Fermanagh semi-final challenge up next for Limerick ladies footballers

AN All-Ireland final for the second year in-a-row is on the cards for the Limerick ladies football team with only Fermanagh standing in their way in this year's TG4 Junior Ladies Championship semi-final.

The decider which takes place in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park this Sunday, July 14 at 2pm is the first of the semi-final's with Carlow taking on Louth in the opposite game in Parnell Park, Dublin at 4pm.

Fermanagh emerged on top of group one of the junior championship leading them to face second place Limerick in the other group. The Maguire county got the better of the Treaty ladies in the 2022 semi-final, but Limerick are aiming for a similar performance to last year to book their spot in the All-Ireland final on the August bank holiday weekend.

Speaking after Limerick had concluded their round robin games in the championship, registering only one loss to Louth, joint-manager Mike Quilligan stated: “Fermanagh are a serious outfit so we are under no illusion at the job that is facing us. We have a few girls returning to the squad that have been away the last few weeks so we are always adding to the panel but we were delighted with the girls efforts during the championship and it's all about driving on now to try get to another All-Ireland final."

Having lost out to Down in last year's All-Ireland final in Croke Park the Limerick ladies are eager to get back to the GAA headquarters and right the wrongs of the previous season.

Limerick have had a very confident championship display with wins over Longford and Kilkenny. Their only loss came against an up and coming Louth side who will be very difficult to beat if the two sides were to meet again.

Mike went on to say: “It was our goal at the start of the season to get into another All-Ireland semi-final and we have got there now. We have been working tirelessly throughout the year to improve our attack and keep running at teams and you could see it worked against Kilkenny. We need to keep that going now against Fermanagh who will be a very tough team to beat, this is the third year in-a-row we have met in the semi-finals so we are well used to each other at this stage.”

Including a good championship run Limerick captured the Munster Senior 'B' title with a fine win over Cork which was a huge positive for the side ahead of this year's TG4 Junior Championship.

The other semi-final will be another hotly contested affair with Louth emerging as one of the strongest sides in this year's championship. Carlow though will not go out without a fight after winning the Lidl National League final against Limerick back in April.

All four of the teams have faced each other at one point or another this season which will make the final an even more interesting contest in August.