All-Ireland champions Dublin will host Galway, last year’s runners-up Kerry will entertain Meath and Mayo face a trip to Armagh in the other quarter-finals.
A first half goal from Eve Power was decisive as Waterford booked their place in the last eight with a 1-10 to 0-7 victory over Donegal at Walsh Park.
“It’s amazing for this bunch of players,” said Sullivan. “We’ve put a lot of effort in this year. This was a target we set ourselves the minute the draw came out. We played a really good team in Kerry and they showed how good they were.
“We met as a group last Sunday and we reviewed what happened in the Kerry game. We knew we were better than that. We were off in a lot of areas. We were here Tuesday night and we left in a really good place. Today was a day that everything came together. We got on the front foot from the start.”
Donegal now join Tipperary, Laois and Kildare in the relegation battle and manager John McNulty knows they need to regroup from this loss in Waterford.
“A lot of new players in there this year and a lot of rebuilding to be done. We’ve had a decent season so far so now it’s about cementing that and finishing on a high,” he said.
They will meet Kildare in the relegation semi-final, with Tipperary playing Laois. The winners of these two sides will be safe, with the losers playing off to decide which county drops to the intermediate grade in 2025.
Kildare suffered a 4-19 to 0-9 loss to All-Ireland champions Dublin — Carla Rowe got a hat-trick (3-6, 0-5f, in total) for the holders — in Manguard Park and Lilywhite manager Diane O’Hora must now get them to bounce back in the relegation dogfight.
“We were in the game for the first 15-20 minutes for sure,” she said. “I am really proud of how we came out in the second half. We just lost our way a little bit in the first half, their physicality, speed and struggling on our kick-outs then after about 20 minutes. It made a huge difference in getting our hands on the ball.”
Marion Farrelly, Emma Duggan and Meadhbh Byrne led the way as Meath did enough to see off Tipperary by 2-15 to 2-12 in Navan, Ashling Moloney scored 0-9, six of them from play, but it was not enough to save Tipperary.
“It was an immensely tough game,” said Farrelly. “We are delighted to get the win but there are areas we need to improve on. It was very hot, we really emptied the tanks and the girls who came on made a big difference.”
Galway went on a scoring spree as they ousted Laois by 7-22 to 1-5 in Ballinasloe with Olivia Divilly and Ailbhe Davoren both getting two goals to ensure progress in second place behind table-toppers Cork.
“Our range was very good in that we scored from different areas,” said Galway manager Daniel Moynihan. “And the goals that came, I don’t think that any of them were the same in what we did. And that’s a huge boost for us as a group, especially after the Cork game where we were disappointed. It can only lead to good things for us for two weeks time hopefully.”
In the TG4 All-Ireland SFC semi-finals, to be played at Glenisk O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Saturday July 20, the winner of quarter-final between Kerry and Meath will play the winner of the last eight meeting between Armagh and Mayo.
On the other side of the draw, the victors of the clash between Dublin and Galway will play the winners of Cork and Waterford in the other semi-final.
Meanwhile, in the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship, Fermanagh ended Carlow’s 100 per cent record when they made the trip to Netwatch Cullen Park a winning one on Sunday, coming out on top by 1-16 to 3-4.
Also in Group A, Sligo defeated London by 1-20 to 5-3 when the sides met in Ruislip on Saturday evening.
TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship
Group 1 – Meath 2-15 Tipperary 2-12 Group 2 – Waterford 1-10 Donegal 0-7 Group 3 – Galway 7-22 Laois 1-5 Group 4 – Dublin 4-19 Kildare 0-9
TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship – Group A
Sligo 1-20 London 5-3 Fermanagh 1-16 Carlow 3-4
TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship draw
First team named with home advantage – ties to be played on weekend of Saturday/Sunday July 6/7
1. Kerry v Meath 2. Cork v Waterford 3. Armagh v Mayo 4. Dublin v Galway
Semi-final draw
Winner QF 1 v winner QF 3 Winner QF 2 v winner QF 4
Semi-finals to be played at Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore, on Saturday July 20
