Mayo and Tyrone teams named for senior ladies' clash

Mayo get their TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship underway tomorrow (Saturday) against Tyrone at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, Carrick-on-Shannon.

It's a second outing for Tyrone, who were beaten 6-16 to 3-13 by Armagh a week ago tonight, so the Red Hand county will be looking for a positive response to that setback. When they met in the championship last year, Tyrone ran Mayo to just three points.

Mayo manager Peter Leahy and his selectors have named nine of the team that started the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway last year, when a late Róisín Leonard free gave victory to the Tribeswomen.

Sarah Rowe, Aileen Gilroy, and Grace Kelly – three of the four Mayo players who went to Australia last year to line our for clubs in the AFL Women’s League – have been included in the team, despite fears that they may have been omitted from the squad following remarks by Peter Leahy earlier this year. Niamh Kelly, the fourth of those players, is not in tomorrow's starting 15.

The Mayo team in full is: L. Brennan; S. Lally, R. Durkin, Ciara McManamon; É. Ronayne, D. Finn, E. Brennan; A. Gilroy, Clodagh McManamon; G. Kelly, S. Cafferky (C), S. Rowe; M. Reilly, R. Kearns, T. O’Connor.

The Tyrone team is: L. Kane; C. Hunter, E. Mulgrew, C. Conway; T. McLaughlin, N. Woods (C), N. McGirr; M. Mallon, A. McHugh; N. Hughes, E. Brennan, D. Gallagher; N. O’Neill, G. Rafferty, C McCaffrey.

Elsewhere, Dublin and Kerry could both secure their semi-final spots this weekend. Dublin will advance to the last four with victory over Waterford, while a Kerry win over Munster rivals Cork would also secure a knockout spot for the Kingdom.

There are two live games on TG4, starting this evening (Friday) with the clash of Monaghan and Tipperary at Parnell Park (7.30 p.m), while the TG4 cameras will be in Austin Stack Park in Tralee tomorrow (Saturday) as a draw conducted this week at LGFA headquarters ensured home advantage for Kerry against Cork (3 p.m.).

The Mayo v Tyrone and Dublin v Waterford games both throw-in at 1 p.m. tomorrow, with the former being shown on the LGFA Facebook page.

*Pictured above, Rachel Kearns of Mayo kicks a free during the Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 1 match against Waterford earlier this year. Kearns has been named at full-forward for Mayo's championship opener against Tyrone tomorrow. Photo: Sam Barnes / Sportsfile