Kilkenny to meet Carlow in Leinster Junior Football decider

TG4 Junior Championship Final- Carlow v Kilkenny; Laois Hire O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, 12pm  

There will be a new name on the Gerry Browne Cup on Sunday, for the first time since 2019.  

Louth won the 2019 title before the Covid Pandemic stopped the Championships in 2020 and 2021 - and there were insufficient teams in 2022.  

Carlow have played some championship football at Intermediate level over the last number of weeks to whet their appetite for Sunday’s final and while they were competitive, they were beaten in their three games against Kildare, Wexford and Longford.  

For Kilkenny, it is a first outing since their last Lidl National League game, which ended in defeat to Wicklow in Division 4.  

Ace attacker Rachel Sawyer returns to the starting line-up for Carlow, with Jenny Sawyer making way, while Anne Roche returns to her full-back role in place of Oonagh Fitzpatrick. The Kilkenny management have shuffled up their pack and present a very different panel to that which competed in the Lidl National League. 

Captained by Sarah Smith from Kilkenny City, the team will be hoping to reignite their season starting with a Junior title this Sunday.  

CARLOW: N Hanley; A Carroll, A Roche, M Doyle; R Bermingham, N Murphy, S McCullagh; E Hayden, R Bailey; A Hanley, S Doyle, E Molloy; R Sawyer, C Ní Shé, S Hayden. 

KILKENNY: N Sheehy; A Galwey, A Egan, E Collins; S O’Gorman, E Coady, S Smith (C); E McCarthy, H Moore; S Kerr, K Furlong, C Moore; L Phelan, K Ryan, T McGrath.