Scene is set for TG4 All-Ireland quarter-finals after weekend action

TG4 All-Ireland Championship round-up

By John Fallon

The reigning TG4 All-Ireland senior champions Meath will have to travel to play Kerry in the quarter-finals of this year’s title race after they were pipped by Donegal in Navan in their final group game.

The clash in Kerry on the weekend of July 15/16 will be a repeat of last year’s TG4 All-Ireland final which Meath won by 3-10 to 1-7.

Elsewhere, Galway will host Mayo in a repeat of the Connacht final while the only two teams in the last eight who have never won the All-Ireland title, Armagh and Donegal, will both enjoy home advantage in the quarter-finals.

Donegal will face five-time champions Dublin, while Armagh will take on a Cork side who are the joint top winners of the competition and who booked their place in the last eight with an impressive 8-12 to 2-3 win over Tipperary at the weekend.

Cork, searching for their first crown since they won their eleventh in 2016, had seven different goal scorers. Anna Ryan got a couple and Eimear Kiely, Máire O’Callaghan, Orlaith Cahalane, Daire Kiely (penalty), Dara Kiniry and Bríd O’Sullivan also found the net. Aishling Moloney got both Tipperary’s goals.

Kerry, also All-Ireland champions eleven times, wrapped up home advantage for their showdown with Meath with a 2-21 to 2-5 win over Cavan in Tralee. Cáit Lynch was outstanding and a full-forward line of Siofra O’Shea, Caoimhe Evans and Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh who hit 1-9 between them, ensured a convincing win with Ciara Murphy getting their other goal.

Meath and Donegal served up a tight affair in Navan with late points from Susanne White and Karen Guthrie securing an invaluable 1-10 to 0-12 win for the Ulster side. The only goal of the game came from Niamh Hegarty after eight minutes which helped them lead by 1-6 to 0-6 at the break and they did enough in the end to set up a quarter-final showdown with Dublin.

This is the third year in a row that the sides have met at the quarter-final stage, with Dublin winning in 2021 and then last year Donegal triumphed by 3-7 to 1-7 to bring Dublin’s run of eight All-Ireland final appearances in a row to an end.

A haul of 2-9 from Sinéad Cafferky and Sinéad Walsh was enough to book Mayo’s passage to the quarter-finals as they saw off Laois by 2-15 to 0-8 in Castlebar. They will now face neighbours and old rivals Galway in a repeat of the Connacht final which Mayo won by 3-13 to 2-9 in May.

Meanwhile, in the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship there were wins for Fermanagh, Down, Limerick and Carlow against London, Kilkenny, Sligo and Derry respectively.

Results:

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship

 

Kerry 2-21 Cavan 2-5

Mayo 2-15 Laois 0-8

Cork 8-12 Tipperary 2-3

Donegal 1-10 Meath 0-12

 

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship 

Fermanagh 3-12 London 2-10

Down 13-24 Kilkenny 0-4

Limerick 2-7 Sligo 1-7

Carlow 6-11 Derry 2-6

 

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final pairings:

Donegal (H) v Dublin

Kerry (H) v Meath

Armagh (H) v Cork

Galway (H) v Mayo

Matches to be played on the weekend of Saturday/Sunday July 15/16

 

Semi-final pairings: 

Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 3

Winner QF 2 v Winner QF 4

Semi-finals to be played at Semple Stadium on Saturday July 29

 

Relegation: 

Saturday July 15:

Laois v Cavan

Waterford v Tipperary (both games to be played at neutral venues)

The winners of the above fixtures will play in the TG4 Senior Championship again in 2024.

The losers of these games will play off against each other on Saturday July 22, with the loser relegated to the Intermediate Championship grade for 2024.