Women's football championship: All you need to know

The TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC finalists will be confirmed on Saturday, with four former champions in the mix.

Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore will host a semi-final double-header, with holders Kerry taking on Meath at 5.15pm, followed by the meeting of Dublin and 2024 runners-up Galway at 7.30pm.

The last-four pairings were quarter-final ties last year and after coming through those final-eight fixtures, Galway and Kerry went on to contest the Croke Park decider.

The winners will contest the Final at HQ on Sunday 3 August (4.15pm).

ONLINE

Reports, round-ups and results on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app. Both semi-final are on live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel.

TV

Both semi-finals are live on TG4.

RADIO

Updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.

WEATHER

It'll be largely dry at first with plenty of cloud and limited sunny spells. Showery outbreaks of rain will continue to develop in the southwest through the morning, slowly extending over much of Munster through the afternoon and later into south Leinster and south Connacht bringing the possibility of spot flooding. For more visit met.ie.

SATURDAY

All-Ireland senior championship semi-final

Kerry v Meath, Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore, 5.15pm

Kerry and Meath get proceedings underway at Glenisk O’Connor Park as they meet in the All-Ireland senior championship for a fourth successive season.

Meath won the 2022 decider at Croke Park but Kerry had the upper hand in quarter-finals in 2023 and 2024.

On the evidence seen to date, there won’t be much to choose between the sides and when they met in Division 1 of the Lidl National League in March, Kerry won by just two points.

In their recent quarter-finals, Kerry started slowly before coming good to see off Kildare, as Meath got the better of Tipperary.

Kerry and Meath have proven matchwinners in their sides, with the Kingdom’s Síofra O’Shea on song with 3-02 against Kildare.

That tally took O’Shea’s All-Ireland SFC tally to 5-10 and she’s Kerry’s leading scorer, ahead of Danielle O’Leary, who’s chipped in with 1-10.

They’re just two Kerry players that will need close watching but at the other end, the reigning champions will need to keep a close eye on Meath’s leading scorers, Vikki Wall (2-05 to date) and Emma Duggan (0-10).

Meath are unchanged after surviving the Tipperary test, while Kerry have made one change to the team that overcame Kildare, as Jadyn Lucey comes in for Rachel Dwyer in the inside forward line.

Kerry: ME Bolger; E Lynch, D Kearney, C Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello, A Dillane; M O’Connell, A Galvin; N Carmody, N Ní Chonchúir, C Evans; J Lucey, S O’Shea, D O’Leary.

Meath: R Murray; Á Sheridan, M.K. Lynch, K Newe; A Cleary (capt), S Wall, K Kealy; O Sheehy, M Farrelly; M Thynne, N Gallogly, C Smyth; E Duggan, V Wall, K Cole.

Dublin v Galway, Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore, 7.30pm

Dublin star Hannah Tyrrell

With Dublin operating in Division 1, and Galway a tier below, there was no Lidl National League meeting between the sides this year, which means that the dramatic 2024 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final clash was the last competitive meeting between the counties.

Galway won a titanic clash at Parnell Park after extra-time and after going on to see off Cork in the last four, the Tribeswomen fell to Kerry in the final.

In this year’s quarter-finals, Dublin were too good for Cork, as Galway overcame a Waterford side that had been performing extremely well.

How the respective defences cope against highly talented forwards will go a long way towards deciding Saturday’s tie, and Hannah Tyrrell’s 5-17 marks her out as a player to watch on the Dublin side.

Tyrrell is Dublin’s ace shooter to date in the championship but Kate Sullivan, with 4-08, has also been performing extremely well.

Galway, runners-up last year and keen to get back to another final, have Olivia Divilly (0-13) and Kate Slevin (1-10) as their leading contributors in the scoring stakes but there’s danger all over the pitch when the Connacht champions move forward.

The Dublin team to start shows one change to the side that lined out against Cork, with Caoimhe O’Connor replacing Hannah McGinnis in attack.

Galway are unchanged after coming through the Waterford challenge.

Dublin: A Shiels; J Tobin, L Caffrey (capt), N Donlon; S Goldrick, M Byrne, N Crowley; É O’Dowd, N Hetherton; N Owens, C O’Connor, S McIntyre; H Tyrrell, C Darby, K Sullivan.

Galway: D Gower; B Quinn, S Ní Loingsigh, K Geraghty (capt); H Noone, N Ward, C Trill; L Ward, S Divilly; N Divilly, O Divilly, A Davoren; E Noone, L Coen, K Slevin.

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