LGFA WEEKEND PREVIEWS
TOMORROW Lidl Ladies NFL Division 1 semi-finals (result on the day) DUBLIN v GALWAY, 3pm Coralstown/Kinnegad (S Mulvihill) DUBLIN, the reigning TG4 All-Ireland champions, are going in search of a first Lidl National League top-flight crown. Their form en route to the last four was impressive, the Sky Blues collected six wins from seven outings. The one blip, however, was at the hands of tomorrow’s opponents, in what was a crucial win for Stephen Glennon’s Galway. But as Galway’s Sarah Conneally pointed out this week, that result may have been skewed somewhat by the fact that a number of Dublin stars were only back a matter of days from the TG4 All-Stars tour to Bangkok. The Tribeswomen edged into the last four by virtue of scoring more points (16) than Donegal (1-13) in the direct head-to-head game between the counties, after their regulation fixture finished level and they were deadlocked on points following the group phase. Dublin have gone with 12 of last September’s All-Ireland finalwinning team but Galway, under Glennon’s stewardship, are an emerging outfit and, with their underage teams flourishing, the future is bright west of the Shannon. Captain Tracey Leonard will lead the Galway charge from centre forward.
DUBLIN: C Trant; M Byrne, D Murphy, L Caffrey; S McGrath, S Goldrick, N Collins; L Magee, O Carey; N Owens, N McEvoy, L Davey; O Whyte, N Healy, S Aherne.
GALWAY: D Gower; F Cooney, S Lynch, S Burke; C Cooney, N Ward, L Walsh; L Gannon, O Divilly; Á McDonagh, T Leonard, A Davoren; M Seoighe, S Conneally, L Coen. CORK v MAYO, 3pm St Brendan’s Park, Birr (B Rice) A REPEAT of the 2016 decider sees holders Cork, chasing six-in-arow, up against a confident Mayo. Cora Staunton is back in Ireland following a successful stint with GWS Giants in the Women’s AFL, and Leahy will hope that she features during the summer. Despite Staunton’s absence, Mayo showed great resolve to progress to a League semi-final with a
strong spread of scorers. Sarah Rowe has emerged as a real leader in attack and she’s flanked in an impressive full-forward line by the Kelly sisters, Niamh and Grace. Cork have real firepower of their own to call upon as Eimear Scally and Orla Finn form two-thirds of a potentially lethal inside line. The O’Sullivan sisters, Doireann and Ciara, are in the half-forward line, with Aisling Hutchings and Brid O’Sullivan anchoring midfield.
Cork won the group fixture between the counties but Leahy will hope that his players can put into good use the lessons from that outing.
CORK: M O’Brien; M Ambrose, E Meaney, E Spillane; M O’Callaghan, M Duggan, S Kelly; A Hutchings, B O’Sullivan; C O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan, O Farmer; L Coppinger, E Scally, O Finn.
MAYO: S Murphy; O Conlon, S Tierney, S Ludden; D Caldwell, E Lowther, D Hughes; C McManamon, A Gilroy; F McHale, F Doherty, S Cafferky; N Kelly, S Rowe, G Kelly.