GAA All-Ireland Football semi-finals: All you need to know about Dublin vs Monaghan & Kerry vs Derry
- Published
Ciaran Meenagh is hoping to guide Derry to their first All-Ireland final since 1993
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-finals |
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Dates: Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 July Venue: Croke Park, Dublin Throw-in times: Dublin vs Monaghan (Saturday, 17:30 BST) & Kerry vs Derry (Sunday, 16:00) |
Coverage: Watch both games on BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer; live text commentaries & in-play clips, reports, reaction & highlights on BBC Sport website & app |
After the provincial tussles, the round-robin stages and a bit of penalty shootout drama in the quarter-finals, four teams remain in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Three of last year's semi-finalists - Kerry, Dublin and Derry - return to the last four alongside Monaghan, who are back in the semis for the first time since 2018.
On Saturday, Monaghan - who inflicted penalty pain on Armagh in the quarter-finals - face Dublin before holders Kerry square up to Ulster champions Derry on Sunday.
With the race for the Sam Maguire Cup edging ever closer to its conclusion, here is all you need to know about the All-Ireland Football semi-finals.
When are the games?
Dublin v Monaghan throws in at 17:30 BST on Saturday with Kerry v Derry at 16:00 on Sunday.
The Tailteann Cup final between Down and Meath will take place at Croke Park before Dublin v Monaghan at 15:00 on Saturday.
Watch the All-Ireland Senior Football semi-finals live on BBC Sport
How can I watch?
You can watch both semi-finals on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Two Northern Ireland and the BBC Sport website.
The BBC Sport website will have live text commentaries of both games, as well as reports, highlights, analysis, reaction and in-play clips, while you can also stay up to date across the BBC Sport NI social media accounts.
On Saturday, presenter Sarah Mulkerrins is joined in studio by Oisin McConville, Michael Murphy and Philly McMahon, with Thomas Niblock joined on commentary by Mickey Harte. Orla Bannon will be pitchside with Conleith Gilligan.
On Sunday, Sarah is joined in studio by McConville, Murphy and Harte with McMahon joining Thomas on commentary and Orla joined pitchside by Kieran McKeever.
What happened in the quarter-finals?
Dublin hammered Mayo 2-17 to 0-11, Kerry breezed past Tyrone 2-18 to 0-12, Derry beat Cork 1-12 to 1-8, while Monaghan beat Armagh 9-8 on penalties after a 0-14 to 0-14 draw after extra-time.
Highlights: Dominant Kerry claim quarter-final victory over Tyrone
Are replays possible?
No. There must be a winner on the day, so extra-time and penalties - like we saw in Monaghan's win over Armagh - are possible.
Dublin vs Monaghan team news and preview
Having ruled the championship with six titles on the spin from 2015 to 2020, Dublin have had to sit back and watch Tyrone and Kerry lift Sam over the last couple of years.
But if their ruthless quarter-final dismantling of Mayo is anything to go by, Dessie Farrell's men look ready to reclaim their place at the top.
Dublin were edged out by Kerry in a thrilling semi-final last year, and while they are desperate to make this year's decider, they must first crush the never-say-die spirit of Monaghan.
Vinny Corey's side have no quit in them. They escaped the Division One trapdoor again this year, did enough to emerge from the round-robin stages and snatched victories from the jaws of defeat against Kildare and Armagh to reach the last four.
Jack McCarron was the hero when Monaghan last faced Dublin, in March 2022, hitting 2-6 to help the Ulster county win 3-13 to 1-18 at Clones to relegate the Dubs to Division Two
The consensus is that the road will stop here for Monaghan - who have not featured in an All-Ireland final since 1930 - but having relegated Dublin with a thrilling Clones win the last time the counties met, they will not be daunted by the size of the task on Saturday.
Dublin boss Dessie Farrell has named an unchanged line-up, meaning Ciaran Kilkenny and Jack McCaffrey again start on the bench, while Eoin Murchan has recovered from the injury that forced him off in the quarter-final win over Mayo.
Ryan O'Toole has been named at right corner-back for Monaghan. O'Toole was also named to start against Armagh, but was replaced by Darren Hughes shortly before throw-in.
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; Eoin Murchan, Michael Fitzsimons, David Byrne; James McCarthy, John Small, Lee Gannon; Brian Fenton, Brian Howard; Paul Mannion, Sean Bugler, Niall Scully; Cormac Costello, Con O'Callaghan, Colm Basquel.
Subs: Evan Comerford, Ciaran Kilkenny, Tom Lahiff, Sean MacMahon, Jack McCaffrey, Cian Murphy, Daire Newcombe, Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne, Lorcan O'Dell, Dean Rock, Paddy Small.
Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Ryan O'Toole, Kieran Duffy, Ryan Wylie; Karl O'Connell, Conor Boyle, Conor McCarthy; Karl Gallagher, Kilian Lavelle; Stephen O'Hanlon, Michael Bannigan, Ryan McAnespie; Jack McCarron, Gary Mohan, Dessie Ward.
Subs: Darren McDonnell, Kieran Hughes, Conor McManus, Sean Jones, Darren Hughes, Shane Carey, Kevin Loughran, Fintan Kelly, Conor Leonard, Francie Hughes, Colm Lennon.
Pundit's view (Oisin McConville): "I don't think Monaghan will have any fear whatsoever of Dublin but I do agree that Dublin looked different the last day (against Mayo). Colm Basquel is languishing in the subs [last year] and playing O'Byrne Cup football and now all of a sudden 2-2 in an All-Ireland quarter-final and they look heavily reliant on him and Cormac Costello.
"If they [Monaghan] are able to make those two out of it and Con O'Callaghan doesn't step up to the mark, and let's face it, he's had a poor enough championship so far, then where are the scores going to come from a Dublin point of view? I do think Dublin should have enough but it would not shock me if Monaghan won that game."
Watch: Monaghan win dramatic All-Ireland quarter-final shootout
Kerry vs Derry team news and preview
Championship meetings between Kerry and Derry are rare. In fact, it's only happened four times, the most recent of was in 2004, when Kerry blew the Oak Leafers away with a ruthless second-half performance.
Having made light work of Tyrone last time out, Kerry - hunting successive titles for the first time since 2007 - are heavily tipped to make another final, but Derry will not bow easily to the Kingdom after the disappointment of last year's semi-final exit at the hands of Galway.
Much is made of Kerry's firepower in attack but Derry have some of the best man-markers in the game in Chrissy McKaigue, Conor McCluskey and Eoin McEvoy, so it would be surprising to see Kerry cut through the Oak Leaf full-back line as frequently as they did against Tyrone.
When the counties met in the 2017 All-Ireland Minor final, David Clifford hit 4-4 in a stunning display, pulling markers McCluskey and Padraig McGrogan all over the place as Kerry ran out 6-17 to 1-8 winners.
Clifford ran riot when Kerry beat Derry in the 2017 Minor final, hitting 4-4 in a stunning display
However, Clifford did not have it all his own way against Tyrone. He scored just one from play (five overall) and was closely shadowed by Red Hands captain Padraig Hampsey.
If Derry can follow Tyrone's lead while taking their chances at the other end - top scorer Shane McGuigan's form will be key - they will have reason to dream of a first All-Ireland final since 1993.
Both management teams have named unchanged starting line-ups from the quarter-finals.
Kerry: Shane Ryan; Graham O'Sullivan, Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan; Paul Murphy, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White; Diarmuid O'Connor, Jack Barry; Dara Moynihan, Sean O'Shea, Adrian Spillane; Paudie Clifford, David Clifford, Paul Geaney.
Subs: Shane Murphy, Tony Brosnan, Mike Breen, Brian O Beaglaoich, Ruairi Murphy, Micheal Burns, Stephen O'Brien, Donal O'Sullivan, Dylan Casey, Sean O'Brien.
Derry: Odhran Lynch; Chrissy McKaigue, Eoin McEvoy, Conor McCluskey; Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan; Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers; Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy, Ethan Doherty; Ciaran McFaul, Shane McGuigan, Niall Loughlin.
Subs: Thomas Mallon, Declan Cassidy, Benny Heron, Shea Downey, Lachlan Murray, Ben McCarron, Paul McNeill, Padraig Cassidy, Conleth McGuckian, Mark Doherty, Diarmuid Baker.
Pundit's view (Conleith Gilligan): "I think they [Derry] can [beat Kerry. They're going to Croke Park to face the All-Ireland champions so it's a huge step up in class from what they've played but there's no reason why they can't.
"Every challenge they've faced this year, whether it was winning back-to-back Ulster Championships or beating Dublin in Celtic Park, they have risen to the occasion. They didn't have their best day against Cork but I still think there's a big game in Derry."
When is the final?
The All-Ireland Football final takes place on 30 July at Croke Park. The match will also be shown on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Two Northern Ireland and the BBC Sport website.