Same again for champions Meath - LIDL NFL Round 2 Division 1 team news

CHAMPIONS Meath have named an unchanged line-up for Saturday’s trip to Donegal in Round 2 of the Lidl National League (Letterkenny, 1pm).

Royal County boss Davy Nelson has handed a vote of confidence to the team that suffered defeat to Dublin in last Saturday’s Division 1 opener.

Opponents Donegal have made two changes to the team that lost out to Galway last time out, with Nicole McLaughlin and Shannon McGroddy coming into the starting line-up to replace Katie Dowds and Susanne White.

This fixture is a repeat of the 2022 Lidl NFL Division 1 Final between the counties, who also met in last year’s TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final, with Meath winning on both occasions.

Also on Saturday, there’s a live TG4 fixture from the Connacht Centre of Excellence, as Mayo host Kerry in a repeat of the 2022 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final (12.45pm).

Mayo lost to Cork in their opening fixture and the green and red have made three changes in personnel.

Lucy Wallace, Sinead Walsh and Lisa Cafferky make the starting line-up for this one, with the Reape twins, Hannah and Emily, dropping to the bench along with Tara Needham.

Kerry are buoyant following their opening round victory over Waterford and the Kingdom, last year’s Division 2 winners and TG4 All-Ireland Senior Finalists, have three alterations in their starting team.

Ciara O’Brien, Ciara Murphy and Erica McGlynn are all named to start in place of Aoife Dillane, Louise Galvin and Mary O’Connell.

There are two fixtures on Sunday, with hosts Galway and visitors Dublin looking to maintain their 100 per cent starts.

Dublin make the trip to Tuam Stadium for a 2pm start with a team showing three changes to the one that got the better of Meath.

Abby Shiels comes in between the sticks ahead of Emer Ni Eafa, while there are also starts for Roisin Baker and Caoimhe O’Connor, as Niamh Crowley, injured against Meath, and Kate Sullivan drop out.

Galway have plumped for an unchanged starting line-up after their victory over Donegal, with Olivia Divilly, Ailish Morrissey, sisters Eva and Hannah Noone, and the Ward twins, Louise and Nicola, returning to the squad to bolster the Tribeswomen’s ranks.

Also on Sunday, Waterford and Cork clash in a Munster derby in Piltown (2pm).

Cork, fresh from their opening day victory over Mayo, have made just one change to their starting line-up, with Katie Quirke coming in for Sarah Leahy.

Waterford, who lost to Kerry in Round 1, are unchanged.

Donegal v Meath, Galway v Dublin and Waterford v Cork are the three Division 1 games available to view live on the LGFA’s live-streaming portal: https://bit.ly/3k9k8CB

Mayo (v Kerry): L Brennan; E Ronayne, R Flynn, D Caldwell; L Wallace, C Needham, K Sullivan (capt.); C McManamon, S Cafferky; F McHale, S Howley, S Walsh; L Cafferky, R Kearns, M Cannon.

Kerry (v Mayo): M.E. Bolger; C O’Brien, E Lynch, C Murphy; A O’Connell, E Costello, N Broderick; L Scanlon, N Carmody; C Evans, S O’Shea (capt.), N Ni Chonchúir; H O’Donoghue, E McGlynn, D O’Leary.

 

Donegal (v Meath): A McColgan; N Carr, E McGinley, E Gallagher (capt.); A Boyle Carr, N McLaughlin, T Hegarty; S Twohig, R Rodgers; S Boyle, K Long, L Ryan; C Gillespie, S McGroddy, C McGarvey.

 

Meath (v Donegal): M McGuirk; A Sheridan, M.K. Lynch, K Newe; N Gallogly, S Ennis (capt.), A Cleary; M O’Shaughnessy, A Minogue; M Thynne, M Byrne, C Smyth; A Callan, S Grimes, N O’Sullivan.

 

Galway (v Dublin): A Griffin; B Quinn, S Ní Loingsigh (capt.), E Gavin; C Cooney, K Geraghty, S Brennan; A Davoren, C Cleary; L Coen, K Slevin, A Molloy; A O’Rourke, R Leonard, L Noone.

 

Dublin (v Galway): A Shiels; R Baker, R Brennan, J Tobin; L Caffrey, D Lawless, M Byrne; J Dunne, E O’Dowd; O Nolan, C Rowe (capt.), E Gribben; C O’Connor, H Tyrrell, J Egan.

 

Waterford (v Cork): E O’Brien; Kate McGrath, M Dunford, A Murray; E Power, E Murray, H Power; K Hogan, A Waring; A O’Neill, B McMaugh, C McCarthy; A Fitzgerald, L McGregor, S McGuckian.

 

Cork (v Waterford): M O’Sullivan; S Kelly, E Meaney, D Kiniry; A Healy, H Looney, M Duggan; R Leahy, E O’Shea; E Cleary (capt.), L Coppinger, D Kiely; K Quirke, E Kiely, A Ring.