Competitive imbalances at both club and inter-county levels have always been there.

Michael Murphy will lead Donegal into an Ulster senior football championship final for the eighth time on Sunday hoping to get his hands on the Anglo-Celt Cup for the fifth time.

Mickey Burke, Meath’s longest serving player, has admitted securing a belated return to Division 1 of the Allianz League was his big target for the year.

Louth will arrive in Parnell Park confident if they perform to their best it will be enough to cause an upset against Meath, writes Tomás Quinn.

Paul Keane lists five transfers that would turn the Allianz League on its head.

Closing the margin between Meath and Dublin is Andy McEntee’s main aim as he embarks on a three-year term as manager of the Royals.

Strapping Meath defender Mickey Burke reckons he was “made out to be the baddie”’ after the biting saga that followed the Royals’ last clash with Dublin.

Ray Cosgrove is a busy man, though not as busy as he should be.

Galway 0-15 Meath 1-12: You can only imagine the scale of the inquests in Meath this morning had Mick O’Dowd’s men not rescued a draw with a scramble of points in the closing stages of this bizarre game at a cold, wet Salthill.

Meath 1-10 Armagh 0-8: On goes Meath’s winter of content.

Meath 0-11 Louth 0-10

O’Byrne Cup - Meath 2-16 Laois 0-14: Laois manager Mick Lillis has dismissed the suggestion that the appointment of Bryan Cullen as Dublin GAA’s high performance manager illustrates the widening gap between the capital and other counties in Leinster.

Meath clubs have rowed in behind football boss Mick O’Dowd and reappointed him for a further two-years.

In this game, at this time of year, it’s the question that constantly, inevitably, crops up in the car home.

Tyrone 1-10 Meath 0-11: Two teams virtually crippled by the fear of losing finally threw off the chains at Healy Park, and it was Tyrone who found a way to handle the pressure.

Peter McNamara assesses the live matches this weekend.

Those who partitioned Meath from Westmeath around 500 years ago didn’t do the Lake County any favours, not in Gaelic football terms at least.

For a side with ambitions of taking down the number one team in Ireland, Graham Reilly accepted that struggling against the joint worst team in the country isn’t a great start for Meath.

An intriguing feature of the build-up to Meath’s first championship outing was the positivity of the players and their insistence that Dublin aren’t unbeatable.

Veteran Meath forward Stephen Bray has admitted that prolonging his inter-county career has required him to be “very selfish” and put a significant strain on his family.

Meath 0-14 Cavn 0-12: Meath took the honours against neighbours Cavan at Pairc Tailteann but the spoils were shared out elsewhere as victories for Down and Roscommon ensured top tier football for both in 2016.

Meath 0-13, Laois 0-13:

Allianz FL Division 2 Round 2: Meath 0-13 Kilare 0-11: It was payback time for Meath footballers following a dismal performance in their opening round defeat to Galway and they delivered in front of their supporters at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday night.

Galway 2-13 Meath 1-12: Allianz Footbal League Division 2: Galway’s exile from the top flight in the league is now in its fourth year but with four of their games at home this season and derby away ties to Roscommon and Westmeath also on the agenda, there is growing optimism that they are in a good position for promotion.

O’Byrne Cup semi-final

‘Waterloo’ meticulously recalls the events of four days in June 200 years ago when 200,000 men were engaged in a struggle which laid the foundations of contemporary Europe, writes Allan Prosser.

If the Myth of Sisyphus rings true for any team in Gaelic games, it’s surely the Meath footballers.

Sean Barry is confident the death of Meath underage football has been greatly exaggerated.

Meath 1-14 DCU 1-14: Meath will have key attackers Stephen Bray and Mickey Newman available for their O’Byrne Cup clash with Dublin.

O’Byrne Cup

Last January’s list of players to shine in the year ahead featured Kerry’s Paul Murphy, who would be man of the match in the All-Ireland SFC final. So, no pressure then on these bright young things...

Jim Gavin has commended the restraint of Eoghan O’Gara in the face of intense provocation in last month’s Leinster final.

Dublin’s awesome rise is now a growing concern

Meath great Martin O’Connell said the county had no choice but to move on quickly from Mick O’Dowd’s allegation Mickey Burke was bitten by a Dublin player.