Preview: Dublin v Kerry - 2024 Lidl NFL Division 1 Rd 1

Fri, 19th January 2024

By Jackie Cahill

Dublin v Kerry; Parnell Park, 5.15pm –Live on TG4

The Dublin team to face Kerry in Saturday’s Lidl NFL Division 1 opener contains eight of the team that started against the Kingdom in last year’s TG4 All-Ireland Senior Final.

The ‘battle of the champions’ at Parnell Park pits Dublin, the reigning TG4 All-Ireland champions, against Kerry, who captured the Lidl NFL Division 1 title in 2023.

Niamh Crowley, Leah Caffrey, Lauren Magee, Martha Byrne, Niamh Donlon, Caoimhe O’Connor, Orlagh Nolan and Jodi Egan all lined out from the start at Croke Park last August and are in from the start for this live TG4 blockbuster clash.

Carla Rowe will captain Dublin again this year and she’s named on the bench, with Leah Caffrey set to lead the Sky Blues into battle in the League opener, while the return of Olwen Carey to the Dublin set-up is a huge boost.

Opponents Kerry, meanwhile, will make the trip to the capital with five survivors from their All-Ireland Final starting 15, namely Kayleigh Cronin, Aishling O’Connell, Anna Galvin, Niamh Carmody, who will captain the county senior team this year, and Niamh Ní Chonchúir.

Clashes between these two excellent sides lit up the 2023 season, with Kerry winning the Lidl National League and group stages of the TG4 All-Ireland series, before Dublin turned the tables on All-Ireland Final day.

Dublin:R Fleming; N Crowley, L Caffrey (capt.), N Donlon; L Magee, M Byrne, H Hegarty; C Darby, O Carey; C O’Connor, O Nolan, J Egan; K Murphy, N Hetherton, A Timothy.

Kerry:M.E. Bolger; C O’Brien, D Kearney, A Dillane; C McCarthy, K Cronin, A O’Connell; A Harrington, A Galvin; N Carmody (capt.), N Ní Chonchúir, K.A. Hanrahan; K Brosnan, E Dineen, J Lucey.