Lidl National Football League Division Four Final: Antrim v Leitrim (Sunday, Parnell Park, 2pm live on TG4 Sport YouTube)
ANTRIM and Leitrim will battle it out for Division Four honours in Parnell Park tomorrow afternoon in this final hurdle in their pursuit for promotion.
The Saffrons hope to rewrite the history books and clinch a first league title, on their fourth attempt, while Leitrim are looking to return to the third tier of league football for the first time since 2018.
They are the last remaining counties among nine in the two group Division Four league and many expected them to be the final two standing - although Fermanagh were not far away either – and so it transpired.
It’s a toss of the coin who will emerge victorious from these two heavyweights. Leitrim may just pip Antrim to carry the favourites tag into the final by way of their established intermediate championship status, having had an extra league game by virtue of the split, and with their most recent final appearance just two years ago in 2021.
Both sides have reached the final unbeaten, Antrim having won their three group games and then defeating Limerick in the semi-final while Leitrim dropped points against Limerick in the group stages and needed extra-time to see off Fermanagh in the semis last month.
Antrim have been very clear all throughout this year’s league campaign about their intentions on going the whole way and manager Emma Kelly believes they can win but knows they need everything to go right on the day as it will come down to fine margins.
“We have the squad, the strength and the depth and the quality. I think it’s going to come down to who turns up on the day. If Antrim put in a performance then I think we will come out on the right side,” said Kelly.
“Leitrim are good defensively so we need a good start, we need to go at them as hard as we can, we need to be strong. They have a couple of key players so we need to get our match-ups right and make sure that everybody does their job and knows their role.”
Antrim certainly have match-winners and players on Leitrim’s radar Orlaith Prenter at full-forward, captain Cathy Carey's experience at centre half forward, Aoife Taggart, Lara Dahunsi, Bronagh Devlin operating around them in the forward lines and Aine Tubridy in midfield. T
hey also have the experience at the back not least in goalkeeper Anna McCann, Ciara Brown, Niamh McIntosh, Duana Coleman and Sarah O'Neill among the defenders who can step up for their side.
“I think the amount of turnovers is going to be vital and I think our work-rate has been pretty good, our intensity and press on kick outs has been good and I think it’s going to come down to work-rate and of turnovers.
“It’s going to be an exciting game. I’m hoping our girls really go at it, show what they can do and the quality they have. They do believe and it is something that we really want and need as a county to continue to develop and progress,” added Kelly.
Lidl National Football League Division One Final: Galway v Kerry (Saturday, Croke Park, 5pm live on TG4)
THIS year's Division One final has produced the novel pairing of Kerry and Galway who meet for the first time at in a top tier league decider, the second of a double header at GAA Headquarters today.
It's not the first time they have met in any league final before having contested the 2013 Division Two final with Kerry winning.
Kerry are aiming to do what Meath did a year ago and follow up a Division Two title from the previous year and land the coveted top tier league trophy but this is their first Divsion One final since 2008 while Galway's last appearance on this stage was in 2019 but missed out on a first Division One title to Cork.
Lidl National Football League Division Three Final: Clare v Kildare (Sunday, Parnell Park, 4pm live on TG4 Sport YouTube)
KILDARE and Clare have their sights on a Divsion Three title when they meet in tomorrow's final in the second game of a double header at Parnell Park.
Kildare finished top of the table but did lose one league game, that against Louth while Clare lost two games - one to Kildare by two points, 0-9 to 0-7 in the third round, and the other to Wexford in the second round - but still managed to finished second in the table with a better points difference ahead of Wexford and Down.
Clare were relegated from Division Two last year, losing out in a play-off to Tyrone, and are hoping to bounce straight back while Kildare last played in the second tier in 2017 and hope to go one step further than their last Division Three final appearance in 2021 which ended in defeat.
Clare's last league title came in 2011 when they won Division Three while Kildare's last league silverware was the Division Two title in 2004.
