When St Mullins outfought Rathdowney-Errill to reach the AIB Leinster club final, they won by the exact same 2-17 to 1-19 scoreline as in the county final.

If St Mullins were looking for some inspiration ahead of tomorrow’s Leinster semi-final, it was provided on Thursday when selector Micheál Ryan was discharged from hospital.

Selector Micheál Ryan — father of substitute Oisín — suffered a heart attack.

St Mullin's produced the shock of the club championship weekend as the Carlow representatives stunned former All-Ireland champions, Cuala, at Netwatch Cullen Park.

Sean Moran is confident that Cuala colleague Con O’Callaghan will be ‘back soon’ after the horror challenge that ended his Dublin SHC final involvement.

Former All-Ireland winning Cuala captain Paul Schutte has admitted he was advised to quit hurling by medics last year but opted not to.

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.

The three points which Paul Mannion and Con O’Callaghan supplied on September 1 compared rather poorly to the impressive totals the pair had run up en route to the decider.

I had the privilege of assisting with the development of the Galway U20 footballers over the past few months. Our squad mantra was very simple: the players would endeavour to improve in every session. Our manager, Pádraic Joyce, picked no selectors. Instead, he opted for coaches.

In his 10th season playing Championship football for Dublin, and in his 100th overall game, the tight-marking defender finally scored a point.

Dublin manager Mattie Kenny has pointed out that the permutations are pretty straightforward now for his team — it’s win their remaining two games or exit the Leinster SHC.

Dublin defender Sean Moran proved to be a last-action hero yet again for boss Mattie Kenny with a late, late goal at Parnell Park to secure a dramatic Leinster SHC draw.

Maurice O’Brien probably has a better perspective than most on Sunday's Allianz Hurling League semi-final between Limerick and Dublin in Nowlan Park.

Mattie Kenny’s reputation as a man who doesn’t know the meaning of the word “no” reached new heights in recent months.

What a dire weekend for GAA attendances. Kerry-Mayo in Austin Stack Park was obviously an exception but across the country there was evidence of supporters preferring to do something else with their Bank Holiday weekend.

The GAA’s plans to relax rules governing the use of their property on foot of last year’s Liam Miller tribute controversy in Páirc Uí Chaoimh do not extend to club grounds.

It’s the first Sunday of October and you’ve just landed at JFK and, this being midday local time, a hundred county finals back home are into their closing stages. This you know because Pepsi Sister has Sunday Sport on the radio in – she being the successful one of the offspring - her fire-engine red Jeep, writes Enda McEvoy.

Dublin defender Eoghan O’Donnell was part of a three-man players group that met new manager Mattie Kenny last Friday night to kick-start preparations for 2019.

A little over a week out from the Dublin county final with Kilmacud Crokes, Anthony Daly sat down with reporters for over half an hour and talked hurling.

The All-Ireland-winning manager of the county's footballers in 2011, Gilroy was initially hired for a three-year term.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh stadium director Bob Ryan says “there’ll be no issue with the pitch” for tomorrow week’s Munster SHC opener between Cork and Clare at the venue.

Michael Fennelly believes his old comrade-in-arms and current club boss Henry Shefflin has the drive and ambition to make the step up to county management one day.

Dublin reap rewards and costs of Cuala success.

Irish Examiner writers John Fogarty and Anthony Daly review the weekend's GAA action with Colm O'Connor.

CUALA (Dublin) 2-17 NA PIARSAIGH (Limerick) 1-17: Cuala captain Paul Schutte reckons the south Dubliners deserve to be classed among club hurling’s greats after joining an elite group by capturing back-to-back AIB All-Ireland titles.

Cuala have just kept finding the answers when the hardest questions imaginable have been asked of them, writes Anthony Daly.

NA PIARSAIGH (Limerick) 2-19 - CUALA (Dublin) 1-22 (after extra time): Two things you don’t often see at Croke Park; snow on St Patrick’s Day and Con O’Callaghan wasting chances for scores.

David Treacy's 12th point of an epic All-Ireland club hurling final ensured that holders Cuala live to fight another day.

Na Piarsaigh face Cuala in today’s All-Ireland club hurling final, and Shane O’Neill, manager of the Limerick champions, still finds his club’s status difficult to conjure with.

Cian O’Callaghan might be talking up Na Piarsaigh to lower their guard, just hours out from an AIB All-Ireland club hurling final.

Cathal King pauses when the question is asked.

Kevin Downes still smiles at the memory of Sean Stack’s first night training the Na Piarsaigh hurlers in early 2009.

“If everyone’s individual vote was out there in the public domain, it would be an invitation for all sorts of people to attack them like the keyboard warriors and the Twitterati.”

Europe GAA chairman Tony Bass stands by his Congress comments about the Club Players Association (CPA), insisting the GAA is best placed to address clubs’ concerns.

Goal drought continues

Slaughtneil’s Karl McKaigue has bemoaned the lack of a black card in hurling following Saturday’s All-Ireland club semi-final defeat to Na Piarsaigh.

Cuala (Dublin) 1-17 Liam Mellows (Galway) 0-11: The champions of the last two years will meet in the All-Ireland club hurling final, but it will take a monumental performance from Na Piarsaigh to deny this Cuala team a two-in-a-row.

Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) 3-15 Slaughtneil (Derry) 3-8: At half-time on Saturday afternoon, Shane O’Neill felt a familiar hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach.

David Treacy scored seven points for Cuala who overwhelmed Liam Mellows and advanced to another All-Ireland final at Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day.

If there was a straw that broke the camel’s back for Darragh O’Connell in his final years hurling for Kerry, it was the traffic in Adare.

Former Galway hurling captain David Collins has hit out at the “crazy” demands on players.

Former Dublin hurling attacker David O’Callaghan reckons new boss Pat Gilroy is well capable of turning the corner on a slow start in the job.

Dublin 1-15 Offaly 2-25: Kevin Martin reckons resurgent Offaly can be ‘quietly confident’ of keeping their winning run going at the expense of old rivals Limerick.