Having blown promising positions against Mayo, Galway and then Dublin, Donegal made some amends yesterday in Ballyshannon to blow Monaghan away with a degree of comfort.

Donegal took a step closer to survival in the Allianz League Division 1 with a comfortable victory over Monaghan in Balyshannon with Michael Langan scoring five points from play.

On a dirty, stormy night in the Athletic Grounds, Armagh showed stomach for the fight on all fronts to boost their promotion hopes from Division Two while at the same time putting a considerable dent in Kildare's challenge.

Armagh conquered a storm as they battled to a deserved win over Kildare with just 14 men at the Athletic Grounds.

The GAA has explained live TV is one of the primary reasons why the All-Ireland SFC final will throw in at 6pm on Saturday week.

Conor Lane has been named as referee for the All-Ireland SFC final replay as the GAA confirmed ticket prices for the game.

David Gough will take charge of the All-Ireland Senior Football final between Dublin and Kerry.

Aidan O'Mahony has added his voice to calls in Kerry for the GAA not to appoint David Gough as referee for the All-Ireland final.

Former Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice believes it would be wrong if Meath referee David Gough is nominated by the GAA to handle next month’s All-Ireland final between Dublin and Kerry.

You imagine as the Kerry party left Croke Park yesterday evening they were preparing a case for the defence of Stephen O’Brien.

Just once have Dublin failed to score a goal against Mayo and their nine points were still enough to win in a dour

Laois edged out neighbours Offaly in a highly entertaining Midlands derby to seal their place in Round 4 of the All-Ireland Qualifiers.

Dublin hardly expected Monaghan to roll out the red carpet for them on Sunday but when the home side chose not to provide them with a guard of honour the visitors knew for sure they were in for a testing afternoon, writes John Fogarty.

Yesterday was a day for hurling referees to step up to the mark and both James McGrath and Fergal Horgan did just that, in Semple Stadium and Croke Park.

Five Munster finals, four wins and one draw; Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s championship managerial record against Cork is almost as good as it gets.

It gives me no satisfaction criticising hurling referees but after the provincial round robins finished up yesterday, the standard is not at the level it should be.

With Shane Walsh in top form, Galway survived a rocky opening half to storm past Roscommon and claim a second Conancht title of Kevin Walsh’s tenure.

Kildare claimed their first win in 12 months, with a richly deserved eight-point qualifier win over Derry.

The word all last week was that Tyrone might have been happier playing this one in Clones.

Galway football captain Damien Comer has credited Paddy Tally with bringing greater directness to the county’s attacking play.

Goal drought continues

Lee Keegan and Eoghan O’Gara could join Donie Vaughan on the sidelines for the first round of next year’s Allianz League.

So far this summer, frees have accounted for less than 22% of Dublin’s scoring total, a percentage hiked by Dean Rock’s seven against Monaghan, which accounted for over 30% of their winning total.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice believes that Mayo have rediscovered their mojo at a critical juncture of the season thanks to a “glut of games”.

Down have emerged from the depths of despair to challenge once again for Ulster football glory.

The greatest provincial rivalry of this decade has often been damned as excuses for cynicism, over-aggression and downright defensive football.

Robbie Kiely smiles and notes how this evening’s Allianz Football League Division 3 final marks a return to “the scene of the crime.”

It’s time to take the advice of the five men quoted below and double the guards, writes John Fogarty

The GAA’s former referees chief Pat McEnaney insists there is nothing inherently wrong with the black card.

Tipperary GAA chiefs have been urged to nail down Liam Kearns as the county’s senior football team manager for 2017 — amid loose speculation that his native Kerry could make an approach for his services.

The journey is over for now, but if Liam Kearns and his men were told at the start of this difficult year that they would play in front of almost 54,000 people in Croke Park on All-Ireland semi-final day, they would have accepted that scenario with open arms.

Here are seven things we learned from the weekend’s games at Croke Park. 

Football things to think about...

Eugene McGee has called for the appointment of full-time referees in Gaelic football to improve the standard of officiating in the game.

Tyrone 5-18 Cavan 2-17: Five goals and a five-star performance from Tyrone in reaching a first Ulster SFC final since 2010, but such was their dominance at Clones yesterday, nothing could be read into the final scoreline.

For a while there, the dunes of Banna Strand were threatening to become for Kerry what the hill in Crusheen was for the Clare hurlers in 1995 or the Spartan-esque Bere Island for Cork’s footballers in 2010.