Meath hoping for third time lucky perhaps?
Meath will be in action in the TG4 Ladies All-Ireland Intermediate Football Championship at Dunleer on Sunday.
The Meath women will be hoping to make it a case of third time lucky after losing the All-Ireland finals of 2018 and 2019.
Meath Chronicle reporter Fergal Lynch will be at the game in Dunleer on Sunday and has already previewed the action separately.
Here we have the views of the Ladies GFA Commercial and Communications Manager Jackie Cahill on the prospects of the teams this weekend.
All the team lists are also included.
SATURDAY 31st OCTOBER
Group 1 Round 1 - Wexford v Offaly – Clane, 1pm
Group 2 Round 1 - Longford v Westmeath – Mullahoran, 1pm
SUNDAY 1st NOVEMBER
Group 3 Round 1 - Meath v Down – Lannleire, 1pm
Group 4 Round 1 - Kildare v Clare – St Rynagh’s, Banagher, Offaly, 1pm
Group 4 Round 1 - Sligo v Laois – Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon, 1pm
ANALYSIS
Wexford v Offaly: Leinster rivals Wexford and Offaly meet in Clane to get Group 1 of the Intermediate Championship underway.
It’s a competitive pool that also contains Roscommon – who contested a semi-final against Meath last year.
Wexford have former Kerry ace Bernie Breen anchoring their midfield, with Caitriona Murray a proven scoring threat up front.
Offaly have players from 2019 All-Ireland Intermediate club champions Naomh Ciaran to call upon – and there have been recent signs of a Faithful County revival.
Wexford: D Fox; L Doyle, A Tormey (capt.), E Neville; S Harding-Kenny, R Murphy, C Donnelly; K Kearney, B Breen; C Banville, A Wilson, D Doyle; A Murphy, M Byrne, C Murray.
Offaly: S Byrne; E Flynn, A.M. McCormack, N Farrelly; C Galvin, K Kehoe, A Kehoe (capt.); E Maher, K Guinan; A Gavin Mangan, M Byrne, C Sheridan; G Egan, E McEvoy, L Keena.
Longford v Westmeath – An interesting Group 2 contains three Leinster counties – and Westmeath will fancy their chances of advancing to the semi-finals.
The Lake County were a Senior outfit last year – and are anxious to bounce back at the first attempt.
Longford will provide stout resistance in this Mullahoran opener – while 2019 Junior champions Louth have the chance to study both opponents before they enter the fray next weekend.
Lucy McCartan has worn the Republic of Ireland soccer shirt and is a huge attacking threat for Westmeath – while Longford skipper Michelle Farrell is another talented soccer player with bags of experience.
Longford: R McGrath; C Mulligan, R O’Farrell, G Reilly; C Farrell, E O’Brien, O Nevin; G Shannon, A O’Hara; M Farrell (capt.), A Darcy; K Shannon, C Lohan, E Heaney.
Westmeath: L McCormack; R Dillon, L Power, T Fagan; V Carr, F Claffey (capt.), A Roche; J Maher, T Dillon; L Archibold, A Jones, L McCartan; S Dolan, C Blundell, K Hegarty.
Down v Meath – Can Meath make it third time lucky? The Royals have suffered defeat in the 2018 and 2019 All-Ireland Intermediate finals – and are aiming for a December 20 slot at Croke Park.
Down are a team to watch, however, and Natasha Ferris is a player capable of racking up a massive score.
She’ll have to get past Meath’s TG4 All Star goalkeeper Monica McGuirk, however, while the Leinster outfit have players capable of hurting the opposition.
Vikki Wall scored a goal of the season contender in the All-Ireland semi-final victory over Roscommon last year – while Stacey Grimes is another noted score-getter.
Meath: M McGuirk; K Newe, S Wall, E Troy; E Duggan, S Ennis, M Thynne; M O’Shaughnessy (capt.), V Wall; A Leahy, S Grimes, N Gallogly; A Moffat, N O’Sullivan, O Byrne.
Down: A Burns; C Cunningham, C Byrne, A Greene; O Duffy, K White, M Adegbamiye; A Keown, O Lavery; A.M. Magee, J Foy, K McKay (capt.); S Dougherty, N Ferris, M Doherty.
MEATH'S VIKKI WALL
Clare v Kildare - Kildare were going great guns in Division 3 of the Lidl National League before Covid-19 brought the competition to a halt.
The Lilywhites had scored five victories from five outings and were emerging as a team of real substance.
It remains to be seen how the break has affected Kildare, and indeed all teams in the competition, but Daniel Moynihan’s outfit are a team to watch.
Opponents Clare were languishing towards the bottom of Division 2, with a point from five games, and that crude line of form suggests that this one will be close.
Former Waterford ace Gráinne Kenneally is in the Kildare team, while the brilliant Niamh O’Dea will spearhead the Clare attack.
Kildare: M Hulgraine; R Cribbin, L Gilbert, S Kendrick; S Munnelly, G Kenneally, L Murtagh; S O’Sullivan, E Burke; N Sinnott, L Curran, A Rattigan; G Clifford (capt.), N Dooley, R Byrne.
Clare: M Glynn; S Ní Conaill, E O’Gorman (capt.), G Harvey; R Considine, O Devitt, Á Keane; L Egan, C Harvey; E O’Connor, F Marrinan, C Hickey; N O’Dea, G Nolan, C Blake.
Laois v Sligo – Sligo had lost all five games in Division 3 before the Lidl National League was suspended.
Laois, in contrast, had scored victories over Fermanagh and Longford, while also earning a draw against Wicklow in a high-scoring game.
Laois are a county with a rich heritage in the Senior grade but the aim for a while now has been to regain that Senior status.
Sligo have come close in recent times, contesting semi-finals in 2016, 2018 and again last year.
Lauren Boles is a player to watch in the Sligo inside line, while captain Anna Healy was the Laois player of the year in 2019.
Laois: E Barry; C Dunne, J McEvoy, A Potts; R Williams, L Nerney, J Moore; E Healy, F Dooley; A Healy (capt.), M Nerney, O Hennessy; E Lawlor, A Moran, S.A. Fitzgerald.
Sligo: L Muldoon; A Morrisroe, M McNamara, A Gilroy; C Gilroy, C Dunne, J Lyons; N Brennan (capt.), L Lindsay; E Codd, K Maloney, A Molloy; L Kelly, L Boles, R O’Brien.
NEXT - FIXTURE FOCUS
SUNDAY 8th NOVEMBER
Group 1 Round 2 - Roscommon V Wexford
Group 2 Round 2 - Louth V Longford
Group 3 Round 2 - Leitrim v Meath
Group 4 Round 2 - Clare v Laois
Group 4 Round 2 - Sligo V Kildare
SUNDAY 15th NOVEMBER
Group 1 Round 3 - Offaly v Roscommon
Group 2 Round 3) - Westmeath v Louth
Group 3 Round 3 - Down V Leitrim
Group 4 Round 3 - Kildare V Laois
Group 4 Round 3 - Clare v Sligo