We probably didn’t think it could come to this, writes Declan Bogue.

Mike Quirke’s Laois footballers recorded their first win of the campaign when they emerged with six-points to spare over Armagh at MW Hire O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, on Saturday evening.

As Kerry showed off the Sam Maguire Cup on an open deck bus in Tralee in late September 1997, Pádraic Joyce watched the celebrations from his apartment.

It’ll go down as a fifth national third-level title for DCU, a college stuffed full of the brightest inter-county talent, but this was a largely homegrown Sigerson Cup success.

Cork Institute of Technology put in a gallant performance as they faced Dundalk IT in the Trench Cup semi-final in Portlaoise on Wednesday evening.

The Sigerson Cup brings together the unlikely final pairing of IT Carlow and DCU this evening.

IT Carlow booked their place in the final of the Sigerson Cup in dramatic fashion when Adam Steed’s 62ndminute goal defeated Letterkenny IT the fog in Inniskeen.

DCU dominated for the large part as they cruised past rivals UCD by fifteen points in their disappointingly one-sided Sigerson Cup semi-final in St Claire’s on Wednesday evening.

Pat Critchley coached Scoil Chríost Rí to the All-Ireland U19 'A' Girls Cup just hours before he managed IT Carlow in their Sigerson Cup semi-final.

Donegal are to be without a host of players for their Allianz League Division 1 opener against Mayo on Saturday in Ballybofey.

While Wednesday night’s Sigerson Cup semi-final at DCU features two familiar names in the hosts — four wins, all since 2005 — and record 34-time winners UCD, the other last-four tie has a more novel feel to it.

UCC never led at the Carlow college grounds.

DCU produced a ruthless attacking display against Queen’s University at St Clare’s on Sunday to storm into the Sigerson Cup semis.

Letterkenny IT are making the transition from Trench Cup to Sigerson Cup look seamless – their six-point win over IT Sligo at Ballinode has put the Donegal outfit into the last four of third level football's top tier.

Athlone Institute of Technology were relegated from the Sigerson Cup after an eight-point loss to IT Tralee in UL on Sunday afternoon.

The first obstacle in UCC’s quest to retain the Sigerson Cup has been cleared and selector Paul O’Keeffe is hopeful that they can accrue momentum from here.

“It is becoming an elite association and they are just catering for inter-county, while and clubs, third-level, and second-level are all suffering.”

UCD overcame the loss of key marksman Con O’Callaghan as they edged UUJ by two points after extra-time in their Sigerson Cup first-round clash at Billings Park, Belfield.

Micheál Bannigan kicked a late flurry of points at St Clare’s to squeeze DCU past the stubborn challenge of Garda College in the Sigerson Cup opening round.

Letterkenny IT’s first-ever outing in the Sigerson Cup proved to be a successful one as they easily brushed aside the challenge of Athlone IT at the home of the midlands college.

The strength and power of Armagh’s Oisin O’Neill and Tyrone’s Conn Kilpatrick, around the middle third, was too much for Maynooth.

University of Limerick were foiled by the brilliance of IT Sligo goalkeeper Paddy O’Malley in their Sigerson Cup round one loss at Ballinode, Sligo.

UCC selector Paul O’Keeffe fears the Sigerson Cup is in danger of being left at “the bottom of the pecking order” as GAA chiefs redraw the fixtures calendar.

UCC selector Dr. Paul O’Keeffe fears the Sigerson Cup is suffering as GAA chiefs redraw the fixtures calendar.

Few teams would dream of leaving David Clifford unmarked, and the folly of doing so was made clear to opponents of the Fossa U14s in 2010.

New Kerry U20 football boss John Sugrue has slammed the changes that have been made to the age grade as “farcical”, suggesting the GAA is too quick to respond to criticism when it comes to football.

As the Irish Examiner reported last month, the recommendations of the national fixtures taskforce are so extensive that they will require a roadshow and a special congress. What can be described as the highlights and lowlights of the document?

The Galway defender has found himself in a bind in recent seasons due to the success of both his club Corofin and college side NUIG.

DCU will be Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup hosts in 2020 and have been handed a Round 1 game against Garda College on January 12.

Here's a summary of all you need to know...

The GAA’s national fixtures task force will meet again on Wednesday before their report is launched early next month.

The GAA’s national fixtures task force will meet again on Wednesday before their report is launched early next month.

Former Dublin footballer Ger Brennan is fearful scheduling changes to the Sigerson Cup and All-Ireland U20 football championship could lead to young players dropping out of college.

UCC Gaelic games development officer John Grainger has described the GAA’s decision to shoehorn third level fixtures into tighter schedules as “short-sighted”.

Early last year, after winning the Sigerson Cup with UCD, Con O’Callaghan concluded a remarkable run of 25 games for club, county and college in just over 12 months, winning 24 of them.

Upstairs in the Cork Institute of Technology student centre, a picture of the college’s 2009 Sigerson Cup winning team hangs on the wall outside Keith Ricken’s office.

Back in January when Cork GAA released their five-year plan for Cork football, one of the first stated targets was for Cork to be “regular All-Ireland contenders of inter-county football, within three to five years”.

For Sean O’Shea, there was no bedding-in period. No cameo appearances off the bench to ease him into life at the top grade.

Kerry great Tomás Ó Sé has suggested that the decision of Conor Cox to leave the Kingdom set-up to travel early in his career may have hurt his chances of making it with the county.

As you get older, you start to realise there will always be people who are more concerned with pulling you down rather than raising you up.

Dr Padraig Carney, the star of Mayo’s All-Ireland winning football teams of 1950 and ‘51, died in California today, aged 91, after a short illness.

Everyone who was there has their own special memories of the two-part series that was the 1989 Connacht football final between Mayo and Roscommon.

Ailing attendances, the strong getting stronger and the weak getting weaker, the Ulster championship finds itself at a crossroads.

A UCC or a Kerry double, that is the question as Shane Conway and Seán O’Shea have been honoured as the best Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup players.