LOUTH ladies bridged a 12year gap in Emyvale on Saturday by seeing off a strong Derry side to reach their first All-Ireland final since the victorious 1998 side. After last year's Leinster final success, the Reds looked set for a year of re-building with a number of established stars hanging up their boots, but Dermot Agnew used the National League to blood his new crop and it all paid off on Saturday when they booked their place in the final with a hard-fought three-point win over the Oak Leaf.

A Leinster final defeat to Wicklow followed the league campaign, but Louth got their revenge in the All-Ireland series with two superb wins over the Garden County and while they suffered a defeat to Wexford, they still made it through to the last four.

A date in Croke Park was the prize for the winners and Louth made a dream start when Kate Flood blasted to the Derry net after good approach work by Orlaith Kirk.

Former Dublin star and AllIreland Senior finalist Ann Marie Murphy soon added a point as the Reds built up a good early momentum.

They didn't stop there, however, and Catherine Page and Grace Lynch added points before Susan Byrne burst through the Derry defence to blast home a second Louth goal and make it 2-3 to no score.

The Ulster county did eventually get their name on the scoreboard through Aine McCusker and Michelle McAteer.

Maria Reid and Byrne got Louth back on track with a point apiece, but McCusker and Kayleigh Fleming gave Derry hope with a point apiece.

However, any hope they had of limiting the damage any further before the break was dashed when Sandra Lynch slotted over a point, quickly followed by a second Flood goal to make it 3-6 to 0-5.

Derry needed to make a good start to the second period and a mix-up in the Louth defence allowed Nuala O'Hagan in for a goal and McCusker cut Louth's lead to 3-6 to 1-6 with a point soon afterwards.

Catherine Page popped up to send over Louth's first point of the second period, but Derry dominated for the next 10 minutes or so and Louth were fortunate to get away with only conceding a single point to Tracey Kelly.

McAteer added another when her rasping shot just cleared the crossbar, but the Northerners were closing the gap nonetheless, with the same player adding a free to make 3-7 to 1-8 in Louth's favour.

The gap was down to four when McCusker added to her tally, but Louth were desperately unlucky not to make the game safe when Murphy struck an upright.

She set up Page soon afterwards for a welcome Louth score and that pair kept cool heads in the closing stages, adding another point apiece to seal the win.

A late Kayleigh Fleming penalty proved to be just a consolation score for Derry as Louth celebrated a famous victory.

Limerick will now provide the opposition in a repeat of last year's semi-final, when the Treaty girls prevailed to book their place in the decider.

Dympna O'Brien was the star of the show that afternoon, plundering 3-8 of her team's final tally of 4-11, securing an 11-point win for the Munster side, and she also struck 1-10 in their 1-12 to 0-8 semi-final win over Wexford last weekend.

LOUTH: Caoimhe Breen; Ann-Marie Lynch, Siobhan McDonald, Aine McGee; Patricia Marmion, Grace Lynch 0-1, Grace Rogers; Sandra Lynch 0-1, Orlaith Kirk; Susan Byrne 1-1, Kate Flood 2-0, Rosanna Heaney; Maria Reid 0-1, Ann-Marie Murphy 0-2, Catherine Page 0-4. Sub: Grainne Macken for M Reid. DERRY: Brendan Cassidy; Grace Conway, Emma Kelly, Ciara McGurk; Aisling Grogan, Paula McErlean, Kathy Conway; Tracey Kelly 0-1, Michelle McAteer 0-4; Dearbhla McMasters 0-1, Louise Glass, Naomi McMullan 0-1; Nuala O'Hagan 1-0, Aine McCusker 0-3, Kayleigh Fleming 1-0 pen. Special meeting All clubs are asked to send a representative to a special meeting of the ladies board which will be held in the St Bride's clubrooms on Thursday September 2nd at 8.30pm. Arrangements for the All-Ireland final and forthcoming club finals will be dealt with. Club fixtures

Wednesday September 1st at 6.30pm

SFC - Naomh Malachi v Roche Emmets; Stabannon Parnells v Cooley Kickhams.

IFC - Dowdallshill v St Patrick's. Sunday September 5th SFC - N Malachi / Roche v St Mary's; Stabannon / Cooley v Geraldines.

IFC - St Kevin's v St Mochta's; Naomh Mairtin v Dowdallshill / Pats.

JFC - St Bride's v Newtown Blues; Glen Emmets v St Fechin's / N Fionnbarra.

All finals will take place on Sunday, September 12th, venue tbc.