Farney girls face Dublin challenge

THE draw for the semi-finals of the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies senior football championship has pitted Monaghan against Dublin, while Cork and Mayo meet in a repeat of the 2007 final, as the Rebelettes continue on their seemingly unstoppable march towards a fifth successive crown.

Cork and last year's beaten semi-finalists Mayo will lock horns at McDonagh Park in Nenagh next Saturday (6pm), with the Dublin-Monaghan game fixed for September 5 at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Cork were simply superb in their 4-23 to 0-6 demolition of Kildare in Saturday's quarter-final at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny.

Captain Mary O'Connor scored an early goal to set the winners on their way and the Rebelettes went on to lead by 1-12 to 0-4 at half-time.

The champions were magnificent after half-time, outscoring an outclassed Kildare by 3-11 to 0-2 in the second half, as Deirdre O'Reilly, Rhona Buckley and substitute Laura McMahon added further goals.

Noelle Earley, who never stopped battling for the Lilywhites, kicked Kildare's first score of the second half, ten minutes from time.

Beaten Leinster finalists Kildare were denied a late goal when Cork goalkeeper Elaine Harte kept Aisling Jennings out in the closing stages.

Overall, Cork showed no ill-effects of a seven-week layoff since their Munster final victory against Kerry and it will take a very good team to stop them annexing yet another title.

In the first game played at the Kilkenny venue, Dublin ran out 1-13 to 2-6 winners against beaten Munster finalists Cork.

Leinster champions Dublin fell at the quarter-final hurdle last year, against Tyrone, but made no mistake on this occasion as they recorded a four-point win over Kerry.

Dublin had not played for five weeks since winning their provincial final and that lengthy lay-off seemed to be a factor as Kerry started the game really well.

The Kingdom surged two points clear early on and Dublin had their outstanding goalkeeper Cliodhna O'Connor to thank for two superb saves which denied Mags O'Donoghue and Debra Murphy.

But Kerry fell away after that and, after notching three points in the opening ten minutes, they failed to score again during the remainder of the half.

Kim Flood's 17th-minute goal sent Dublin 1-4 to 0-3 clear and they went on to lead by 1-9 to 0-3 at half-time.

Dublin were never unduly troubled in the second half although Kerry sub Joanne Brosnan made a real impact and bagged 1-1 after being introduced.

Finishing strongly, Kerry added a second goal before the end as Mags O'Donoghue converted a penalty three minutes from time but Dublin held out to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2005.

Meanwhile, Cork retained the Aisling McGing memorial championship with a 3-11 to 0-6 victory against Dublin at Semple Stadium, Thurles on Saturday.

Full-forward Katie Sheehan was the star of the show for Cork, who captured the title for the third successive year.

Sheehan scored 1-8 while Jenny Luddy and Gráinne Lucey scored the other goals as Cork romped to a comfortable win.

Luddy's late goal was the crucial score of the first half as Cork went in 1-4 to 0-4 in front, before the Rebelettes outscored the Sky Blues by 2-7 to 0-2 in a one-sided second half.

Club campaigns hotting up

While the action at inter-county level may be coming to a close, things are hotting up nicely on the club championship front with a number of county championships already decided and plenty more to come as the sides gear towards the Ulster Club campaign.

The Tyrone champions are St Macartans, who certainly did things the hard way by knocking out previous Ulster winners Carrickmore and Errigal Ciaran on their way to a final victory over Glenelly.

Things have also been decided in Derry, after Glen picked up another Derry senior championship title.

In Fermanagh, it has proved difficult to separate Lisnaskea and Newtownbutler. The sides were level at the end of normal time, and there was still nothing between them after extra-time, so they must now replay.

Four other counties are down to the final stage, namely Armagh, Cavan, Monaghan and Down.

Lacken and Lurgan will contest the Cavan senior decider, while Bredagh and Saval will battle it out for the Down crown. This Sunday sees Carrickcruppen attempt to break Clann Eireann's grip on the Armagh title, while in Monaghan the challenge is with former kingpins Monaghan Harps who will try to stop the relentless run of Donaghmoyne.

Donegal are the only county where the senior championship has not yet got underway. Five teams will compete for the senior title, including last year's Ulster Club finalists Moville, with a preliminary round, two semi-finals and a final still to be played.

The counties have a limited time frame within which to complete their championship campaigns, with the Ulster club championships getting underway on October 4.

In those quarter-finals, the Fermanagh winners will take on Derry, Down play Monaghan, Donegal host Tyrone, and Cavan play Armagh.

Monaghan dominate scoring charts

Monaghan attacking duo Edel Byrne and Niamh Kindlon are currently second and third respectively in the annual ladies Golden Boot competition.

Kindlon scored eight points last time out against Galway and that tally has propelled her to third, while Byrne's five first-half points have kept her in second place.

The competition is currently being led by Cora Staunton and it looks very likely the Mayo sharp shooter will win it outright.

Two other Monaghan forwards, Caitriona McConnell and Ciara McAnespie are in the top ten.

The top ten and their total points are:

Cora Staunton (Mayo) 53

Edel Byrne (Monaghan) 32

Niamh Kindlon (Monaghan) 22

Emma Mullin (Mayo) 21

Aisling Jennings (Kildare) 18

Noelle Early (Kildare) 16

Caitriona McConnell (Monaghan) 14

Sinead Aherne (Dublin) 13 **

Ciara McAnespie (Monaghan) 13

Valerie Mulcahy (Cork) 11