Our writers pick out eight talking points from the opening weekend of Allianz League action.

John Fogarty previews the weekend's GAA fixtures.

Kilcoo continue to make a mockery of favourites’ tags and bookies’ odds, a superb dismantling of the Dublin and Leinster champions Ballyboden on Saturday earning the first-time Ulster winners a place in the All-Ireland final on January 19.

Kilcoo’s enchanting story has one more intriguing chapter to be written, and it will be penned in Croke Park when they meet defending champions Corofin in the All-Ireland Club SFC final.

Finally at last, with the Ulster Club Championship won and all that he had been striving for over the past decade secured

The GAA is not only about identity of course, but the first Ulster Club title for the hardest of hardcore GAA clubs in Kilcoo Eoghan Rúa will forever sustain this miniscule community of shepherds in a hollow of the Mourne mountains.

On the wall of a diner on Derrylin’s main street, hangs a picture of two men, tracksuited and beaming.

Derrygonnelly will have a long winter to wonder how they were so wasteful as Kilcoo, who did more with less possession, took a big step towards an elusive first AIB Ulster club title.

St Michael's Enniskillen landed their first-ever Hogan Cup after surviving a fraught finish to their final against Naas CBS.

The whoops and hollers were still going strong inside the St Michael’s dressing room after they had beaten Omagh CBS in the MacRory Cup final on March 18, when captain Brandon Horan was asked to speak to some reporters outside.

Slaughtneil (Derry) 0-12 Kilcoo (Down) 0-9: They’ve had many great days in the last few years, but Slaughtneil had their sweetest moment yet in the Athletic Grounds yesterday, shrugging off the pressure to complete an unprecedented Ulster treble.

Down 0-7 Donegal 3-15: Rory Gallagher wants Donegal’s established players to feel the heat from the next generation, and there were loads of positives for him to take from Saturday night’s emphatic league win in Newry.

John Fogarty runs the rule over the Division 1 contenders.

Wexford 2-16 Down 2-11: As the Wexford fans celebrated on the pitch, manager David Power took to the sanctuary of a spare dressing room to explain the emergence of his new look young charges while just down the corridor his Down counterpart Jim McCorry struggled with the bitter disappointment of defeat.

Derry 0-12 Down 0-11: When a team hasn’t won in a while, it can forget how to, and in the second half at Celtic Park yesterday, Derry were certainly struggling with the concept of victory.

Down 3-12 Laois 1-15: Down’s ability to find the net helped them clinch promotion back to Division One while Laois maintained their league status despite defeat in Pairc Esler yesterday.

Westmeath 0-10, Down 2-17:

There were a trio of away wins in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League this afternoon, while Meath and Laois shared the spoils on Saturday night.

When it comes to interviewing Gaelic footballers, the face-to-face conversation always delivers the best results.

Down 1-17, Galway 1-16: Kevin Walsh was left regretting Galway’s wastefulness as Down came with a late charge to snatch a valuable win which moved them to the top of Div 2 in the Allianz Football League.

Kildare 1-15 Down 3-13: Allianz Football League Division 2: A crestfallen Jason Ryan was left to rue another late collapse by his Kildare players as they conceded two goals and a point in the space of a minute at the end of the game to throw away victory.

Down 3-13 Kildare 1-15

Down 1-13 University of Ulster 1-07: Down made light of terrible conditions in Páirc Esler to see off the students in last night’s Dr McKenna Cup tie.

Armagh made virtually certain of a place in the semi-finals of the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup with a 2-11 to 0-14 win over St Mary’s at the Athletic Grounds.

McKenna Cup

Tyrone began the defence of their Dr McKenna Cup title with a 1-12 to 1-10 win over 12-man Armagh in a feisty encounter today which saw 19 cards flashed at the Athletic Grounds – four of them red.

Down 4-18 Leitrim 0-9

Down scored their biggest ever win in the All-Ireland qualifiers when they dished out a drubbing to an understrength Leitrim side at Pairc Esler in Newry.

Down 0-12 Tyrone 3-11

Tyrone 2-11 Down 3-8

Tyrone 2-11 Down 3-8

A false dawn is how Football Review Committee (FRC) chairman Eugene McGee viewed this weekend’s debut for the black card.

CROSSMAGLEN 1-8 KILCOO 3-10 (AET)

Kilcoo 0-9 Burren 0-7

County champions Kilcoo are through to the knockout stages of the Down SFC and sent out a strong message to their rivals yesterday with a 4-17 to 1-7 win over Loughinisland.

Down 0-09 Donegal 0-12

2012 All-Star Mark McHugh will line out for Donegal in Sunday's Ulster SFC semi-final showdown with Down at Kingspan Breffni Park (throw-in 2pm).

Without injured pair Karl Lacey and Neil Gallagher, Jim McGuinness is slightly snookered going into Sunday’s game against Down, but he claims his county board have made things more difficult for him.

Derry 1-15 Down 2-17

Derry 1-15 Down 2-17

Ambrose Rogers, Conor Laverty and Championship debutant Niall Madine has been named in the Down team for Sunday's Ulster SFC quarter-final against Derry at Celtic Park (throw-in 2pm).

Kerry 0-11 Down 1-5

Wexford 2-21 Antrim 1-12

Down 1-17 Cork 3-12

Down 1-17 Cork 3-12