TG4 All-Ireland Ladies’ JFC semi-final
Fermanagh v Limerick (Sunday, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2pm, live on Sport TG4)
FAMILIAR foes Fermanagh and Limerick will battle it out for a place in the All-Ireland junior final when they meet in the semi-final for the third successive year.
This is probably the most difficult knock-out round to navigate, with a final berth so close and for the losing side there is always that tinge of ‘could’ve, should’ve, would’ve’.
Both teams have serious designs on not just reaching the final but winning the title, so this game is expected to go right down to the wire.
A point separated the sides in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, Limerick winning 0-10 to 1-6 to reach the final, where they lost to Down.
The previous year, Fermanagh won 7-9 to 3-12, before losing to Antrim in the final.
They also met in 2020, Fermanagh coming out on top in that one on their way to winning the All-Ireland title.
The sides have already met in the league this year, Fermanagh winning by five points down in Limerick 0-9 to 0-4, but despite that defeat, the Munster side still reached the league final, gaining promotion to Division Three for 2025, although they did lose to Carlow in the Division Four decider.
Erne manager CJ McGourty is expecting there to be little between the sides and would not rule out the possibility of extra-time being required.
“Limerick are a team Fermanagh have played regularly over the last three or four years and there is very little between them, so it’s all on the day,” said McGourty.
“When you get to a semi-final you expect all the teams to be good and that’s what Limerick are, they are a very, very good outfit, a seasoned outfit that have been in semi-finals and finals over the last number of years, so we are under no illusions that it’s going to come down to the wire on the Sunday.”
Defences will have to be on top and Limerick know they need to curtail the threat of Eimear Smyth – she currently leads the scoring charts with 6-31, 23 points ahead of Wicklow’s Niamh Caffrey.
However, Fermanagh’s strength is in their ability to get scores from all over – Blaithin Bogue, Lisa and Danielle Maguire, Aoife McCabe, Joanne Doonan, Niamh McManus.
Limerick will likely set up defensively with a sweeper and try to turnover their opposition before transitioning to attack with quick passing, getting captain Róisín Ambrose and the likes of Cathy Mee, Kate Kennedy, Caoimhe McGrath and Meadhbh MacNamara on as much ball as possible for scores.
It is a busy weekend for McGourty, who had the not-so-small matter of his wedding to fiancée Claire yesterday, so winning tomorrow would certainly be the icing on the cake.
“We believe if we can improve on those small aspects from the last couple of games that we are looking to improve on, we will be a match for Limerick and it’s a 50-50 game. They won last year so we will try to turn the tables on that result.
“To reach an All-Ireland final any year is an outstanding achievement, and it would be nice to get there but there are a long 60, maybe 80 minutes, in front of us to have to get through to try and achieve that.
“We want to get there, Limerick want to get there, Carlow and Louth want to get there. We will just try our best on Sunday to try and concentrate on getting the performance and hopefully the result then.”
The other semi-final sees Louth take on Carlow tomorrow in Parnell Park (4pm).
