Previews: This weekend’s LGFA action at a glance

Compiled by Jackie Cahill

THE final pairings for the 2026 TG4 All-Ireland Junior and Intermediate Championships will be confirmed on Sunday.

All four semi-finals are down for decision – with double-headers fixed for St Tiernach’s Park in Clones and Cavan’s Kingspan Breffni.

Antrim, Sligo, Carlow and Derry are chasing Junior final slots, with Down, Fermanagh, Roscommon and Westmeath the last four standing in the race for Intermediate glory.

There are two big games fixed for Saturday, with the inaugural All-Ireland U-20 final between Donegal and Galway fixed for Tubbercurry.

In the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship, Munster rivals Tipperary and Waterford go head to head in Mallow in a relegation playoff. The winners will retain Senior status for 2027, while the losers will be relegated to the Intermediate grade.

All six of the weekend fixtures will be shown live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SportTG4/streams

Saturday July 11

All-Ireland U-20 Championship final

Donegal v Galway; Kilcoyne Park, Tubbercurry, 1pm – Live on Spórt TG4 YouTube

The inaugural All-Ireland U-20 final pits Donegal against Galway.

To qualify for the final, Galway topped a group that also contained Dublin, Cork, Mayo and Meath.

Donegal finished as Ulster champions and that guaranteed them a safe passage to the final.

DONEGAL: E McGarvey; N Devlin, R Doherty, S Ryan; M Diver, T Rose Mahon (capt.), R McLaughlin; L Ward, K McMullin; C Costello, M Brady, A Boyle; C Fletcher, A O’Neill, S Thomas.

GALWAY: E Ryan; E Jordan, L Seoighe, S Coleman; R Quinn, C McCabe, A Madden; K Slattery, S Murray; A Murray, S Banks, K Banek (capt.); I Murray, A O’Malley, A Heneghan.

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship – Relegation playoff

Tipperary v Waterford; Mallow Sports Complex, 2pm – Live on Spórt TG4 YouTube

A huge game for both counties, who will feel they are too good to go down.

Both teams achieved victories over Cork in the TG4 Munster Senior Championship – and Waterford contested a provincial final – but they found the going tough in the All-Ireland series.

Tipp finished bottom of the pile in a group that also contained Kerry and Kildare, as Waterford lost out to Armagh and Cork in the group stages.

In the relegation qualifiers, Waterford were defeated by Donegal, as Tipp lost out to Tyrone.

The winners of this one will stay alive in the Senior grade, with the losers facing Intermediate Championship football in 2027.

TIPPERARY: L Fitzpatrick; T Hoare, L Spillane, E Cronin; K Cashman, M Curley, S English; L Morrissey, A Kennedy (capt.); A Ryan, L Cunningham, H Spillane; A Carey, E Morrissey, K Crotty Ryan.

WATERFORD: K Gardner; C Murray, L Mulcahy, R Casey; R Browne, K McGrath, L Cusack; E Power, Á O’Neill; K Murray (capt.), C Walsh, K Hogan; M Daly, B McMaugh, L McGregor.

Sunday July 12

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship semi-finals

Antrim v Sligo; St Tiernach’s Park, Clones, 2pm – Live on Spórt TG4 YouTube

ANTRIM were beaten finalists last year and will be keen to get back to Croke Park.

But they’ll face stiff opposition from Sligo in what is a repeat of last year’s semi-final.

Sligo haven’t contested a Junior decider since winning the competition back in 2006 – and they’ll be keen to bridge a 20-year gap.

Antrim, who have the country’s leading scorer, Maria O’Neill, in their ranks, finished on top of Group A to reach the semi-finals, with Sligo second behind Carlow in Group B.

ANTRIM: A Devlin; E Kearns, M Blaney, M Mulholland; L Agnew, D Coleman, C McKenna; L Dahunsi, Á Tubridy; T Mellon, B Devlin (capt.), A Davidson; E Louise McAreavey, M O’Neill, O Prenter.

SLIGO: E McGuire; H Gilligan, C Dunne, A Durcan; C King, C Walsh, T Breheny (capt.); S Regan, S Cunney; A McDaniel, D McGrath, S Feeney; L Duffy, R McGoldrick, B Lavin.

Carlow v Derry; Kingspan Breffni, 2pm – Live on Spórt TG4 YouTube

Carlow have been knocking at the door for a number of years and will hope that it will finally open.

Following a series of semi-final near misses, Carlow missed out on a last-four spot last year but they’re back at the penultimate stage as they aim to qualify for a very first final.

Opponents Derry have shown good form in the All-Ireland series, with victory over Antrim a stand-out result.

They have Annie Ní Lochlainn in exceptional form, with the free-scoring star earning The Croke Park Hotel/LGFA Player of the Month award for June.

A Derry win would see them back in a TG4 All-Ireland Junior final for the first time since 2017.

CARLOW: N Hanley; A Carroll, A Roche, S O’Neill; A Webb, N Forde, R Bermingham; R Bailey (capt.), C O’Neill; E Hayden, C Ní Shé, A Hanley; B Nolan, S Doyle, A Kiernan.

DERRY: T Cassidy; L Brewster, S Hargan, J Corr; A Donnelly, S Heron, S Duggan; C Donnelly, K Hargan; B Donnelly (capt.), O McGeough, A Ní Lochlainn; N Hannon, J Shivers, J Slevin.

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship semi-finals

Down v Fermanagh; St Tiernach’s Park, Clones, 4pm – Live on Spórt TG4 YouTube

What promises to be a cracking Ulster derby pits Down against Fermanagh.

Down won this competition in 2014, when they beat Fermanagh in the final.

Only one of them can make it through this time and the scene is set for what promises to be rip-roaring game.

Down have Eimear Fitzpatrick leading their attacking charge, with 3-22 to date in the All-Ireland series.

On the Fermanagh side, their superb forward Eimear Smyth will need watching, and she’s on a running total of 3-20 coming into this one.

At the quarter-final stage, Fermanagh got the better of Clare to advance, with Down overcoming Monaghan.

DOWN: M Deery; N Loudon, E Sands, A Greene; N Edgar, O Blaney, N McClory; M Doherty, K Howlett; A Laverty, L Duffy (capt.), N McGrath; N King, E Fitzpatrick, E Hicks.

FERMANAGH: A Haren; Courteney Breen, S McCarville, S McQuade (capt.); A Keenan, C Bogue, B Bannon; A McCarney, Caitriona Breen; S Britton, N McManus, C Gallagher; C McGarrigle, E Smyth, J Doonan.

Roscommon v Westmeath; Kingspan Breffni, 4pm – Live on Spórt TG4 YouTube

Two former winners battle it out for a place in the final.

Roscommon were winners in 2005, while Westmeath claimed the silverware in 2021 and 2011.

Westmeath were semi-finalists last year, losing out narrowly to eventual winners Tyrone after extra-time in what was a magnificent game.

Their form to date in 2026 has been impressive and a Leinster derby victory over Wexford was achieved at the quarter-final stage.

On the other side of the draw, Roscommon also claimed victory in a provincial derby, as they overcame Connacht rivals Leitrim.

ROSCOMMON: H Cummins (capt.); M McKeon, A Connaughton, A McGrath; N Feeney, R Cox, E Thompson; E Irwin, A Curran; L Mannion, S Wynne, A Feely; R Lennon, K Nolan, C Lennon.

WESTMEATH: A Temple; Lara McCartan, S Murphy, F Coyle (capt.); P Ruane, L Power, C Kelly Gonoud; A Jones, V Carr; A Keegan, Lucy McCartan, T Dillon; K Kilmurray, S Dillon, R Higgins.