Ladies to face Kerry and Cavan for place in SFC semi-finals

THE focus for many over recent weeks has been on the return of the GAA to the fields of the nation and while the men seem to get most of the press the not insignificant return of ladies football has also been announced with the draws for the national competitions published in recent days.

All eyes will again be on Dublin as they look to continue their recent dominance in ladies football however the pack behind are well positioned to question the Dubs’ credentials again this time round.

Dublin will take on Waterford and Donegal in group two of the round-robin phase of this season’s TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship with the top side progressing to the semi-final.

From a local standpoint, the interest will be firmly on the Rebels as Cork go in search of their 12th All-Ireland crown.

Cork have been drawn in Group 1 of this year’s competition with Munster rivals Kerry and Ulster side Cavan making up what is a competitive trio. Cork may be pushed a little in this group however they should have enough fire-power to extricate themselves from this shortened competition into one of the coveted last four spots.

Last year’s bridesmaids, Galway, will take on a Tipperary side full of the joys of life after their elevation from intermediate last year with a fancied Monaghan side rounding off what could be one of the hardest to call groups in this season’s All Ireland series.

Last, but by no means least, is the group containing Armagh and Tyrone who will do all they can to stop a Mayo side that will fancy their chances of going a distance this time round.

Dublin, Cork, Galway and Mayo, the four sides that made it to last year’s semis, would, on paper, be the sides expected to progress to the knock-out stages again this year, but there is a lot of football to be played with hampered preparations to the championship a real unknown factor for all concerned.

A decision on promotion/ relegation came from head office in recent weeks too with promotion on offer for the winners of the 2020 Junior and Intermediate Championships however there won’t be relegation from Intermediate and Senior grades.

While it is great to see that the ladies football championship will take place this year there may well be concerns about the numbers that show up to play after it was revealed in recent weeks that of 869 inter-county players surveyed, 32% said that it was likely they would return to action this year over concerns around “personal safety” and “the health of others”.

In this comprehensive survey 53%, said they were either living or in close contact with someone who was considered high risk.

With lock-down measures easing there may well be many players changing their stance on this issue however as of now there is a serious risk that some of the game’s biggest stars may opt out of the current campaign.