Knockout football looms for ladies
The final round of group games in the Ladies Senior, Intermediate and Junior A football championships concluded on Saturday and attention now turns to the quarter-finals and relegation play-offs, writes Anna Gardiner.
This year’s senior championship looks likely to play out in similar fashion to the 2025 campaign, including what are expected to be identical semi-final pairings.
Dunboyne and Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels are, once again, straight through to the penultimate stages. Royal Gaels will play the winners of Navan O’Mahonys and Skryne, while Dunboyne await the outcome of Seneschalstown and Oldcastle.
The two home teams, Navan O’Mahonys and Seneschalstown, would be favoured to progress from the quarter-finals, but neither Skryne or Oldcastle will be daunted by their respective opposition. It's three years since Skryne were last in a senior quarter-final against O’Mahonys and on that occasion, they caused an upset.
Who’s to say they won’t do it again?
At the bottom of the table, Donaghmore Ashbourne let a half-time lead slip against Skryne on Friday and will now meet Dee Rangers in the relegation decider. Both teams have struggled this year but they will be putting everything on the line in the hopes of winning their first championship game of 2026 and avoiding demotion.
In the IFC, Walterstown have booked their place in their first ever intermediate semi-final and they will face the winners of the quarter-final between St Ultan’s and Na Fianna.
Boardsmill are the other team to have secured a home semi-final. Their opposition will be determined by the result of the second quarter-final between Summerhill and St Colmcille’s.
Both Walterstown and Boardsmill have won all three of their group games, finishing with decisive victories over Simonstown and St Michael’s on Saturday.
It is Simonstown and St Michael’s who will fight it out in relegation. Simonstown have lost their three group games by an average margin of 19 points and this is the second consecutive year they have found themselves in an intermediate relegation battle.
St Michael’s, on the other hand, have made semi-finals for the last three years prior to this. The common denominator? Both have lost key players to ACL injury over the last year or two. Coincidentally, Simonstown’s one competitive win so far this year was over St Michael’s in the Jacksie Kiernan Cup. They will hope to replicate this feat on Saturday in Carlanstown.
Round three of the Junior A competition has set up quarter-finals between Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels B and Trim, and St Pat’s (runners-up 2025) and Clann na nGael.
Moynalvey and Ratoath have earned home semi-final spots, having topped their groups. Ratoath, who played intermediate football in 2025, would have been expected to be in this position, but Moynalvey, who were in relegation for the last two years, are a side that no one would have predicted as the standout team in Group B this year.
In the relegation game, Kilbride, Junior B champions in 2024, find themselves at risk of returning to that grade. They play a St Peter’s Dunboyne second team who, having lost out in last year’s semi-final by the narrowest of margins, have found the going tough this year with the loss of a number of players to the club’s senior squad.