Sunday 22nd April 2018
Lidl Ladies NFL Division 1 – Semi Finals (Result on the Day)
Dublin v Galway, 3.00pm, Coralstown/Kinnegad, Westmeath, (S Mulvihill)
Dublin, the reigning TG4 All-Ireland champions, are going in search of a very first Lidl National League top-flight crown.
Their form en route to the last four was impressive – as the Sky Blues collected six wins from seven outings.
The one blip, however, was at the hands of Sunday’s opponents, in what was a crucial win for Stephen Glennon’s Galway.
But as Galway’s Sarah Conneally pointed out this week, that result may have been skewed somewhat by the fact that a number of Dublin stars were only back a matter of days from the TG4 All Stars tour to Bangkok.
The Tribeswomen edged into the last four by virtue of scoring more points (16) than Donegal (1-13) in the direct head-to-head game between the counties, after their regulation fixture finished level and they were deadlocked on points following the group phase.
Dublin have gone with 12 of last September’s All-Ireland final winning team for this fixture, in what is a strong starting line-up announced by manager Mick Bohan.
Bohan, who has the Leinster and national championship crowns safely in his possession, would dearly love to land League silverware too and before a ball is kicked in anger at the semi-final stage, they’re the bookies favourites to go all the way.
But Galway, under Glennon’s stewardship, are an emerging outfit and with recent underage teams, at schools and underage levels, hoovering up a number of titles, the future is bright West of the Shannon.
Captain Tracey Leonard will lead the Galway charge from centre forward, while the likes of Áine McDonagh, Mairead Seoighe and Conneally are also capable of hurting the Jackies on the scoreboard.
Galway Manager Stephen Glennon spoke to John Mulligan on Friday
https://download-galwaybay.sharp-stream.com/STEPHEN%20GLENNON%20OTL.mp3
Dublin: C Trant; M Byrne, D Murphy, L Caffrey; S McGrath, S Goldrick, N Collins; L Magee, O Carey; N Owens, N McEvoy, L Davey; O Whyte, N Healy, S Aherne.
Galway: D Gower; F Cooney, S Lynch, S Burke; C Cooney, N Ward, L Walsh; L Gannon, O Divilly; Á McDonagh, T Leonard, A Davoren; M Seoighe, S Conneally, L Coen.
Cork v Mayo, 3.00pm, St Brendan’s Park, Birr, Offaly, (B Rice)
A repeat of the 2016 decider sees holders Cork, chasing six-in-a-row, up against Mayo at the penultimate stage of the competition.
This is also a repeat of last year’s TG4 All-Ireland semi-final between the counties and the fixture will provide a pretty accurate gauge of both teams’ progress in 2018.
Mayo have been boosted by the return to the squad of experienced defender Martha Carter but manager Peter Leahy indicated this week that she won’t feature in the concluding stages of the League.
Cora Staunton is back in Ireland following a successful stint with GWS Giants in the Women’s AFL, and Leahy will hope that she features during the summer, while veteran goalkeeper Yvonne Byrne is another player yet to declare her intentions for 2018.
Despite Staunton’s absence, Mayo have progressed to a League semi-final and with a strong spread of scorers throughout the team.
Sarah Rowe has emerged as a real leader in attack and she’s flanked in an impressive full-forward line by the Kelly sisters, Niamh and Grace.
Cork have real firepower of their own to call upon as Eimear Scally and Orla Finn form two-thirds of a potentially lethal inside line.
The O’Sullivan sisters, Doireann and Ciara, line out in the half-forward line, with Aisling Hutchings and Brid O’Sullivan anchoring midfield.
Cork won the group fixture between the counties but Leahy will hope that his players learned the lessons from that outing as they prepare to face Ephie Fitzgerald’s champions.
Cork: M O’Brien; M Ambrose, E Meaney, E Spillane; M O’Callaghan, M Duggan, S Kelly; A Hutchings, B O’Sullivan; C O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan, O Farmer; L Coppinger, E Scally, O Finn.
Mayo: S Murphy; O Conlon, S Tierney, S Ludden; D Caldwell, E Lowther, D Hughes; C McManamon, A Gilroy; F McHale, F Doherty, S Cafferky; N Kelly, S Rowe, G Kelly.
