PREVIEWS: 8 games across Junior and Intermediate grades to kick-start 2024 TG4 All-Ireland Championships

THE 2024 TG4 All-Ireland Championships begin next Sunday, June 2, with eight fixtures scheduled across the Junior and Intermediate grades.

The Ladies Gaelic Football Association will live-stream a selected game from each weekend during the group stages of the Junior and Intermediate Championships, starting on Sunday with the Intermediate clash between Monaghan and Clare from Clones, which will be live on the LGFA Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/LadiesGaelicFootball/ and YouTube channel https://bit.ly/3GG5cUB (1.30pm).

Derry and London have the privilege of kick-starting the 2024 All-Ireland series when they meet in a Junior Championship tie at St Treas, Ballymaguigan, from 12pm.

 

2pm unless stated

 

Sunday June 2

 

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship

 

Group 1 – Cavan v Down; Redhills GAA Club

 

These two sides renew acquaintances after meeting in the Ulster Championship in April.

Down ran out ten-point winners on that occasion in a preliminary round clash before going on to clinch the provincial title with a semi-final win over Antrim followed by a final victory against Monaghan.

Having landed the TG4 All-Ireland Junior crown last year, Down will be anxious to make further progress in the Intermediate grade and the early signs are good.

Cavan, meanwhile, will be looking to bridge the gap against their opponents and home advantage can stand to them in that quest.

 

Cavan: E Baugh; N Briody, C Brady, Á Brady (capt.); K Tuipulotu, R Dolan, H Gilsenan; Á Smith, C Halpin; Z ay, A Cahill, S McCabe; C Charters, R McLoughlin, S Levingstone.

 

Down: M Deery; A Greene, C Byrne, P Smyth; C Mulvenna, N McKibbin, O Duffy; M Doherty (capt.), A Laverty; N Scullion, N King, L Duffy; N McClory, S Dougherty, V McCormack.

 

Group 2 – Monaghan v Clare; Clones, 1.30pm – Live on LGFA Facebook and YouTube

 

An intriguing tie lies in store in Clones as Monaghan, beaten Ulster Finalists, take on Clare, the Lidl NFL Division 3 winners.

Clare went all the way to the 2023 TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Final but lost out narrowly to Kildare at Croke Park.

The Banner County bounced back to claim promotion and silverware from in Division 3 but they haven’t had a competitive game since defeating Roscommon in that April decider, after opting out of the Munster B competition.

Monaghan performed well against Down in the Ulster Intermediate Final and will fancy their chances of progressing from Group 1.

 

Monaghan: Ó Kelly; A Bannigan, N Cogan, K Nolan; A Garland, M Monaghan (capt.), Á Loughman; J Duffy, E Carolan; S Tierney, É Sherry, C Treanor; L Maguire, J Drury, L Garland

 

Clare: A Lenihan; A Keane, S Ní Chonaill, G Harvey; R Considine, J Doohan, L Griffin; L Ryan, S Considine; C McCarthy, C Harvey (capt.), T Collins; A Sexton, F Marrinan, M Downes.

 

Group 3 – Wexford v Roscommon; Rapparees/Starlights, McCauley Bellefield Park

 

Wexford landed the Leinster Intermediate title recently and now set their sights on All-Ireland glory.

The Model County could be a dark horse in the Intermediate grade and Roscommon will harbour similar ambitions, although they did relinquish their Connacht crown to Leitrim recently.

Wexford were All-Ireland Intermediate finalists in 2021 and 2022 and have the talent to make another push for the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup.

You have to go back to 2005 for Roscommon’s last appearance in an Intermediate decider but this is an ambitious group and they’ll have big aims, having sealed promotion from Division 3 of the Lidl NFL already this year.

 

Wexford: S McCarthy; K English, M Byrne, L Doyle; C Banville, A Halligan, S Harding Kenny; R Murphy (capt.), C Donnelly; B McDonald, K Kearney, A Cullen; C Ni Nualláin, C Foxe, C Murray.

 

Roscommon: H Cummins; A McGrath, E Irwin, S Fleming; R Fitzmaurice, S Wynne, J McDermott; C Cregg, L O’Rourke; L Fleming, K Nolan, E Thompson; A Hanly, A O’Connor, N Feeney (capt.).

 

Group 4 – Leitrim v Tyrone; Ballinamore

 

Leitrim bounced back from the disappointment of missing out on promotion from Division 4 of the Lidl NFL to defeat Roscommon in the Connacht Final.

Now, they’ll pit their wits against Tyrone, who fell to Monaghan in the Ulster semi-final.

It’s been a good season for Tyrone, however, as the Red Hands contested a Division 2 Lidl NFL final, having clinched promotion during the group stages.

Tyrone were All-Ireland Intermediate champions in 2018, while Leitrim won the competition back in 2007.

 

Leitrim: M Monaghan; E Quigley, C Tyrrell, C Owens; S Reynolds, K Bruen, E Bruen; N Tighe, M Guckian (capt.); O Flynn, L O’Dowd, M Devaney; A Clancy, S Quinn, Á Redican.

 

Tyrone: A Coyle; J Lyons, J Barrett, E Quinn; C Campbell, M Corrigan, C Daly; A Grimes, A McHugh (capt.); E.J. Gervin, A Horisk, E McNamee; M Canavan, Z Loughran, S Gormley.

 

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship

 

Group A

 

Derry v London; St Treas, Ballymaguigan, 12pm

 

Derry and London occupied the bottom two slots in their championship group last year and will be aiming for better this time.

London were comfortable winners when the sides met in 2023 but the Exiles had home advantage on that occasion and the roles are now reversed.

Derry showed some good flashes in their Ulster final loss to Fermanagh but they conceded heavily too and will need to tighten up defensively.

 

Derry: E Conway; H Mullan, B Donnelly, J Corr (capt.); S Hargan, C McGurk, M Devine; C O’Kane, A Kilpatrick; Erin Doherty, O McGeough, A Martin; Emma Doherty, C Donnelly, D McKeever.

 

London: S Farrell; A Spain, A Ryan, M Jordan; C Flanagan, L Harrold, A Sexton; E Alcorn (capt.), M Adegbamiye; L Sheehy, A O’Neill, C McMenamin; E Clarke, A McLoughlin, D Doherty Skehill.

 

Sligo v Carlow; Tubbercurry

 

As the only Junior Championship side in Connacht, Sligo got some valuable game time under their belts when they played Leitrim and Roscommon in the Intermediate grade.

Sligo lost both games but they were much more competitive against Roscommon and will have taken some positives from that.

Carlow, the reigning Lidl NFL Division 4 champions, lost out to Louth in the Leinster Junior Final but they’ve been All-Ireland semi-finalists in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

 

Sligo: E McGuire; C Dunne (capt.), E McDermott, S Curley; A Molloy, A Morrisroe, T Breheny; S Cunney, S Regan; E Lavin, C Gilligan, J Lyons; M McCormack, L Normanly, N Brennan.

 

Carlow: N Hanley; A Carroll, A Roche, S McCullagh; R Bermingham (capt.), N Murphy, N Forde; E Hayden, R Bailey; B Nolan, R Sawyer, S Doyle; E Molloy, E Coogan, C Ní Shé.

 

Group B

 

Kilkenny v Louth; John Locke Park, Callan

 

Louth won the Leinster Junior Championship recently and will approach the All-Ireland series with high hopes.

The Wee County defeated Kilkenny too in the provincial group stages and will fancy their chances of another win on their visit to Callan.

Louth were All-Ireland Junior winners last in 2019 and after suffering relegation from the Intermediate grade last year, they’ll be anxious to bounce back at the first attempt.

 

Kilkenny: E Moran; A Ring, S Smith, S Dunne; H Brennan, A Galwey, A Ryan; K Comerford, R Roche; E Lawlor (capt.), S Corcoran, C Moore; R Phelan, R Roche, K Purcell.

 

Louth: U Pearson; C O’Reilly, E Hand, A Whyte; L Byrne, A Breen (capt.), C Nolan; A Halligan, C McDonald; M Duffy, E Byrne, A Russell; R O’Connor Leonard, N Rice, R Maguire.

 

Longford v Limerick; Glennon Brothers Pearse Park

 

Longford missed out on a Leinster Junior final slot after losing to Louth in the group stages but they did achieve wins against Kilkenny and Carlow earlier in the campaign.

Having suffered relegation from the Intermediate championship last year, the Midlanders will target an immediate return to the second tier but Group B promises to be extremely competitive.

Limerick were beaten All-Ireland Junior Finalists last year and will want to get back to Croke Park – and the Shannonsiders were boosted earlier this month by victory over Cork in the Munster B decider, while they also gained promotion from Division 4 of the Lidl NFL.

 

Longford: R McGrath; O Nevin, E O’Brien, G Kenny; L Shannon, C Mulligan, C McCormack (capt.); S Gallagher, E Farrell; J Whyte, K Burke, N Brady; K McKeon, G Shannon, A Hayden.

 

Limerick: S Hennessy; J McGuire, Y Lee, R Browne; G Lee, L Coughlan, G Mullane; R Ambrose (capt.), M MacNamara; K O’Leary, D Murphy, C Mee; E Woulfe, I Kennelly, C McGrath.