The Meath ladies Senior Football Championship semi finals take place this Saturday.

Holders Dunboyne take on inform and unbeaten Seneschalstown in Skryne. Bective plays host to last years Intermediate winners Skryne and Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels.

Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels v Skryne in Bective on 30/9/23 at 2:30PM Ref: Joe Curran

Bective will host this eagerly awaited semi final on Saturday 30th September at 2:30PM.

Skryne have progressively got better over the course of this championship and their win in a titanic battle against Navan O'Mahonys in the Quarter Final on Sunday has them fired up and ready to go. They will remember the first round game against the Dunshaughlin team where they were downed by the concession of 3 goals in an otherwise evenly matched contest. Niamh O'Brien led her team confidently though the campaign but suffered a shoulder injury during Sundays contest and is an injury doubt for this game. No doubt all on the team will be fighting for her and with the likes of Laura Mangan, Roisin McManus and Aisling O'Connor ready to come in as they did on Sunday, they were pivotal in breaching the O'Mahonys defence to set them on their way to the semi final. Elizabeth Moorland had an outstanding game and dropped back into defence when her captain went off and had a stormer. Despite receiving a yellow at the start of the last quarter she came back in and marshalled her defence in the face of a determined onslaught from the O'Mahonys attack. The last 5 minutes must have seemed an eternity as they were under constant pressure till the end. Other players to watch out for the Skryne team are Ellie Murphy who was very accurate from frees and their wing backs Alana Cooney and Ava Purcell who mopped up a lot of dirty ball to relieve the pressure. Ciara Smyth was a handful for the O'Mahonys defence and her pace and ability to beat her marker will no doubt be noticed by Royal Gaels.

Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels have had two weeks to prepare for this game and there will be no stone left unturned while they eye up the final place. Despite topping their group they will be wary of momentum and with Skryne only playing on Sunday, they know they will have to be switched on from the start and all game on Saturday if they are to return to only their second final. The disappointment of losing their first one last year seems to be their driving force this year and they have done everything right so far, including matching the champions Dunboyne in round 3, doing enough to go through as group winners. Niamh O'Sullivan, who scored a hatrick in last years semi final against Seneschalstown will be looking for the same service from her team mates this time around. Players like Ella Moyles, Niamh Gallogly, Laura Murray and powerhouse Meadhbh Byrne are sure to be as combative as they have in the last 3 games. Joe Curran is the referee taking charge of this game.

Seneschalstown  v  St Peters Dunboyne  in Skryne on 30/9/23 at 5:00PM Ref: Angela Gallagher

Skryne's ground will be hosting the other semi final between Seneschalstown - group 2 winners and St Peters Dunboyne, current champions. Seneschalstown have a serious pedigree in Senior championship football and are famous for a remarkable spell of  dominance during the 2000's winning 13 out of 15 between 2000 and 2014. This new Seneschalstown team seem to be building up quietly and have been ruthless in their group games to date. They pipped O'Mahonys by a point 2-13 to 2-12 in their group games opener and  then accounted for Oldcastle and Donaghmore Ashbourne on the road. There is a massive attacking threat from Stacey Grimes and Orla Finnegan and will be hoping Amy Gilsenan, Kiah Geraghty and goalkeeper Louise Coyle maintain their fine form going into this contest.

St Peters Dunboyne have had plenty of football to dust off the cobwebs and despite finishing second in their group and therefore sending them into a quarter final pairing with Oldcatle, they emerged victors on a scoreline of 1-15 to 0-10. The core squad has been excellent in mentoring the younger players into the team and seem to have a player for every position covered. Shelly Melia, Sarah Wall, Saoirse Quinn, Fiona O'Neill and of course Emma Duggan will be keen to advance to this years decider again. Angela Gallagher takes charge of this match on Saturday evening at 5pm.

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