Don’t miss this week’s Times Sport section as we hear from Carrick Rangers boss Michael Hughes ahead of Friday night’s crunch match with Donegal Celtic in the Carling Premiership.

With Rangers bottom of the league, Hughes tells the Times that he will be encouraging his basement battlers to ‘stick to their principles’ and play their passing game.

We also have an in-depth match report and action shots from the weekend defeat at the hands of Glenn Ferguson’s Ballymena United and our reporter John Gillespie speaks to midfielder Ryan Deans.

In football’s Amateur League we have all the action from Kilroot Rec and Whitehead Eagles and we also cover Islandmagee’s Intermediate Cup defeat to rivals Larne Tech.

Find out how Carrick Ladies Hockey Club’s teams got on in their matches and get the latest reaction from the club’s first-team coach, Neil McConnell.

Also, don’t miss Maurice Montgomery’s weekly motorcycling column as he speaks to local rider Graeme Irwin.

The results of the recent 12-hole Stableford competition at Carrickfergus Golf Club on Saturday (Feb 18) are follows:

Point 1: Glenn Taggart 30 points, Stephen Wady 26 points, David McAuley 26 points and Bill Taggart 26 points.

Point 2: Brian McAuley 26 Points, Tom Woods OBE 25 points, Jackie Wilson 24 points and Jim Fittis 24 points.

The Ireland team to play Italy in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday has been named and coach Declan Kidney has opted for an unchanged lineup.