FRIDAY, 30 OCTOBER
Group 4 Round 1
Armagh v Tyrone, Kingspan Breffni, 7.30pm
SATURDAY, 31 OCTOBER
Group 2 Round 1
Galway v Tipperary, LIT Gaelic Grounds, 3pm
Group 3 Round 1
Dublin v Donegal – Kingspan Breffni, 5pm – LIVE on TG4
SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER
Group 1 Round 1
Cavan v Kerry, St Brendan's Park, Birr, 1pm
TV
Armagh v Tyrone, Galway v Tiperary and Dublin v Donegal live on TG4.
ONLINE
Live scores, reports and round-ups on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app. Cavan v Kerry to be streamed on LGFA Facebook page.
WEATHER
Wet and very windy on Saturday morning with spells of rain. Severe and potentially damaging gusts for a time with weather warnings in operation. It will continue windy during the afternoon with a mix of dry periods and squally showers. Rain will clear north-eastwards on Sunday morning to leave it predominantly dry for a time with bright spells and just the isolated shower. However, another pulse of heavy rain will extend across the country during the afternoon and evening. Maximum temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees in fresh to strong southwest winds, potentially increasing to gale force. More on MET.ie
Armagh v Tyrone, Kingspan Breffni, 7.30pm
Ulster sides Armagh and Tyrone get the 2020 TG4 Senior Championship underway under lights at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan.
Armagh have the psychological advantage heading into this one, having scored a big victory over the Red Hands in the recent Ulster semi-final.
Aimee Mackin (above) is back from injury and in free-scoring form for Armagh and is a big threat to Tyrone.
Gerry Moane’s Tyrone will look to tighten up in defence and they showed in last year’s championship that they’re a very capable outfit, having progressed to the quarter-finals, while scalping Donegal along the way.
Caroline O’Hanlon has been a massive leader for the Orchard County for many years and while renowned as a midfielder, she’s named in the full-forward line here.
Captain Neamh Woods will lead the Tyrone charge as they look to gain revenge for that provincial loss.
Armagh: A Carr; S Marley, C McCambridge, C McKenna; T Grimes, B Mackin, G Ferguson; N Coleman, A Bellew; C Marley, A McCoy, A Mackin; C O’Hanlon, K Mallon (capt.), E Lavery.
Tyrone: L Kane; C Hunter, E Mulgrew, C Conway; A Daly, T McLaughlin, N McGirr; N Woods (capt.), A McHugh; N Hughes, E Brennan, C McCaffrey; N O’Neill, S Sherrin, C Kelly.
Galway v Tipperary, LIT Gaelic Grounds, 3pm – LIVE on TG4
This fixture pits two teams who played at Croke Park on All-Ireland final day last year.
Galway lost out to Dublin in the senior decider, while Tipperary beat Meath to claim the intermediate title.
The counties have met already this year, with Galway scoring a 1-12 to 0-04 victory over the Premier County in the Lidl National League.
Galway start with nine of the team that fell at the final hurdle in 2019, while the Tipp line-up contains 10 of the team that started the Intermediate decider last year.
Tracey Leonard is the go-to player in the Galway attack, but Lynsey Noone and Andrea Trill are young stars to watch out for also.
Tipperary will look to Aishling Moloney (above), the 2019 Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year, for attacking inspiration.
Galway will start as favourites, but Tipp are dangerous opponents in this live TV fixture.
Galway: L Murphy; F Cooney, S Lynch, S Burke; L Coen, C Cooney, N Ward; O Divilly, L Ward (capt.); M Seoighe, M Glynn, L Noone; A Trill, T Leonard, L Hannon.
Tipperary: L Fitzpatrick; C Davey, L Spillane, E Cronin; E Moore, S Lambert (capt.), O O’Dwyer; A McCarthy, A.R. Kennedy; C Kennedy, E Morrissey, L Dillon; A Fennessy, A Moloney, R Howard.
Dublin v Donegal,Kingspan Breffni, 5pm
Champions Dublin begin their quest for four-in-a-row with a crucial fixture against Donegal.
The Ulster side beat Dublin last year at Croke Park on the opening day of the Lidl National League campaign before failing to progress from their All-Ireland qualifier group, losing out to Mayo and Tyrone.
Dublin are calling on 12 of last year’s All-Ireland final team but it could be a tricky assignment for them.
On any given day, Maxi Curran’s Donegal side are capable of a big performance, but it will take something special to unsettle Mick Bohan’s Dublin.
The Dublin team is brimming with talent and with huge strength in depth to call upon if needed.
Donegal however have Yvonne Bonner back in their side and Geraldine McLaughlin (above) is one of the best forwards in the country.
Dublin: C Trant; L Caffrey, N Collins, M Byrne; A Kane, S Goldrick, S McGrath; L Magee, J Dunne; N Healy, N McEvoy, C Rowe; S Aherne (capt.), L Davey, S McCaffrey.
Donegal: A McColgan; D Foley, E Gallagher, E McGinley; N Carr, C Hegarty, N McLaughlin; K Herron, Y Bonner; K Guthrie, N Hegarty, A Boyle Carr; N Boyle, G McLaughlin (capt.), N McLaughlin.
Cavan v Kerry, St Brendan’s Park, Birr, 1pm
Cork will start as favourites to top this group, but Cavan and Kerry are capable of delivering big displays.
Kerry meet Cork in Round 2 and victory for the Kingdom here would set them up nicely for a crack at their big Munster rivals.
Kerry were flying in Division 2 of the Lidl National League before the competition was curtailed and there’s real class in their forward division.
Cavan have the three Sheridan sisters – Mona, Aishling and Geraldine – in their starting 15, and they’ll need all of their experience and know-how to ensure that the Breffni girls are in with a shout here.
Cavan will have to work hard to shut down a lethal Kerry inside line, with former underage star Síofra O’Shea (above) eager to grab her chance to impress.
Cavan: E Walsh; N Byrd (capt.), S Lynch, J Moore; M Sheridan, N Keeneghan, E Corcoran; D English, C Dolan; C Finnegan, L McVeety, A Gilsenan; G Sheridan, A Sheridan, T O’Reilly.
Kerry: C Butler; C Lynch, A Desmond, S Murphy; N Carmody, A O’Connell, C Murphy; L Scanlon, M O’Connell; D O’Leary, N Ní Chonchúir, A Galvin (capt.); H O’Donoghue, S O’Shea, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh.
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