Ladies previews: First All-Ireland finalists to be revealed
August 16, 2019
Tipperary's Aisling McCarthy. ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo.
Compiled by Jackie Cahill
THE first of the 2019 TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Finalists will be revealed on Saturday, with two semi-finals down for decision at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny.
Sligo take on Championship favourites Tipperary at 3pm, followed by the meeting of Meath and Roscommon at 4.45pm, a fixture that is a repeat of the 2018 semi-final between the counties.
Both games will be screened LIVE by TG4, as the four counties battle it out for Final slots at Croke Park on September 15.
On Sunday, attention switches to the battle for survival in the Senior grade.
Westmeath and Monaghan meet at Lannleire, Dunleer, in County Louth, with the winners to preserve Senior status for 2020.
The losers of this fixture will be playing Intermediate Championship Football next year.
Saturday 17th August 2019
TG4 All Ireland Intermediate Championship Semi-Finals
Sligo v Tipperary; Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, 3pm – LIVE on TG4 https://bit.ly/2PRgom8
Sligo haven’t had the best of luck in recent All-Ireland semi-finals.
The Yeats County lost out to Kildare in 2016, before suffering last-four defeats to Tyrone in 2017 and again last year.
The Westerners will hope to go one step further this time but they face a big challenge against Tipperary, the winners from two years ago.
Tipp are the favourites to land the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup again but they were given a stern test of their credentials against Clare at the quarter-final stage.
Sligo came through the Offaly challenge to make it back to the semi-finals, and they’re within touching distance of Croke Park for a fourth successive year.
Tipp will start as favourites, but Sligo will hope to upset the form-book and finally vault the semi-final hurdle.
Sligo (v Tipperary): N Gormley; M McNamara, G O’Loughlin, J Mulligan; C Dunne, B Byrne, A.M. Coleman; R Goodwin, L.A. Laffey; S Regan, S Reynolds, S Naughton; E O’Reilly, C Gorman, L Casey.
Tipperary (v Sligo): L Fitzpatrick; L Spillane M Curley; E Cronin; B Condon, S Lambert, C Kennedy; A McCarthy, A.R. Kennedy; N Lonergan, A Moloney, L Dillon; C Condon, A McGuigan, A Fennessy.
Meath v Roscommon; Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, 4.45pm – LIVE on TG4 https://bit.ly/2PRgom8
Meath were beaten Finalists last year but are just an hour away from successive Intermediate Final appearances.
The Royal County have had an excellent season, winning the Lidl Division 3 title to gain promotion to the second tier.
They lost out to Wexford in the Leinster Final, suffered defeat to Tipperary in the group stages of the All-Ireland series, before gaining revenge on Wexford in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Roscommon, the reigning Connacht champions, saw off Leitrim and Offaly to top their qualifier group, and they were winners over Kildare in the last eight.
This semi-final is a repeat of last year’s clash at the same stage, which Meath won convincingly at Dr. Hyde Park.
That defeat, on their home soil, stung Roscommon and they’ll be highly-motivated to gain revenge 12 months later.
Meath enjoyed a thumping 4-15 to 1-7 victory over the Rossies in Division 3 of the Lidl National League, but the Connacht representatives are much improved since then.
Meath (v Roscommon): M McGuirk; K Newe, S Powderly, O Duff; A Cleary, S Ennis, M Thynne; M O’Shaughnessy, K Byrne; O Lally, E Duggan, O Byrne; E White, K Nesbitt, V Wall.
Roscommon (v Meath): H Cummins; H Ennis, A McLoone, N Feeney; J Cregg, A Kelly, S Bruen; S Kenny, L Fleming; S Tully, R Wynne, N McHugh; R Finan, A O’Connor, R Fitzmaurice, H Martin.
Sunday 18th August 2019
TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship – Relegation Play-off
Westmeath v Monaghan; Lannleire, Dunleer, Co. Louth, 2pm
It’s do-or-die for Westmeath and Monaghan, as both counties aim to preserve Senior Championship status for 2020.
The permutations are simple – the winners stay up, while the losers will be playing Intermediate Football next year.
Westmeath have already had one crack at survival, but lost out to Cavan last week, as the Breffni County ensured they’ll be Senior again next year.
Westmeath manager Sean Finnegan has reacted to that defeat by making two changes in personnel for this winner-takes-all clash with Monaghan, as Karen McDermott and Sarah Dolan come into the starting line-up for Fiona Coyle and Grace Halligan.
Monaghan’s last outing was in the group stages of the All-Ireland series, when they suffered a 25-point defeat to Champions Dublin.
Noeleen McGuirk started in the forward line against the Dubs, but she’s named in goal for this one, replacing Brídín Tierney.
Elsewhere, there are two others changes, with Maeve Monaghan coming in for Shauna Coyle, while Casey Treanor is replaced by fit-again captain Cora Courtney.
Monaghan have already suffered relegation this year to Division 2 of the Lidl National League, and they won’t want to suffer a similar Championship fate.
Defeat for Westmeath, meanwhile, would leave just one Senior team in the Leinster Championship next year, unless Meath manage to win the All-Ireland Intermediate title.
Westmeath (v Monaghan): L McCormack; R Dillon, J Rogers, L Power; K Boyce-Jordan, K McDermott, N Feery; J Maher, M.A. Foley; S Dolan, A Jones, A Dolan; L Slevin, F Claffey, V Carr.
Monaghan (v Westmeath): N McGuirk; M Monaghan, S Boyd, N Kerr; A McAnespie, H McSkane, B Tierney; A McCarey, E McAnespie; R Courtney, C Courtney, C McBride; E Woods, L Kerley, C McAnespie.
Follow live coverage of Sunday's All-Ireland hurling finals on the hoganstand.com match tracker.
