Ladies kick the league into action this weekend

Compiled by Jackie Cahill

THE 2025 Lidl Ladies National Football League gets underway next Sunday with four games in Division 4.

The featured game, which will be live-streamed, is the ‘clash of the champions’ between Leitrim, the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate winners, and Fermanagh, who captured the TG4 All-Ireland Junior crown last year.

That fixture is scheduled for Kiltubrid while elsewhere on Sunday, Kilkenny host Antrim, Sligo entertain Wicklow and Derry make the trip to Longford.
All games will get underway at 2pm.

Sunday January 19, 2025

Lidl NFL Division 4 – All games at 2pm

Kilkenny v Antrim; Crettyard GAA, Laois

After winning the Division 4 title in 2023, Antrim endured a difficult 2024 campaign and were relegated back to the bottom tier.
The Saffrons will hope they can launch a second big promotion push in three seasons but they won’t find it easy in a competitive pool.
They’ll make the long trip to Crettyard on Sunday for a clash with Kilkenny, who’ll hope for better League fortunes in 2025.
The Cats lost all seven of their 2024 League fixtures and they’ll target some positive results in the coming season.

Kilkenny: K Fitzpatrick; R Crowley, A Galway, K Hennessy; R Roche, S Smith, S Dunne; A Ring, R Roche; L Gilmore, E Lawlor (capt.), J O’Keefe; K Purcell, L McDowell, A Ryan.

Antrim: A Devlin; C Finucane, M Blaney, N McIntosh; S O’Neill, C Brown, O Ní Corra; A Turley, A Mulholland; M O’Neill, O Dahunsi, A Kelly; B Devlin (capt.), N Jones, L Adams.

Leitrim v Fermanagh; Kiltubrid GAA

This fixture between the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland champions should be one to savour.
Leitrim, the Intermediate title winners, face Fermanagh, who claimed Junior glory at Croke Park on August 3 last.
Now, all eyes are on a promotion push for two teams who will be very much in the hunt.
Fermanagh and Leitrim were the top two sides in the group phase of Division 4 last year, finishing first and second respectively in the standings, but they both missed out on promotion after losing at the semi-final stage.
When they met in the 2024 Lidl NFL, Fermanagh ran out 1-9 to 0-9 winners but Leitrim have home advantage this time.
Leitrim’s All-Ireland winning captain Michelle Guckian is listed among the replacements for this fixture at her home club, while long-serving defender Charlene Tyrell has committed to another season of inter-county fare.

Leitrim: M Monaghan; E Quigley, C Tyrell, C Owens; S Reynolds, J Maye, R McIntyre; N Tighe, C Dolan; L O’Dowd, A Clancy, D Beirne; S Ward, S Quinn, A Gilmartin.

Fermanagh: M Maguire; E Murphy, C Clarke, S Martin; S McQuade (capt.), C Murphy, C Bogue; R O’Reilly, M McGloin; C McGarrigle, J Doonan, S.J. Jones; N McManus, B Bogue, E Smyth.

Sligo v Wicklow, Cloonacool GAA

Sligo were relegated from Division 3 last year and will be looking to bounce back at the first attempt.
But the Yeats County have a tough opener away to Wicklow, who won three, lost three and drew one of their seven fixtures in Division 4 last year.
On their day, Wicklow can be more than a match for anybody in Division 4, while Sligo will look to adjust quickly after making the drop from the third tier.
Both sides will be anxious to get off to a positive start, and particularly in a Division that also contains promotion favourites Fermanagh and Leitrim.

Sligo: E Maguire; A Molloy, C Dunne, H Walsh; T Breheny, C King, C Walsh; T Doddy, S Regan (capt.); R Kennedy, L Kelly, M McCormack; E Kelleher, L Normanly, A McDaniel.

Wicklow: E Griffin; M Corr, L Dunne, E.R. O’Toole; C Wafer, S.J. Winders (capt.), E O’Brien; A Harmon, A Gorman; L.J. Shannon, N Cullen, E Bourke; A Keegan, L Kemple, S Evans.

Longford v Derry; Glennon Brothers Pearse Park

Longford’s Lidl NFL form was mixed in Division 4 last year.
The Midlanders won two, lost three and drew two of their seven outings, and were well off the pace in the promotion race.
Derry, for their part, did manage to secure a victory against Kilkenny, but the Oak Leafers lost their other six games.
Glennon Brothers Pearse Park is the venue for a fixture that pits Longford, who finished sixth in the group standings last year against Derry, who concluded their League season second from bottom.

Longford: A Cooney; C McCormack, E Bleakley, L Keegan; E Duggan, E O’Brien (capt.), A Brady; S Gallagher, S Hagan; E O’Reilly, K Crawford, K McKeon; K Burke, N Brady, E Sheehy.

Derry: T Cassidy; T Donnelly, G Brewster, J Corr; E Dillon, S Hargan, C Dillon; A Crozier (capt.), O McEvoy; A Martin, L Casey, N Hannon; A Ni Lochlainn, J Slevin, K Deery.