Donegal and Sligo women’s gaelic footballers make their respective entrances this weekend in the TG4 All-Ireland senior and junior championships – while Leitrim continue their intermediate campaign on Sunday with a must-win game against Louth in Carlingford. Here’s a run-through the championship campaign ahead for the three north west counties:
DONEGAL
Maxi Curran’s Donegal are one of 13 counties contesting the All-Ireland senior championship. They begin this Saturday with their opening Group 2 game against Waterford in Lifford at 1pm. Buoyed by their recent Ulster final success against Armagh, Donegal will be keeping one eye on match two in the group – against reigning All-Ireland champions Meath on July 1st. But, with two teams set to qualify from the three-team group for the All-Ireland quarter-finals, a win over Waterford this weekend is key result Donegal will be targeting.
LEITRIM
Jonny Garrity’s Leitrim are already up and running in Group 1 of the All-Ireland intermediate championship. They produced a commendable display against Kildare in their opening group game last Sunday, before eventually going down to the new Leinster champions by five points (5-10 to 4-8). That makes this Sunday’s trip to Louth a must-win game with two quarter-final places available from this three-team Group 1.
SLIGO
Relegated from the intermediate grade last year, Sligo return to the All-Ireland junior championship this season – a championship they famously won outright back in 2006. The absence of a several senior names from the squad in recent season has made Sligo’s transition journey a tricky one. But under new manager Cormac Reape, who took over from Anthony Brennan mid-season, there was enough performance-wise during their Division 3 campaign to suggest Sligo can be a force in the junior championship this summer. The return of dual star Roisín Molloy (Athlone Town FC) to the county panel is a boost too. Sligo are in a four-team Group A which also includes Limerick and Kilkenny. Their first game this Sunday will be the toughest, against Down in Markievicz Park at 2pm, who were also relegated from intermediate football last season. Two teams from Group A will qualify directly for the All-Ireland junior semi-finals (there are no quarter-finals in junior).
Ocean FM Sport this Sunday will broadcast live from Markievicz Park from half-past-one.
Weekend fixtures
Saturday, June 17th
TG4 All-Ireland SFC Group 2
Donegal v Waterford
Lifford, 1pm
Sunday, June 18th
TG4 All-Ireland IFC Group 1
Louth v Leitrim
Carlingford, 2pm
TG4 All-Ireland JFC Group A
Sligo v Down
Markievicz Park, 2pm.
