By Jackie Cahill

THE scene is set for a pivotal weekend in the Lidl National Leagues – with a full schedule of games in store across Divisions 1, 2 and 3.

The promotion and relegation pictures will become clearer, as Armagh and Kerry aim to book a repeat of their 2024 top flight decider.

The holders Armagh need just a point here to wrap up another Final slot.

With five wins from five to date, the Orchard County are all but over the line.

Hosts Waterford trail the table-toppers by eight points but they’re on course for another season in the top flight – and on the back of a solid campaign.

Waterford enjoyed a big win against Tyrone last time out and face Ulster opposition again.

The Déise have made one change for this one, with Clare Walsh coming in for Chloe Fennell.

Armagh’s last victory came against Kildare and their starting team for the trip South shows just one change, with Grace Ferguson replacing Caroline O’Hanlon.

Waterford: K Gardiner; C Murray, E Power, M Ryan; C McCarthy, R Casey, K McGrath; E Murray (capt.), H Power; Á O’Neill, K Murray; B McMaugh; K Hogan, C Walsh, L McGregor.

Armagh: A Carr; M Ferguson, C Towe, L Kenny; G Ferguson, L McConville (capt.), R Mulligan; N Coleman, B Mackin; E Druse, A McCoy, E Lavery; N Reel, M Feehan, N Henderson.

A huge game in the race for a Final slot.

Kerry, second on 12 points, take on Meath, who are third and three points further back.

A victory for the Kingdom here would put them through to another Final, while Meath must win to keep their hopes alive.

Kerry were comfortable winners against strugglers Mayo in their previous game and boss Mark Bourke has shuffled his back for the first competitive meeting between Kerry and Meath since last year’s TG4 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.

Kayleigh Cronin, Caoimhe Evans, Niamh Carmody and Jaydn Lucey come into the starting team, with Niamh Broderick, Ciara McCarthy, Leah Boyle and Rachel Dwyer dropping out.

Meath were given a real wake-up call by Dublin last time out, suffering a big loss.

The Royals need a quick response and they make one change for the visit to the Kingdom, with Katie Newe coming in for Emma Duggan, who skippered DCU Dóchas Éireann to AIG O’Connor Cup glory last weekend.

Kerry: ME Bolger; E Lynch, D Kearney, R Rahilly; K Cronin, A O’Connell, A Dillane; M O’Connell, A Galvin (capt.); C Evans, N Ní Chonchúir, N Carmody; J Lucey, S O’Shea, D O’Leary.

Meath: R Murray; A Sheridan, S Wall, N Troy; K Newe, MK Lynch (capt.), C Millington; N Gallogly, K Bermingham; M Thynne, M Farrelly, C Smyth; M Byrne, V Wall, K Cole.

Tyrone v Dublin; O’Neill Park, Dungannon, 3pm
Tyrone are in relegation trouble and need to pull something out of the fire in their remaining two games.

The Red Hands will go down this weekend if they lose this one and Kildare take something from their clash with Mayo.

Dublin have grown steadily into the competition but may have their eyes on the summer prizes, as a number of leading stars have been reintroduced across the season to date.

Tyrone were well beaten by Waterford in their last outing and they’ve reacted with four changes in personnel.

Tori McElroy, Emer McCanny, Aoife Quinn and Niamh O’Neill come in for Michaela Moore, Aine Strain, Chloe McCaffrey and Sorcha Gormley, as the Red Hands battle to avoid dropping straight back to Division 2.

Dublin showed good form against Meath last time out, winning big in a Leinster derby, and there are three changes to their team for the trip north.

Chloe Darby, Hannah Tyrrell and Sophie McIntyre are handed starts, with Grace Kós, Rebecca McDonnell and captain Carla Rowe held in reserve.

Tyrone: A Coyle; J Lyons, C Campbell, E Quinn; T McElroy, M Corrigan, S McCarroll; M Mallon, A McHugh (capt.); E McNamee, E McCanny, A Quinn; N O’Neill, A McGahan, A Horisk.

Dublin: A Shiels; J Tobin, L Caffrey (capt.), A Kane; A Curran, M Byrne, N Donlon; É O’Dowd, H McGinnis; C O’Connor, C Darby, K Sullivan; H Tyrrell, N Hetherton, S McIntyre.

Mayo v Kildare; Swinford Amenity Park, 3pm
Mayo are bottom and pointless but not relegated yet.

The Westerners will, however, have to win their remaining two games and hope that results elsewhere work in their favour.

Kildare, last year’s Division 2 winners, travel to Swinford knowing that they will relegate the green and red if they claim even a point.

A win for Kildare, and Tyrone failing to beat Dublin, will ensure that the Lilywhites are playing in the top flight again next season.

Mayo’s fifth defeat from five League outings came against Kerry and manager Liam McHale has altered one third of his starting team.

Sherin El Massry, Aoife Geraghty, Chelsea Doherty, Annie Gough and Sinead Walsh are named to start, with Ciara Durkan, Ciara Whyte, Riona Jordan, Kayla Doherty and Maria Cannon dropping out.

Kildare lost out to Armagh in their previous League game and there are two changes to their starting line-up, as Leah Doran and Aoife Murnane come in for Lauren Murtagh and Ciara Price.

Mayo: J Gawalkiewicz; L Wallace, N O’Malley, S El Massry; D Caldwell (capt.), J Mortimer, S Lally; H Reape, A Geraghty; C Doherty, E Murray, B Hession; A Gough, C Keane, S Walsh.

Kildare: M Hulgraine; R Sargent, L Lenehan (capt.), E Wheeler; M Doherty, L Dunlea, M Aspel; C Sullivan, G Wheeler; C Moran, L Doran, N Dooley; A Prizeman, A Murnane, R Byrne.

Donegal and Tipperary meet in a mid-table clash.

With two rounds of fixtures remaining, both counties will want to avoid getting sucked into any late relegation trouble.

Out of the two, Tipp looked in most danger but a couple of important  pulled them out of the mire.

Donegal and Tipperary aren’t out of the woods just yet, however, as they begin the weekend just two points clear of the drop zone.

Donegal: C Friel; N Carr, C Gillespie, S McFeeley; S McFadden, E McGinley, N Boyle; R Rodgers (capt.), R McColgan; F McManamon, K Dowds, A Porter; E Gallagher, S White, J McFadden.

Tipperary: L Fitzpatrick (capt.); N Martin, L Spillane, E Cronin; S English, M Curley, B Condon; A.R. Kennedy, S O’Carroll; H Spillane, N Towey, A O’Shea; C English, E Morrissey, A Fennessy.

Cork host Clare knowing that victory will seal promotion back to the top flight.

The Leesiders have won four of their five games to date, with a sole blip coming against table-toppers Galway.

Clare need the points for different reasons, as they’re second from bottom in the standings and in danger of dropping back to Division 3.

Cork: S Murphy; M Duggan, S Leahy (capt.), S Kelly; E Cleary, S Cronin, R Ní Chorcora; M O’Callaghan, A Healy; A O’Mahony, H Looney, A Corcoran; L O’Mahony, L McDonagh, K Quirke.

Clare: A Griffin; A Keane, G Harvey, R Doohan; E Burke, J Doohan, S Melican; C Harvey (capt.), R Martin; L Conway, M Downes, T Collins; E McNamara, A Considine, C Moloney.

Westmeath v Roscommon; Ballynacargy GAA

Westmeath simply have to win here.

They’re bottom of the table and with just a single point collected, three adrift of Clare and Roscommon.

Lose here and the Lake County will be in the third tier next season.

Roscommon make the trip knowing they’ll be safe if they win and Clare slip up against Cork.

Westmeath: A Donlon; L McCartan, S Murphy, A Roche; C Kelly, L Power, F Coyle (capt.); T Dillon, V Carr; A Ruane, A Jones, P Ruane; G Byrne, C Kilmurray, S Dillon.

Roscommon: C O’Reilly; R Brady, E Irwin, M Kelly; M McKeon, S Wynne, Ria Lennon; A Curran, L O’Rourke; S McGuinness, L Mannion (capt.), N Watson; A Hanly, Rosie Lennon, C Lennon.

Galway are flying and a win here will wrap up promotion.

Monaghan need the victory to keep their hopes alive, with the Farney County in third place on nine points, three behind second-placed Cork.

The hosts trail Galway by six points at the start of play but a Monaghan win would make things really interesting at the top ahead of the final round of group games.

Monaghan: Ó Kelly; A Clarke, S Brady, C Brennan; A Burns (capt.), J Duffy, C Treanor; N Flanagan, J McQuillan; G Grimes, A Garland, G Hanratty; L Connolly, É Sherry, L Garland.

Galway: D Gower; M Jordan, S Ní Loingsigh, K Geraghty (capt.); A Eilian, N Ward, C Trill; L Ward, S Divilly; O Divilly, S Hynes, A Davoren; L Coen, R Leonard, K Slevin.

Cavan lead Division 3 and can take a big step towards promotion with victory away to Laois.

The Breffni County are almost back in Division 2 but they’ll get nothing easy from Laois, who trail them by just two points in the standings.

A Laois win would leave everything up for grabs in the promotion race, with Wexford and Louth still in the hunt.

Laois: E Barry; S Farrelly, M Phelan, F McEvoy; C Crowley, A Moore, S Havill; F Dooley, A Moran (capt.); K Donoghue, E Lacey, L Kearney; E Galvin, E Lawlor, M Nerney.

Cavan: E Baugh; L Crowe, S Kelly, E Corcoran; M Sheridan, S Lynch (capt.), S Greene; M Fitzpatrick, E Brady; S Fitzsimons, L McVeety, C Dolan; N Keenaghan, A Sheridan, A Gilsenan.

Down would have hoped to launch a promotion charge but they’ve stuttered this season and find themselves in mid table.

They can still finish the season strongly, however, and there’s a chance to earn more points against Offaly, who will be playing Division 4 football next year.

It’s been a tough season for the Faithful County, who are already relegated and pointless from their previous five games.

Down: C Byrne; C Milburn, A Greene, C McCreanor; N McClory, C Mulvenna (capt.), A Brogan; E Sands, M Doherty; N Ferris, E Fitzpatrick, L Duffy; A Smith, N King, N Rice.

Offaly: L Dunne; D Hannon, N Glackin, N Merriman; K Flynn, N Buckley, A Minnock; M Mann (capt.), A Gavin Mangan; C Walsh, S McGuinness, A Stafford; E Hand, A Watkins, S Doyle.

A huge game for both teams.

Wexford need to win to maintain their promotion push, as Carlow fight to avoid relegation.

A defeat for Carlow here and they’re down, which would be a huge disappointment after the joy of winning the Division 4 title last year.

Carlow: S Cotter; S McCullagh, A Carroll, G Sherlock; T Lyons, E Ware, M Cranny; R Bailey (capt.), E Hayden; B Nolan, C Ní Shé, O Woods; S Hayden, M Townsend, A Kiernan.

Wexford: S Cloake; S McCarthy, M Byrne, A Tormey; C Banville, A Halligan, K English; C Donnelly, R Murphy (capt.); B McDonald, C Murray, O Byrne; A Neville, A Fortune, C Fox.

Louth are fourth but they’re not out of the promotion race just yet.

The Wee County will look to get the better of Limerick and keep themselves in the hunt.

Louth start the day on nine points, one adrift of Laois and Wexford and three behind pace-setters Cavan.

Limerick have big motivation themselves, however, as a win here would guarantee Division 3 football again next year.

Limerick: S Hennessy; S Dillon, Y Lee (capt.), R Browne; E Woulfe, C Mee, M MacNamara; G Mullane, O Ryan; R Ambrose, D Murphy, K O’Leary; L O’Brien, R Delee, C McNamara.

Louth: R Lambe Fagan; E Hand, E Murray, H Lambe Sally; C Nolan, S McLaughlin, L Byrne; A Breen (capt.), A Halligan; L White, A Russell, E Byrne; L Collins, K Flood, Z Sweeney.