Previews: This weekend’s LGFA games at a glance

By Jackie Cahill

THERE’S more provincial silverware on offer over the weekend – with the TG4 Leinster Senior final taking centre stage on Sunday.

Dublin will aim for a 13th successive provincial crown when they tackle Kildare at Croke Park (12pm).

That game will be live-streamed on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.

On Saturday, the Leinster Junior and Intermediate champions will be crowned, with Ulster Junior and Intermediate finals down for decision. Live coverage of those games is also on offer.

Also on Saturday, Cork’s opponents in the Munster Senior B final will be confirmed.

Antrim star Devlin bidding for another Ulster title

Saturday May 16

TG4 Leinster Junior Championship – Final

Carlow v Longford; Cedral St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge, 1.15pm – Live Stream

CARLOW will be looking to make it third time lucky when they tackle Longford in Saturday’s TG4 Leinster Junior Final.

The 2026 Lidl NFL Division 4 champions lost provincial deciders to Louth in 2024 and 2025.

But they’ll start as favourites to annex a first Leinster title since 2023 against Longford, who are aiming to claim the silverware for the first time in a decade.

Carlow can boast a 100 per cent record across League and Championship this year and they’ve already beaten Longford in the group stages of the Leinster campaign by seven points.

That was an encouraging display for Longford, however, as 22 points separated the sides when the met in the group stages of the Lidl National League.

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; M Townsend, S Doyle, A Kiernan.

LONGFORD: A Cooney; A Scanlon, L Keegan, E Doris; S Dawson, E Bleakley, E Farrell; S Gallagher (capt.), S Hagan; H Burke, M Farrell, A Nolan; K Crawford, K Burke, A Darcy.

TG4 Leinster Intermediate Championship – Final

Westmeath v Wexford; Cedral St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge, 3.30pm – Live Stream

A third successive TG4 Leinster Intermediate decider pits Westmeath, the holders, against Wexford, winners in 2024.

It’s been tit for tat between the teams and another close encounter is anticipated in Newbridge.

Westmeath had the upper hand when the sides met in Division 2 of the Lidl National League but both teams were relegated from the second tier.

Championship has seen an upturn in fortunes for both, with seasoned observers in both counties predicting positive summer campaigns.

Clinching a Leinster title would be lovely way to gear up for the upcoming All-Ireland series.

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

WEXFORD: S Cloake; A Tormey, K English, J Dempsey; O Kehoe, A Halligan (capt.), R Hughes; B McDonald, C Donnelly; A Cullen, A Hughes, O Byrne; E Tomkins, C Banville, K Dempsey.

TG4 Ulster Junior Championship – Final

Antrim v Derry; Brewster Park, Enniskillen, 2.30pm – Live on Ulster LGFA Facebook and YouTube

A repeat of last year’s final pits holders Antrim against Derry.

It’s already been a cracking year for Antrim, who gained promotion to Division 2 of the Lidl National League, while also contesting a Division 3 final.

The Saffrons have carried that good form into the Ulster Championship, defeating Derry and London to reach the final.

Antrim had seven points to spare against Derry when the sides met in the group stages and they’ll start as favourites against the Oak Leafers, who are chasing a first Ulster Junior title since 2018.

Derry showed good form in their victory over London, racking up 7-19, and they’ll quietly fancy their chances of causing an upset.

ANTRIM (v Derry): A Devlin; E Kearns, M Blaney, M Mulholland; L Agnew, C Brown, D Coleman; O Dahunsi, A Tubridy; T Mellon, M O’Neill, A Davidson; E L McAreavey, B Devlin (capt.), A Monaghan.

DERRY (v Antrim): T Cassidy; C Dillon, L Brewster, S Hargan; A Donnelly, B Donnelly, S Heron; S Duggan, C Donnelly; J Shivers, C Moore, N Hannon; R Doherty, A Ni Lochlainn, J Slevin.

TG4 Ulster Intermediate Championship – Final

Cavan v Monaghan; Brewster Park, Enniskillen, 5pm – Live on Ulster LGFA Facebook and YouTube

Neighbours Cavan and Monaghan are getting set to battle it out for TG4 Ulster Intermediate glory.

Last year, Cavan won their first title since 2011 and are now aiming for back-to-back crowns.

They’ll face a Monaghan team looking to win the Ulster Intermediate silverware for the very first time, and appearing in a first final since 2024.

It’s been another excellent year for Cavan, who will play Division 1 football next year after contesting the Lidl NFL Division 2 final.

Cavan won by three points when the sides met in the League and they also beat Monaghan in last year’s Ulster semi-final.

In their respective semi-finals in 2026, Cavan overcame Fermanagh to progress, as Monaghan avenged last year’s final loss against Down.

There’s never much to separate Saturday’s finalists and another tight affair is expected.

CAVAN (v Monaghan): E Baugh; Z Fay, S Lynch (capt.), A Kennedy; L Crowe, C Charters, S Greene; M Fitzpatrick, D Lynch; K McCormack, E Sheridan, C Dolan; N Keenaghan, A Sheridan, N McCorry.

MONAGHAN (v Cavan): O Kelly; A Loughman, A McQuaid, K Nolan; M Monaghan, R Courtney (capt.), A Garland; M Atkinson, N Flanagan; C Treanor, C Courtney, A McCormack; C McBride, L Maguire, E Sherry.

Munster Senior B

Limerick v Cork; Gerald Griffins, 2pm

With three wins from three, Cork are safely through to the final.

Limerick need to win, and potentially win big, to have any chance of joining them.

The Shannonsiders would also need a favour from Tipperary in that case.

LIMERICK: S Hennessy; C Ryan, A Russell, R Fitzgibbon; S Hickey, M MacNamara, C Real; O Ryan, E Hickey; E Crowe, L O’Brien, O McCarthy; L Brown, T Geoghegan, M Creedon.

CORK: C Forde; N Kennedy, E Cooney (capt.), E Tarrant; A O’Sullivan, M Beausang, K O’Donovan; A McDonagh, R Murphy; S Beausang, N Sheehan, A McTaggart; S Pattwell, H Quirke, C Dooley.

Tipperary v Clare, Clonmel Sportsfield, 2pm

Clare know what they have to do ahead of their visit to Clonmel.

Avoid defeat and they’re though to the final and a clash with Cork.

Even a loss might be good enough as Clare have a healthy score difference (+33).

Wins for Limerick and Tipp would leave three teams locked together behind Cork on six points – Clare, Limerick and Tipp. Score difference would come into play then to decide the second final slot, with Limerick on +16 and Tipperary on -2.

But if Tipperary get the job done against Clare, they may well progress on the head to head rule, provided that Cork also beat Limerick. There are plenty of potential permutations at play.

TIPPERARY: D Morrissey; N Spillane, L McGrath, M Cronin; A Campion, C O’Connor, H Walsh; S O’Carroll, E Franklin; H Cleere, N O’Donovan, E Hogan; H Brennan, N Ryan, I Carr.

CLARE: R Sexton; H Doyle, R Doohan, A Kelly; L Cleary, J Doohan (capt.), L Power; T Collins, A Slattery; L Kelly, A Sexton, S Melican; E O’Driscoll, C Moloney, L Conway.

Sunday May 17

TG4 Leinster Senior Championship – Final

Dublin v Kildare; Croke Park, 12pm – Live on Spórt TG4 YouTube

Dublin will aim for a 13th successive TG4 Leinster senior title when they tackle Kildare at Croke Park on Sunday.

Kildare are preparing for a first Leinster senior final since 2009 and the Lilywhites have never won this competition.

They’ll be up against it when they tackle the provincial and All-Ireland champions at Croke Park but just six points separated the teams when they met in the round-robin phase of the competition.

That was Kildare’s last competitive outing, as victory over Meath in Round 1 proved good enough to secure a final slot.

Kildare are unchanged as they look ahead to a provincial date with destiny, while Dublin have made two changes to the side that accounted for Meath last weekend.

Laura Grendon and Michelle Davoren are handed starts, with Rachel Hartnett and Jodi Egan dropping out of the starting line-up.

Looking at the history books, Dublin have won every Leinster title on offer bar one since 2008. Laois broke that sequence with victory in 2011 but it’s been a Dublin tale of dominance ever since.

DUBLIN: A Shiels; N Crowley, L Caffrey, H Leahy; S McIntyre, L Magee, H McGinnis; N Hetherton, O Nolan; A Timothy, C Rowe (capt.), K Donaghy; M Davoren, L Grendon, C O’Connor.

KILDARE: R Fennin; A Mernagh, E Wheeler, L Shaw; H McLoughlin, R Sargent, L Lenehan (capt.); A Irhue, G Wheeler; L Curran, C Wheeler, M Aspel; A Rattigan, M Doyle, A Prizeman.