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Saturday will be a cool day with sunny spells. It will start off mainly dry apart from isolated showers in the east and northwest, whih will become more scattered, feeding in over the country. Sunday will bring more eunny spells and scattered showers coming in from the west. It'll be nippy enough again with highest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees.
The TG4 provincial championships rumble on this weekend, with action in Leinster, Munster and Connacht.
On Saturday in Munster, Tipperary host Waterford, as Cork make the trip to Brosna for a clash with Kerry in what is a repeat of last year's provincial decider.
On Sunday, it’s over to Leinster for Round 2 of their senior championship. Laois hosting Dublin, while Meath take on Kildare.
The Meath v Kildare fixture will be live-streamed on the Leinster LGFA Facebook Page and YouTube channel.
SATURDAY
(2pm throw-in unless stated)
Munster Senior Championship Round 2
Kerry v Cork, Brosna
The old rivals began their campaigns with contrasting victories last weekend, with Kerry scoring a big win over Tipperary, while reigning Munster champions Cork were pushed all the way by Waterford before emerging with a two-point victory.
That 1-10 to 0-11 triumph was Cork’s first win in three months and now they will hope to put relegation from Division 1 of the Lidl NFL firmly behind them and concentrate on their championship campaign.
Seven players scored for Cork in last weekend’s success, with Laura O’Mahony pouncing for the only goal of the game in the opening half to give them a 1-05 to 0-03 lead.
Waterford rallied after the restart but with Katie Quirke taking her haul to 0-05 from frees, Cork held on for victory.
Manager Shane Ronayne has made three changes as Cork continue their bid for a third Munster title in a row. Sarah Murphy takes over from Caoimhe Richmond in goal while Sadbh McGoldrick and Sadhbh O’Leary replace Aoife Healy and Libby Coppinger.
Danielle O’Leary led the way with a superb tally 0-08 as Kerry opened their campaign with a 2-14 to 0-5 win over Tipperary. She kicked five points in the opening half but it was a goal from Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh which put daylight between just before half-time.
That helped Kerry lead by double scores at 1-5 to 0-04 at the break and the All-Ireland finalists of the past two seasons pushed on from there to run out winners by 15 points.
They have made just one change to the side with Ciara Butler taking over from Mary Ellen Bolger in goal.
Kerry: C Butler; E Lynch, D Kearney, C O’Brien; A O’Connell, K Cronin, C Murphy; M O’Connell, C Lynch; A Galvin, N Carmody, A Harrington; K Brosnan, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh, D O’Leary.
Cork: S Murphy; M Duggan, D Kiniry, A Ryan; S Leahy, S McGoldrick, K O’Driscoll; M O’Callaghan, A O’Mahony; E Cleary, L O’Mahony, A McDonagh; D Kiely, K Quirke, S O’Leary.
Tipperary v Waterford, Bansha
Waterford’s second-half rally against Cork last weekend came up short when they went down by 1-10 to 0-11 and they will be hoping for better fortune this weekend.
They have made two changes with Aoife Morrissey coming in for Lucie O’Shea, while Bríd McMaugh replaces Annie Fitzgerald.
McMaugh scored two points when she came on against Cork and they will be hoping for a bigger return from their forwards in this clash, with Kellyann Hogan landing four frees in the opening day loss.
Tipperary, too, will hope that their attack can fire much better in this one. They were trailing Kerry by just a point approaching half-time last weekend but the concession of a goal before the break ended their challenge.
Two points apiece from Emma Morrissey and Aishling Moloney had kept them in touch for most of the opening half against Kerry.
But a point from Anna Rose Kennedy is all they could manage after the break and Tipperary, who are unchanged for this encounter, know they will need a much more productive attack this time if they are to secure victory.
Tipperary: L Fitzpatrick; E Kelly, L Spillane, E Cronin; C O’Dwyer, M Curley, S English; L Morrissey, AR Kennedy; E Morrissey, A McGuigan, A Moloney; N Towey, K Downey, E McCarthy.
Waterford: E O’Brien; H Power, E Power, A Murray; K McGrath, A McNulty, E Murray; B McMaugh, K Hogan; A O’Neill, C Walsh, C Carroll; M O’Brien, K Murray, L McGregor.
Munster Senior B
Kerry v Limerick; Fr Casey’s GAA, Abbeyfeale, 1pm
Kerry lost heavily to Cork last weekend in the opening round of the Munster B Championship.
Now, the Kingdom turn their attentions to a clash with Limerick, who will play in the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship later in the summer.
The Shannonsiders, who contested the recent Lidl NFL Division 4 Final against Carlow, will be hoping to go one step further in the All-Ireland series, after losing out to Down in the 2023 final.
Kerry: K Hannan; C Hudson, K Sugrue, L Cox; E O’Keeffe, S Murphy, K Furey; C Gannon, K Mahony; M Higgins, M O’Connor, N Mahony; E Cotter, M Sheehy, G Musgrave.
Limerick: S Hennessy; S Dillon, J McGuire, R Browne; G Mullane, L Coughlan, G Lee; M McNamara, L Ryan; K Kennedy, D Murphy, C McNamara; E Woulfe, M Kavanagh, A Cleary.
SUNDAY
Leinster Senior Championship Round 2
Laois v Dublin, Laois Hire O’Moore Park
Reigning Leinster champions Dublin travel to Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Sunday with three points already in the bag after last weekend’s 4-15 to 2-04 defeat of the Lilywhites.
Dublin skipper Carla Rowe hit 1-04 of Dublin’s tally while Orlagh Nolan hit 1-03 for the Sky Blues, while Kate Sullivan and Caoimhe O’Connor also found their way past Mary Hulgraine in that opening round win.
This weekend, they face a Laois outfit that are on the hunt for points after defeat to Meath at Páirc Tailteann. Led by Captain Clodagh Dunne and under new management in Stephen Duff, Laois will be eager to make an impact on home ground.
While the result in Páirc Tailteann might have always been with the home side, Laois put the Royals under considerable pressure. Lauren Kearney found the back of the net while Mo Nerney chipped in 0-06.
Laois and Dublin met in Round Two of the 2023 Championship where Dublin ran out 3-14 to 0-03 winners. Hannah Tyrrell, Carla Rowe and Kate Sullivan all raised green flags for Dublin.
Stephen Duff makes two changes for Laois as Aerin Ryle comes in for Ciara Malone at wing back and Andrea Moran starts ahead of Rebecca Reddin in the centre of the field.
On the other hand, Mick Bohan has completely shuffled his pack ahead of the meeting with Laois with just five players from that opening round win retaining their starting positions: Niamh Donlon, Jessica Tobin, Olwen Carey, Grace Kós and Niamh Hetherton. With Dublin Captain Carla Rowe listed among the substitutes and Leah Caffrey not included in the matchday squad, it falls on Niamh Hetherton to assume on field captaincy duties.
Testing the breadth of his squad, Bohan has handed Championship debuts to five players: Ashling Nyhan, Hannah McGinnis, Kate Murray, Claire Kirwan and Katie Murphy, with two further debutants on the bench in Kerri Owens and Hannah Hegarty. Of those, Nyhan, McGinnis and Murphy have come from the Minor grade last season so it will be interesting to see how they fare at Senior Championship level.
Laois: E Barry; S Farrelly, C Dunne (C), I Finlay, G Lalor, M Cotter, A Ryle; A Moran, A Moore; G Moran, O Hennessy, L Kearney; M Nerney, E Lacey, K Donoghue.
Dublin: R Fleming; N Donlon, A Nyhan, J Tobin; H McGinnis, K Murray, C Kirwan; O Carey, G Kós; N Owens, C Darby, E Deeley; A Timothy, N Hetherton (C), K Murphy.
Meath v Kildare, Páirc Tailteann
Kildare’s 23-match winning streak was ended last weekend by Dublin in Parnell Park. It was a magnificent run of form that catapulted Kildare right back into the Senior Championship and most recently the Division One League for 2025. However, it had to end at some point and there was no shame in it happening against the reigning All Ireland Senior Champions.
The Lilies came up against a Dublin juggernaut that were in scoring form. The loss of Róisín Byrne to injury before the throw in seemed to unsettle the Lilywhites and they will be boosted by Byrne’s return to the starting fifteen this weekend. Byrne’s replacement on the day was Niamh Farrelly and she hit 2-2 for Diane O’Hora’s charges and proved a handful for the Dublin defence.
Kildare travel to Páirc Tailteann knowing that nothing but a win against the Royals will do to keep their hopes of a Leinster SFC Final place alive.
Meath had contrasting luck last weekend as they saw off the challenge of Laois and will be hoping to make it two from two this weekend.
Between them, Marion Farrelly and Emma Duggan struck 3-06 of Meath’s total tally of 3-11 last weekend and O’Hora’s charges will have to keep a close eye on the pair if they are to have a hope of getting their first points of the competition.
O’Hora, who returns for the first time to face the county she managed back in 2015, makes one change from the team that started against Dublin with Byrne resuming her place at full forward while Farrelly drops to the bench. Shane McCormack also makes one change as Áine Sheridan comes in ahead of Ciara Lawlor.
The game will be live streamed on Leinster LGFA Facebook with Jerome Quinn bringing all the action from Páirc Tailteann.
Meath: M McGuirk; A Sheridan, MK Lynch, N Troy; N Gallogly, L Young, K Newe; M O’Shaughnessy, A Cleary; M Thynne, S Melia, C Smyth; E Moyles, M Farrelly, E Duggan.
Kildare: M Hulgraine; F Troute, A Clifford, M Doherty; L Murtagh, R Sargent, L Gilbert; G Clifford (C), H McLoughlin; T Duggan, E Dowling, C Sullivan; N Dooley, R Byrne, A Rattigan.
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