John Leonard is one of the best GAA goalkeepers you may never have heard of. As understudy to Stephen Cluxton, most of his inter-county life was spent on the subs’ bench. Amazingly, his incredible rise onto the Dublin senior football panel was achieved against a backdrop of a troubled life, battling drug addiction and alcoholism...

There is no procrastination on Bryan Murphy’s part. But indulge us in some dawdling before we reveal the whereabouts of his loyalties this evening.

Dublin 2-13 Westmeath 0-6: Gone in 60 seconds? It’s a tempting cliché to toss out in light of the two goals Dublin scored early in the second-half to turn this Leinster final encounter decisively in their favour.

How absolutely brilliant is this?

He was a surprise inclusion for the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Cork but come 3.30pm on Sunday, it’s likely Bryan Cullen will sit a few yards from where he gave his ‘Coppers’ speech this month two years ago.

There was no pitch invasion in Croke Park two days ago.

For a long time yesterday afternoon it looked as if Meath might just address the one gaping hole in a summer filled almost to the brim with sporting drama.

Going into yesterday’s Leinster decider in Croke Park, much of the build up centred on how Meath were going to approach their task against a heavily favoured, high-scoring Dublin team.

When Seamus McEnaney resigned from the hot seat of Meath football last August, Mick O’Dowd had a gut reaction.

Former Kildare star Brian Lacey believes the county’s supporters have to get tougher on their inter-county team.

LEINSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL:

Tipperary manager Eamon O’Shea concedes Lar Corbett is facing a race against time to be fit to start Sunday week’s Munster semi-final against Limerick.

From reigning champs to qualifier chumps, Declan O’Loughlin remembers rightly the impact of the six-day turnaround.

For Dublin footballers, Leinster medals offer a strange kind of glory.

Shane McAnarney has been a Meath senior footballer since 2006, but try asking him when he made his debut and he will tell you it came as recently as last year.

Garrycastle ace forward Dessie Dolan will be hoping to add an AIB All-Ireland SFC Club medal to his collection this weekend as the Westmeath outfit become the first team from the Lake County to contest a St. Patrick’s Day decider.

PROVINCIALLY speaking, Paul Caffrey’s record reads like that of an undisputed heavyweight champion. Thirteen fights, 13 wins, 13 knock-outs.

"The season begins now" was Bryan Cullen's parting shot after he collected the Delaney Cup on Dublin's behalf yesterday afternoon.

“THE season starts here,” uttered Bryan Cullen on the Hogan Stand steps after accepting the Delaney Cup.

ANTHONY MASTERSON’S tears aside, there was little else in the way of emotion in Croke Park as Bryan Cullen lifted the Delaney Cup yesterday afternoon.

Dublin 2-12 Wexford 1-12

SET a ruler down horizontally through the market town of Gorey and you more or less divide the county of Wexford into its hurling and footballing heartlands.

FORGET Pat Gilroy’s claims Bernard Brogan had deserved the free by the law of averages.

PERHAPS it’s a cynical view but judging Peter Fitzpatrick’s post-match performances, especially after a championship exit, needs to be done with an arched eyebrow.

TWO years ago, Andriú Mac Lochlainn cut a frustrated figure on the Kildare bench as Dublin ripped through his side’s defence, pilfering 1-3 inside the first three minutes.

BERNARD BROGAN believes Dublin will have to up their workrate against Kildare in Sunday’s Leinster semi-final at Croke Park or face another venture into the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Mick Fanning will make his seasonal debut for Louth in Sunday's Leinster SFC quarter-final against Carlow in Portlaoise (throw-in 3.30pm).

Under-21 players Bryan Menton and Ciaran Lenehan will make their Championship bows for Meath as they begin their defence of the Delaney Cup against Kildare.

IT WILL be no surprise if the same basic conclusions are drawn from this Saturday’s Ulster championship clash in Armagh and the Champions League final in London.

The versatile Bryan Cullen has been selected to captain the Dublin senior footballers for their 2011 Championship campaign.

A qualifier run is like a sugar boost, but winning a provincial title has far more sustenance — and relevance

A Dublin footballer faces special pressures, and will continue to do so until they get the monkey off their back.

MAYBE it’s because they’re not listening. Maybe it’s because they simply don’t care but Louth’s relationship with the O’Byrne Cup is a love affair that is not supposed to augur well.

Meath are set to begin their defence of the Leinster SFC crown with a Quarter-final against Kildare or Wicklow, it has been announced.

All-Ireland champions Kerry will help get next weekend's quarter-final action underway, following confirmation of the fixture details from the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee.

A meeting of the Louth GAA Executive is taking place this afternoon, after which it is speculated that an official appeal against the result of Sunday's Leinster SFC final against Meath will be made.

Meath footballers are almost unanimously opposed to offering a replay to Louth, after Meath controversially won the Leinster SFC final at the weekend, according to a media report.

TALK about much ado about nothing.

Tensions ran high in the immediate aftermath of today's Leinster SFC final between Louth and Meath at Croke Park but once the dust had settled, there was a chance for some of the main protagonists to give their views.

PAUL GRIFFIN had hardly wrapped his mitts around the Delaney Cup when the pitch invaders surrounding the security cordon in front of the Hogan Stand broke into song. “We want Sam,” they chanted. “We want Sam.”

Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney has resisted the temptation to tinker with the team that beat Laois by 15 points, selecting an unchanged side for Sunday's Leinster SFC final against Dublin (Croke Park, throw-in in 2pm).

Tyrone 3-14 Dublin 1-08

Since the new championship format was introduced in 2001, Dublin's footballers have qualified for seven out of a possible eight All-Ireland quarter-finals - 2003 was the only year they missed out.

Dublin 3-23 Wexford 0-9