, but on Monday night, he did so during the wildly popular Kill Tony comedy program.

During comedian William Montgomery’s set on the popular comedy show, hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe, he mentioned the former interim lightweight champion. He accused Poirier of talking trash about him and added that he could not stand the popular fighter.

As Montgomery’s voice got higher and higher, “The Diamond” showed up from the backstage area behind Montgomery on stage. After going nose-to-nose, the two hugged it out before simultaneously yelling, “We ain’t ever going to stop” to wide fanfare.

Watch the video of Poirier’s appearance above.

Poirier did his absolute best to put on a mean face, but you could tell he couldn’t hold his laughter back at moments before the friendly payoff.

Following a submission loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 in June, Poirier hinted at retirement. Since then, Poirier has teased one more fight, which has yet to be announced.