A couple whose family was held at gunpoint by raiders who broke into their home has called for a reform of the justice system following their captors’ sentencing.

As the familiar scene played out – Stephen Cluxton and the Dubs going up the steps of the Hogan Stand while below on the field Mayo men gazed disbelievingly once again into the distance – neutrals above in the press box struggled to catch their breath and process just what they had witnessed.

Enda Varley had his nose broken off the ball in the 2012 semi-final meeting of Mayo and Dublin and also played in the 2013 final. Gone from the county scene, he has since slipped behind enemy lines, playing his club football with St Vincent’s. Kieran Shannon discovers how he’s grown to appreciate his new surroundings and respect teammates like Diarmuid Connolly, but also sees a rivalry between his two homes slipping out of control

Three elderly siblings were left battered and “covered in blood” after two armed and masked men burst into their isolated farmhouse and robbed them, Limerick Circuit Court heard today.

A mother who had been recovering from breast cancer yesterday relived, along with her husband and their four young children, a night of terror when an armed gang burst into their rural home in Co Limerick.

Former associates will link three men, two from Dublin, to aggravated burglaries in Co Limerick during which neighbouring families were allegedly overpowered by an armed gang, a jury heard yesterday.

Mayo boss Stephen Rochford will have to plan without Alan Freeman for the foreseeable future as the talented forward has left the squad.

Monaghan 1-11 Mayo 0-12: Monaghan manager Malachy O’Rourke hailed the efforts his players have put into their pre-season after their win over Mayo in MacHale Park, Castlebar on Saturday night.

Mayo 1-21 IT Sligo 1-15: Late points from three players ‘on trial’ with Mayo this month carried the beaten All-Ireland finalists to their first win of the new season in Ballina yesterday.

Three men appeared yesterday at Kilmallock District Court charged in relation to armed raids and the false imprisonment of residents at three homes in Co Limerick almost four years ago.

A father and son have appeared in court today charged in connection with a violent burglary and false imprisonment of three elderly siblings, and a separate aggravated robbery on a family of six.

They say to really see a game properly, you need to be in the stand taking it all in, being in a position to see players’ movement, the real shape of a team or the off the ball tussles which TV cameras often don’t pick up.

Three things we learned yesterday.

It is only when you look at the list of players unavailable for Mayo in Páirc Uí Rinn tomorrow you realise they should be alright in the long-term.

Cork travel to face Galway in the Allianz NHL on Sunday and boss Jimmy Barry-Murphy has made a raft of changes for the game, a total of five alterations since the win over Dublin.

Peter McNamara highlights three talking points from the weekend's Allianz Football League action.

Mayo 3-15 Monaghan 0-11

Mayo claimed a fully merited second win of the current Allianz Football League Division 1 campaign against 13 men Monaghan at Elverys McHale Park this afternoon.

New Kerry captain Kieran Donaghy will make his first competitive start of the year in Sunday’s Allianz Football League Division 1 clash with Dublin in Fitzgerald Stadium (2pm).

Peter McNamara looks at he big clashes in Division One of the National Football League.

The GAA have been criticised for their lackadaisical attitude to implementing player concussion protocols and ex-Galway attacker Michael Meehan has vehemently stated the “casual approach” to occurrences such as these within the Association needs to be stamped out immediately.

It escaped the attention of the press box in Killarney at the time but Michael Conroy was indeed a temporary replacement (ie, a blood substitute) for Evan Regan on Sunday, writes John Fogarty.

Kerry 0-10 Mayo 2-11: Allianz Football League Division 1: 

Kerry 0-10 Mayo 2-11

Kerry 0-10 Mayo 2-11

FBD Connacht League (R3)

Mayo 0-15 IT Sligo 0-06: A second successive routine victory kept Mayo on course for a place in the FBD League Final as they overcame IT Sligo in Ballina yesterday.

Galway and Mayo kept their unbeaten starts to 2015 intact, while NUIG and Sligo also recorded wins in the FBD League this afternoon.

Every referee has his own style and interpretation but the first duty in the GAA’s Official Guide is to control the game in accordance with the playing rules.

Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea was not permitted back onto the pitch at the start of Saturday’s second half as a blood substitute.

Kerry 3-16 Mayo 3-13 (aet)

Keegan’s return sharpens Kerry and Mayo focus as venue furore fades into the background.

ALL-IRELAND SFC SEMI-FINAL REPLAY:

David Coldrick succeeded in getting a high percentage of calls right in yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

An opinion columnist this week described professional negligence as a newspaper column discussing a topic which it can neither explain nor understand. Tony McEntee tries to buck that trend.

The question is this: what have Donegal, Joe Brolly, the general GAA media, the Mortimer family, Brian Cuthbert, RTÉ, Mayo County Board and Jim Gavin all got in common?

"Retrace your steps very accurately. Respect and good manners are not difficult qualities to carry... We strongly feel we have been disrespected and dismissed..."

It was like the late 1990s in Elvery’s MacHale Park yesterday. Almost a full house, with well over 26,000 in attendance, glorious weather and Mayo and Galway going at it full-tilt for the Nestor Cup.

That it’s been five years since the two giants of Connacht contested a provincial final tells you all you need to know about the health of Galway football in recent years.

David Breen will make his first competitive start of the year for Limerick in Sunday’s Munster hurling final against Cork.