Ladies’ NFL programme confirmed

LOUTH will begin their 2018 LIDL National Football League Division 4 season with a trip to Kilkenny on Sunday January 28th.

The Reds, who finished fifth in the division last year, will then face Carlow at home on Sunday February 4th, before back-to-back trips to Fermanagh on February 11th and Derry on February 25th.

Micheal McKeown’s charges are at home to Limerick on Sunday March 4th, before heading to Ulster again to face Antrim in their penultimate fixture on Sunday March 25th. The Wee County round off their league campaign with a home tie against Wicklow on April 1st.

Play-off and relegation matches are pencilled in for April 15th, with the semi-finals and final set for April 22nd and May 5th respectively.

The draws for the various Leinster Championships also took place recently and Louth will take on Kilkenny on June 3rd and face Carlow a week later in the group stage, with the two best teams advancing to the final on June 24th.

Louth were relegated from the Intermediate Championship after losing a relegation play-off to Offaly last season and will be hoping to repeat their exploits of 2015 - when they beat Scotland in the All-Ireland Junior Championship Final at Croke Park— - and bounce back to the Intermediate level at the first attempt.

In the Leinster Minor Championship, Louth open their campaign when they play the winners of the Offaly v Kildare first-round game.