Jackies make eight changes for clash with Cork

Fri, 5th April 2019

Sunday, April 7: Lidl Ladies NFL Division 1 - Round 7

Cork v Dublin, Mallow, 2.0 (Ref: S Mulvihill, Kerry)

The semi-final match-ups for the 2019 Lidl National Football League Division 1 semi-finals will be confirmed on Sunday – with champions Dublin and challengers Cork meeting in Round 7 in Mallow.

Dublin, Cork, Donegal and Galway are already through to the last four – and they are the same semi-finalists from the 2018 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship.

When the dust settles on Sunday, the top team will play the team who finishes fourth in the semi-finals, while the second placed team will meet the third placed team.

If two teams finish level on points, their final placing in the standings will be determined by the head-to-head result in the group stages, while three or more teams locked together will be sorted out via scoring difference.

Cork and Dublin meet for the first time in a competitive fixture since the 2018 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Final.

On that occasion, the Sky Blues roared to victory in front of a record 50,141 attendance at Croke Park, but Cork will have gained much from that experience.

Having ruled the roost for so long, Cork now find themselves in the position of hunters, with Dublin the current Lidl NFL and TG4 All-Ireland champions.

Cork will be anxious to put on a big show against the visiting Dubs in Mallow and this might not be the last time they face each other in the League this season.

Dublin are currently top on scoring difference and will stay there if they beat Cork, and Galway see off Donegal.

If Dublin and Donegal are locked together on points at the conclusion of the group stages, it’s Donegal who will finish on top on the ‘head-to-head’ rule.

Dublin’s only defeat of the campaign was that opening day reverse against Donegal at Croke Park – but they’ve won five in a row since.

Cork lost against Galway and Tipperary on home soil, but four wins have seen them through to the knockout stages.

Dublin’s team shows eight changes compared to the one that started against Galway in Round 6.

Rachel Fleming is in for Ciara Trant in goal while further out the field, Éabha Rutledge, Emma McDonagh, Sinéad Finnegan, Siobhan McGrath, Siobhan Woods, Siobhan Killeen and Hannah O’Neill are all starters.

They come in for Martha Byrne, Niamh Collins, Rachel Ruddy, Lauren Magee, Orlagh Nolan, captain Sinéad Aherne and Nicole Owens, a real indication of Dublin’s strength in depth, as manager Mick Bohan makes eight changes in total.

Cork have made six changes to the team that accounted for Mayo last time out, with Lisa Crowley coming in for goalkeeper Martina O’Brien.

Further out the field, Clare O’Shea, Meabh Cahalane, Laura O’Mahony, Libby Coppinger and Rhona Ní Bhuachalla are named to start, with Melissa Duggan, Niamh Cotter, Emma Spillane, Eimear Scally and Orla Finn dropping out of the team.

CORK: L Crowley; C O’Shea, H Looney, E Meaney; D Kiely, A Hutchings, E Kiely; M O’Callaghan, M Cahalane; O Farmer, C O’Sullivan, L O’Mahony; L Coppinger, D O’Sullivan (capt.), R Ní Bhuachalla.

DUBLIN: R Fleming; É Rutledge, O Carey, E McDonagh; S Goldrick, S Finnegan, A Kane; J Dunne, S McGrath; C Rowe, S Woods, H O’Neill; S Killeen, N Healy, N McEvoy.