TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final
Monaghan v Mayo, Saturday, 2.15, Roscommon
Monaghan take on Mayo in the All-Ireland Ladies SFC quarter-final on Saturday at Dr. Hyde Park.
Having reached the All-Ireland final last year, where they lost narrowly to Cork, Monaghan look to be a team on a mission this season and they already have three trophies in the cabinet after winning the O’Dowd Cup, the National Football League Division One and the Ulster SFC. They retained the Ulster title with comfortable wins over Donegal and Tyrone. Mayo, who won the Division Two league title this year, looked set to lift the Connacht championship when they took a big lead against Galway in the final, but they conceded four goals in the final quarter and ended up losing by two points. Mayo bounced back last time out, however, with a good win over Tyrone in the qualifiers.
There is no doubt who the Mayo player Monaghan most need to keep an eye on is, as Cora Staunton is one of the all-time legends of the ladies game and is on top of her game at the minute, having scored 3-25 in Mayo’s last two matches, including an amazing 3-11 against Tyrone. Fiona McHale, Yvonne Byrne, Claire Egan, Noelle Tierney and Martha Carter should also play key roles for the westerners. Monaghan have quality all over the field, from goalkeeper Linda Martin through to full-forwards Niamh Kindlon, Cathriona McConnell and Ciara McAnespie. Sharon Courtney, Ellen McCarron, Amanda Casey, Aoife McAnespie, Therese and Gráinne McNally and Christina Reilly also have plenty to offer. The absence of Caoimhe Mohan with an ankle injury is a blow, but Monaghan look to have the better balanced team, which should be enough to continue Gregory McGonigle’s side’s impressive form and book their place in the semi-finals.
Monaghan: L Martin; G McNally, S Courtney (Capt.), C Reilly; T McNally, N Fahy, A McAnespie; A Casey, E McElroy; C McAnespie, L McEnaney, E McCarron; C McConnell, N Kindlon, C Courtney.
Mayo: A Tarpey; M Corbett, N Tierney, A Bell; S Tierney, M Carter, C Connolly; A Gilroy, C Egan (Capt.); F McHale, C Staunton, N Kelly; D Doherty, S Rowe, Y Byrne.
Monaghan Ladies SFC scorers 2012:
Cathriona McConnell 2-15 (1-0 pen, 0-9f)
Caoimhe Mohan 1-10
Niamh Kindlon 0-9 (7f)
Amanda Casey 2-0
Laura McEnaney 1-2
Ellen McCarron 0-4
Therese McNally 1-1
Ciara McAnespie 0-3
Cora Courtney 0-2
By michael Thu 23rd Aug
