Suzuki Ladies National Football league Round Up

 

Suzuki National Football League Round Up

Division 1(a)
Undoubtedly the toughest group of all was Division 1(a)
and in the end Cork, Galway, Mayo and Monaghan booked their
place in the last eight, leaving both Kildare and Kerry
fighting it out in a playoff to avoid relegation. The Rebel
county and Galway finished level at the top with Mayo coming
in third as all three sides took points off each other.
The real battle was between the other three sides as they
went into the final round all on two points a piece. Kildare
having beaten Kerry in Round three, Monaghan seeing off
Kildare and Kerry having a fine victory in Mayo in Round
four. It all left a great battle on the final day with Kerry
playing host to Monaghan and Kildare welcoming Galway. Monaghan
turned in a wonderful display to hold off the Kingdom by
a goal in the end and with Kildare loosing out it ment the
Ulster side had snatched the last quarterfinal spot. The
relegation playoff between Kerry and Kildare turned out
to be a real ding-dong tussle. Yet after extra time the
Junior champions Kildare had to settle for second best as
the Kingdom girls survive in the top flight. How they finished

Division 1A
Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Galway A	5	4	1	0	8
Cork A	5	4	1	0	8
Mayo	5	3	2	0	6
Monaghan A	5	2	3	0	4
Kildare	5	2	3	0	4
Kerry A	5	1	4	0	2

Division 1(b)
Division 1(b) was very evenly contested with Meath, Waterford,
Dublin and Roscommon all qualifying for the knockout stages
while Louth made the drop back to Division 2. Both Meath
and Waterford topped the group with just one defeat a piece
with Meath beating the Deise girls while the Royal went
down to their defeat to Dublin prior to Christmas. The All
Ireland Runners up dropped their points with a draw against
Roscommon and fell to their only defeat in the final round
against Waterford. Roscommon had a steady run also with
fine victories over Tyrone and Louth as well as that point
against Dublin. Tyrone and Louth both struggled with the
red hand counties only points coming against the Wee county.
How They Finished

Division 1B
Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Waterford A	5	4	1	0	8
Meath	5	4	1	0	8
Dublin A	5	3	1	1	7
Roscommon	5	2	2	1	5
Tyrone	5	1	4	0	2
Louth	5	0	5	0	0

So
after the full round of league games was complete it was
onto the Suzuki NFL Quarter Finals. What interesting ties
we had in store and none more so then the meeting of Galway
and Dublin, and a re run of last years All Ireland decider.
The other three matches were also mouth watering clashes
with Cork up against Roscommon, Monaghan against Meath and
Waterford taking on the reigning champions Mayo. Galway
held off a brave late rally from Dublin to advance to meet
Monaghan in the last four. The reigning All Ireland champions
led by two points and remained out in front to the very
end with Philomena Flaherty, Niamh Duggan and Michelle Delaney
netting for the winners. The Ulster side had an easier outing
with a comfortable victory over the Royals with Aisling
Tierney hitting 4-03 on the day. The other semi-final will
bring together an all Munster clash with Cork against Waterford.
The Rebel side coasted past Roscommon and they will be hoping
to go one better this year. However they will be up against
it as Waterford piped Mayo by the minimum of margins after
extra time.

Division 2(a)
Wexford and Sligo were the queens of this group as both
sides topped the Division with just one defeat. Sligo had
beaten Wexford early on but went down in their final match
against Cork ‘B’. After two heavy defeats to both the top
two sides Cavan bounced back with a strong finish to win
their last three games and book their spot in the knockout
stages. Cork’s victory in the final round earned them a
playoff spot with Limerick for that last Quarter Final place
while Clare had a very disappointing League run and were
relegated. That final knockout spot went to Limerick as
they got the better of Cork the second time around but after
extra time and only by a single point.
How They Finished

Division 2A
Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Sligo	5	4	1	0	8
Wexford	5	4	1	0	6
Cavan	5	3	2	0	4
Limerick	5	2	3	0	4
Cork B	5	2	3	0	2
Clare	5	0	5	0	0
Relegation Playoff Cork B 1-11 Limerick 1-12 (AET)

Division
2(b)
Donegal were the high flyers of Division 2(b) as they went
without loosing a game putting up some very high scores
on the way. Their only point to be dropped came in the pre
Christmas game with Laois. The Leinster side came in second
with their only defeat to Armagh who finished on the same
points. The Orchard County dropping points with a draw at
home to Longford and a heavy defeat to table toppers Donegal.
The final side to make the knockouts was Longford who collected
three points from their outings, their win coming against
basement side and neighbours Leitrim. How They Finished

Division 2B
Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Donegal	4	3	0	1	7
Laois	4	2	1	1	5
Armagh	4	2	1	1	5
Longford	4	1	2	1	3
Leitrim	4	0	4	0	0

Division
2 Quarterfinal Fixtures Ties to be played on 10th April
Sligo v Longford, Wexford v Armagh, Cavan v Laois, Limerick
v Donegal

Division 3(a)
Fermanagh were the kingpins of this Division and in the
end the only side throughout all the divisions to take maximum
points. The Erne Siders were full value for this in a tough
division that included four other Ulster sides and both
Galway and Mayo second teams. The victory that would have
pleased Fermanagh the most must have been their fine win
over senior championship side Down who recorded just this
defeat. Behind the Mourne girls came Mayo ‘B’ in third spot
with Galway ‘B’ taking the other quarterfinal spot. The
sides to miss out were Monaghan ‘B’, Antrim and Derry who
were rooted to the bottom failing to pick up any points
How They Finished

Division 3A
Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Fermanagh	6	6	0	0	12
Down	6	5	1	0	10
Mayo B	6	4	2	0	8
Galway B	6	4	2	0	8
Monaghan B	6	2	4	0	4
Antrim	6	1	5	0	2
Derry	6	0	6	0	0

Division 3(b)
Six sides took part in Division 3(b) with Dublin ‘B’, Tipperary,
Waterford ‘B’ and Meath ‘B’ all progressing to the knockout
stages. The sides to lose out were Kerry ‘B’ and Offaly.

Division 3B
Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Dublin B	5	4	0	0	8
Waterford B	5	3	2	0	6
Meath B	4	3	1	0	6
Tipperary	5	2	3	0	4
Kerry B	5	1	4	0	2
Offaly	4	0	4	0	0

Quarter
Finals on April 10th Fermanagh v Meath ‘B’, Down v Waterford
‘B’, Galway ‘B’ v Tipperary, Mayo ‘B’ v Dublin ‘B’

Div 4
Wicklow came out front runners in a very evenly contested
Division four. The Table toppers dropped just one point
in the campaign after drawing with Dublin ‘C’ who finished
third in the table. Carlow came in second with three win’s
from four, of course the defeat coming against Wicklow.
Westmeath slotted into forth spot after they collected their
only win over bottom of the table Kilkenny. The Cats although
didn’t record any points give a very good account of themselves
and pushed Wicklow to just four points in the final round
of fixtures. How They Finished

Division 4
Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points
Wicklow	4	3	0	1	7
Carlow	4	3	1	0	6
Dublin C	4	2	1	1	5
Westmeath	4	1	3	0	2
Kilkenny	4	0	4	0	0

Semi
Finals on April 10th Wicklow v Westmeath Carlow v Dublin
‘C’