TEAM NEWS: Ladies Football Championship

Compiled by Jackie Cahill

CAPTAIN Síofra O’Shea has been named in the Kerry team to face Dublin in Saturday’s mouth-watering TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship opener at Parnell Park (5pm – Live on TG4).

O’Shea was only fit enough for the last six minutes of the TG4 Munster Final loss to Cork on May 28 but is listed in the starting line-up for the trip to the capital.

O’Shea’s return is one of two changes in personnel from the team defeated by Cork as Kerry, the Lidl NFL Division 1 champions, begin their quest for back-to-back All-Ireland Final appearances with this Group 3 fixture.

O’Shea comes in for Niamh Carmody in attack, with Louise Galvin replacing Aoife Dillane further back.

For the hosts and current TG4 Leinster Senior champions, there’s just one change in personnel from the team that defeated Meath in the provincial final on May 28, with Aoife Kane coming in for Ellen Gribben.

The second live TG4 fixture on Saturday evening is the Group 4 clash between Galway and Cork from Pearse Stadium (7.30pm).

Following their Connacht Final loss to Mayo on May 7, Galway have made five changes in personnel to their starting line-up.

Karen Connolly comes in for Alanah Griffin in goal, with Aoife Molloy, Shauna Brennan, Lynsey Noone and Roisin Leonard also handed starts.

Charlotte Cooney, Siobhan Divilly, Eva Noone and Kate Slevin drop out of the team for this one.

Cork, meanwhile, have named an unchanged team after defeating Kerry to land the Munster crown.

The TG4 Senior Championship action gets underway at 1pm on Saturday, as Donegal welcome Waterford to Lifford for a 1pm start in Group 2.

Donegal stunned Armagh on May 28 to land the TG4 Ulster title and manager Maxi Curran has opted for two changes in personnel for the start of the All-Ireland series.

Shannon McGroddy and Ciara McGarvey, who scored the late goal that sealed Donegal’s Ulster Final win, come into the starting team in place of Karen Guthrie and Tanya Kennedy.

The Waterford starting team also shows two changes to the 15 that lined out against Cork in the round-robin stages of the Munster Championship on May 14.

Sheena McGuckian and Catherine Hynes are named to start against Donegal, with Bríd McMaugh and Eve Power dropping out.

In Portlaoise at 2pm, Group 1 gets underway with the meeting of hosts Laois and Armagh, in a repeat of the 2023 Lidl NFL Division 2 Final.

Laois last played on May 14 against Meath in the Leinster Championship and there are three changes to the team that started on that occasion, with Aoife Kirrane, Katie Donoghue and Grainne Moran coming in for Andrea Moran, Eva Galvin and Erone Fitzpatrick.

Armagh, who won that Lidl NFL Division 2 decider, have made one change to their Ulster Final team, with Louise Kenny replacing Catherine Marley for the Laois Hire O’Moore Park fixture.

There are two live games from the Senior Championship on TG4 on Saturday – as Dublin welcome Kerry to Parnell Park (5pm), before Galway host Cork at Pearse Stadium (7.30pm).

Laois: E Barry; S Farrelly, C Dunne, A Kelly; S Havill, E Healy (capt.), L Nerney; A Healy, O Hennessy; A Kirrane, L.M. Maher, G Moran, S.A. Fitzgerald, M Nerney, K Donoghue.

Armagh: A Carr; S Grey, C McCambridge, L Kenny; G Ferguson, L McConville, C Towe; N Coleman, E Lavery; B Mackin, A Mackin, E Druse; N Marley, K Mallon (capt.), A McCoy.

Donegal: C Friel; N Carr; A Temple Asoko, Nicole McLaughlin; A Boyle Carr, S McGroddy, T Hegarty; E Gallagher, Niamh McLaughlin (capt.); R Rodgers, K Long, K Dowds; N Hegarty, K Herron, C McGarvey.

Waterford: E O’Brien; C Murray, Karen McGrath (capt.), A Murray; N Power, Kate McGrath, E Murray; K Murray, A O’Neill; K Hogan, A Fitzgerald, C McCarthy; S McGuckian, C Hynes, L McGregor.

Dublin: A Shiels; N Crowley, L Caffrey, A Kane; O Nolan, M Byrne, E O’Dowd; L Magee, J Dunne; C O’Connor, J Egan, K Sullivan; F O’Connell-Bell, H Tyrrell, C Rowe (capt.).

Kerry: C Butler; E Lynch, K Cronin, C Murphy; A O’Connell, E Costello, L Galvin; L Scanlon, C Lynch; N Ní Chonchúir, S O’Shea (capt), A Galvin; H O’Donoghue, D O’Leary, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh.

Galway: K Connolly; K Geraghty, S Ní Loingsigh (capt.), A Ní Cheallaigh; A Molloy, N Ward, H Noone; A Davoren, L Coen; S Brennan, L Ward, L Noone; T Leonard, R Leonard, O Divilly.

Cork: M O’Sullivan; A Ryan, E Meaney, R Phelan; M Duggan, S Kelly, S Leahy; A Healy, C O’Sullivan; H Looney, D O’Sullivan, K Quirke; O Cahalane, E Kiely, L Coppinger.