Kerry clash in Doonbeg

CLARE take on Kerry on Sunday in Doonbeg at 2pm in the seventh and final round of the Division 2 Ladies Football League. Kerry sit on 12 points following wins over Tipperary, Fermanagh, Cavan and Waterford, while they lost narrowly to Galway and Mayo.
Clare are in fourth position on nine points from three wins over Waterford, Cavan and Tipperary. They lost to Mayo, Galway and Fermanagh. If Clare win or draw they will definitely qualify for the league semi-final. Although if Mayo beat Cavan, Clare will qualify anyway for a semi-final on April 29. A play-off will only apply should Cavan, Waterford and Clare finish on nine points.
The last time Clare and Kerry met in the National League was back in November 2002 when Clare took the points 3-6 to 1-4 at Ballymacelligott.
Kerry have progressed in recent years reaching the latter stages of the league and championship. Last April, they reached the Division 2 League semi-final only to loset 1-11 to 0-11 to Meath. In the senior championship they were defeated by the eventual All-Ireland champions, Cork, in the Munster final but accounted for Donegal in Round 2 of the qualifiers and Mayo in the quarter-final. In the semi-final, Monaghan ended their ambition of reaching Croke Park for the first time in many years.
Clare will look for inspiration from players like goalkeeper Emma O’Driscoll, defenders Deirdre Troy, Louise Henchy and Eimear O’Connor. Further afield, they will be hoping for good performances from Eimear and Ailish Considine, Niamh O’Dea, Maria Kelly and Marie Considine.
Kerry manager William O’Sullivan has a strong team, which includes Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh who kicked nine points for UCC in last Sunday’s O’Connor Cup final in Belfast to bring the prestigious title to her college for the first time since 1990. In addition to Ní Mhuircheartaigh, Aisling Leonard, Sarah Houlihan, Lorraine Scanlon and Margaret O’Donoghue were nominated for All-Stars last November, while in 2010, goalkeeper Edel Murphy received an award.