Jackies set sights on booking semi-final spot

Saturday November 7

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship

Group 3, Round 2

Waterford v Dublin – Baltinglass – Live on LGFA Facebook Click here to watch

When these sides met in the 2019 Championship in Portlaoise, Dublin enjoyed a 5-15 to 2-6 victory.

The Sky Blues, chasing a fourth successive Senior crown, needed the help of a freakish Sinead Aherne goal to get past Donegal in last weekend’s opening fixture, but they have a tough hour under their belts now.

Waterford, in contrast, are coming in cold for their first Championship outing of the season, and they couldn’t have asked for a tougher start.

A win for Dublin would see them through to the semi-finals, and that would result in a dead rubber clash for Waterford and Donegal in Round 3.

Dublin boss Mick Bohan is resting All-Stars Sinéad Goldrick and Siobhan McGrath, the 2019 TG4 Senior Players’ Player of the Year, with Orlagh Nolan and Caoimhe O’Connor starting.

For Waterford, inter-county life without Michelle Ryan, now a TG4 analyst after almost two decades in the county shirt, begins with a daunting assignment but there’s still plenty of big-game experience in the Déise ranks.

Waterford (v Dublin): R Landers; M Dunford, R Casey, R Dunphy; A Mullaney, K McGrath (capt.), M Wall; E Murray, L Devine; C Fennell, K Murray, A Murray; A Wall, M.K. Curran, R Tobin.

Dublin (v Waterford): C Trant; M Byrne, N Collins, O Nolan; A Kane, L Caffrey, L Magee; J Dunne, N McEvoy; N Healy, L Davey, C Rowe; S McCaffrey, S Aherne (capt.), C O’Connor.