Weekend TG4 All Ireland Semi Final Previews

 

The first TG4 Senior and Intermediate Ladies Football Semi Finals take place this weekend in Mullingar when Galway and Dublin meet in the Senior Semi Final and Down take on Leitrim in the Intermediate Semi Final. Cork will meet Armagh next week in the other senior semi final with Roscommon and Fermanagh acting as the opener and the venue has been confirmed as Pearse Park Longford with the intermediate match throwing in at 13:45 followed by the senior match at 15:30.

 

TG4 Senior All Ireland Ladies Gaelic Football Semi Final

 

Dublin v Galway

Cusack Park, Mullingar, 15:15

 

Dublin will be relieved to have finally reached the semi final of the All Ireland Championship for the first time since they last won the competition in 2010. However, they will face a Galway team that have remained unbeaten in competitive action since defeat at the semi final stage last year.

 

Dublin were impressive as they dispatched a good Kerry side in their quarter final and despite struggling a little in the second half they prevailed by 5 points. Sinead Aherne was their leading light as she proved to be the scorer in chief but she was aided by the industry of Lyndsey Davey and the explosive pace of goal scorer, Noelle Healy. Sinead Goldrick lead the defensive line brilliantly along with Siobhan McGrath who returned from injury with an accomplished performance. The Dublin full back line have been unheralded throughout the season but in Sorcha Furlong, Rachel Ruddy and the fantastic Leah Caffrey they have a watertight rear guard. There is plenty of strength for Dublin on the sideline where Siohan Woods, Colleen Barrett and Sarah McCaffrey can all make an impact and there is positive news about Sinead Finnegan who is making good progress in her recovery from a hamstring injury.

 

Galway will be delighted with their progress to date as they claimed the TESCO HomegrownDivision 2 title and went on to claim the Connacht championship for the third year in a row, however, they will be very pleased to have finally defeated one of the acknowledged big guns as they overcame Monaghan in their quarter final and did so with a strong finish after struggling in the early stages. Louise Ward is the player that got the plaudits for her performance as she was inspirational throughout the game as was her twin sister Nicola at wing back. Emer O’Flaherty was composed and confident in defence for the Tribeswomen as were the midfield duo of Annette Clarke and Ger Conneally, both of whom were in brilliant form. Caitriona Cormican leads the forward division well and Aoibheann Daly showed her worth with a vital point when Galway needed leadership. Olivia Divilly was sprung from the bench against Monaghan with Galway hoping she can have a similar impact should she be called upon on Saturday; however, despite all of the confidence in Galway, there are question marks over their captain, Sinead Burke who was substituted due to injury against Monaghan, the fearless wing back and captain is pivotal to Galway’s hopes of reaching Croke Park.

 

Down v Leitrim

Cusack Park, Mullingar, 13.30

 

Down have been singled out as one of the real favourites for the Intermediate Championship since the beginning of the year and they have lived up to that tag to date. They claimed the Ulster title against Fermangh in an impressive display and produced a battling performance in the face of a vigorous Sligo comeback that had the Ulster Champions against the ropes in the closing minutes. Kyla Trainor is the star player on this side as the full forward plays her 13^th year in Down’s colours despite only being 26, Trainor scored 1-03 against Sligo and did plenty of the hard work in those frantic final minutes. The Fegan twins are the natural leaders for Down as is Eliza Downey who anchors the defence from full back.

 

Leitrim came through a tough Connacht campaign which included wins over fellow semi finalists, Roscommon and a Sligo side that very nearly defeated Down in the previous round. Leitrim have been knocking on the door for years and will know that chances to make All Ireland finals do not come around often. Mairead Stenson is the rock at the heart of the Leitrim defence with Sarah McLoughlin captaining the side from midfield. However, much will depend on the performance of Áine Tighe in full forward, Tighe is a fantastic player who, despite being one of the tallest on the field, has all the skills in the game and is also a superb free taker.

 

TG4 All Ireland Intermediate and Senior Semi Final Starting Line Ups.

Dublin

1. Cliodhna O’Connor 2. Rachel Ruddy 3. SorchaFurlong 4. Leah Caffrey 5. Martha Byrne 6. Sinéad Goldrick 7. Siobhán McGrath 8. Denise Masterson 9. Molly Lamb 10. Noelle Healy 11. Niamh McEvoy 12. Carla Rowe 13. Lyndsey Davey 14. Sinead Aherne 15. Lindsay Peat

Dublin Substitutes: 16. Emer Ni Eafa 17. Siobhan Woods 18. Natalia Hyland 19. Olivia Leonard 20. Nicole Owens 21. Colleen Barrett 22. Lucy Collins 22. Deirdre Murphy 24. Sarah McCaffrey 25. Olwen Carey 26. Niamh Collins 27. Niamh Rickard 28. Michelle Davoren 29. Emma McDonagh 30. Margaret Mohan

Galway

1.Johanna Connolly 2. Noelle Connolly 3. Mairéad Coyne 4. Orla Dixon 5. Nicola Ward 6. Emer Flaherty 7. Sinéad Burke (Capt) 8. Annette Clarke 9. Ger Conneally 10. Lucy Hannon 11. Caitriona Cormican 12. Louise Ward 13. Aoibheann  Daly 14. Lorna Joyce 15. Barbara Hannon

Galway Substitutes: 16. Tina Hughes 17. Sarah Conneally 18. Sinéad Egan 19. Annie Connaughton 20. Meadhbh Moloney 21. Olivia Divilly 22. Tracy Leonard 23. Edel Concannon 24. Eilis Gannon 25. Emma Curley 26. Nicola Burke 27. Gillian O’Connor 28. Rebecca McPhilbin 29. Sarah Lynch 30. Megan Glynn

Leitrim

1. Michelle Guckian 2. Mary Farrell 3. Mairead Stenson 4. Fionnuala Bohan 5. Sharon Kerrigan 6. Lorraine Brennan 7. Alanna Bohan 8. Sarah McLoughlin 9. Anna Conlon 10. Aine Heslin 11. Deirdre Ward 12. Claire Owens 13. Michelle Heslin 14. Áine Tighe 15. Róisín Fowley

Leitrim Substitutes: 17. Enya McWeeney 18. Niamh Tighe 19. Melissa Hewitt 20. Claire Beirne 21. Shauna McLoughlin 22. Ciara McPartland 23. Caoimhe Canning 24. Kiara Keegan 25. Bronagh O’Rourke 26. Ailbhe Clancy 27. Claire Rowley 28. Laura O’Dowd 29. Gráinne O’Malley 30. Marina Gray

Down

1. Sinead Brannigan 2. Hannah Murray 3. Eliza Downey 4. Cora McKibbin 5. Jordan Magee 6. Niamh McGowan 7. Sinead Fegan 8. Karen McMullan 9. Eimear Kane 10. Lauren Cunningham 11. Sinead McNamee 12. Orla Fegan 13. Mairead Grant 14. Kyla Trainer 15. Aileen Pyers

Down Substitutes: 16. Katie Farrell 17. Gráinne McClean 18. Laura McNamee 19. Jess Foy 20. Orla Boyle 21. Erin Robinson 22. Megan Doherty 23. Emma McPolin 24. Lisa Morgan 25. Grainne Kelly 26. Emily Martin 27. Grainne Hughes 28. Nicole Mulholland 29. Clara Mulvenna