Chekhov’s gun. It’s a literary, ahem, thing. Erudite and discerning folk that they are, readers of the Irish Examiner’s sports section will be familiar with the concept. 

Are the back-to-back All-Ireland champions set fair for further domination or already past their peak?

It was at this stage two years ago Dublin found there was a limit to their hunger as All-Ireland champions. Denis Bastick can’t say for certain if they will meet another threshold this Sunday.

Mayo 0-7 Dublin 0-9: After just two rounds of league football, Mayo already look to have a huge fight on their hands to retain their top-flight status.

Barely an hour after Dublin’s 2013 All-Ireland football final win, manager Jim Gavin spoke in grave tones of what was coming down the line.

Cian O’Sullivan has heard no news so far about potential retirements in the Dublin football camp and with January 1 fast approaching, that’s good news as far as he’s concerned.

The Championship isn’t over a week and already the debate has begun about Dublin dominance next season and how the football landscape will look in the coming years.

Dublin’s Denis Bastick has revealed how car thieves made him feel ‘invaded’ in his own home just days before Sunday’s All-Ireland football final.

A day from the heavens alright, if not from football’s gods. They’ve been especially stingy in 2015.

JIM Gavin recognised the trap even before it had been fully laid.

Aidan O’Shea maintains he was head-butted by Philly McMahon in last month’s drawn All-Ireland semi-final.

Barry Cahill believes Paddy Andrews’ fine performance against Mayo in last Saturday week’s semi-final replay has given Eamonn Fitzmaurice something extra to think about on Sunday.

We love clichés in the GAA, no matter what way a game goes.

Dublin chairman Sean Shanley said they will in all likelihood contest Diarmuid Connolly’s red card in an attempt to make him available for Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

In his glittering 31-game Championship career with Dublin, Michael Darragh Macauley has experienced defeat just four times, three of those coming in All-Ireland semi-finals.

Denis Bastick has won All-Irelands, Leinster titles and Allianz Leagues in his decade with Dublin, but the midfielder hasn’t forgotten the low of 2009 when a season’s stint at full-back triggered a cascade of criticism in the wake of their quarter-final defeat to Kerry.

Dublin’s comprehensive All-Ireland quarter-final win today put the seal on what was a painfully uncompetitive weekend at HQ.

They are at the halfway point of their six-step plan for All-Ireland success, though the serious stuff is really just beginning for Denis Bastick and Dublin.

Keeping in line with the most predictable provincial championships in recent times, tomorrow is shaping up to be a nice day for a white wedding. An arranged marriage, that is, at Dublin’s behest. Appropriately, apart from wearing blue they have something old, something new and something borrowed.

David Brady believes his fellow Mayo man Cillian O’Connor would be receiving more praise were he from another county.

Michael Carton insists Dublin can still win this year’s All-Ireland hurling championship despite being demolished by Galway. 

Mayo 0-10, Dublin 2-18:

Mayo 0-10 Dublin 2-18: Just two weeks after they tanked Monaghan by 13 points in Castlebar, Mayo suffered the heaviest Division 1 defeat thus far when Dublin disposed of them in business-like fashion at the same venue.

Dublin plundered a point with a late Dean Rock goal at Croke Park, robbing Tyrone of a win they looked certain to claim.

Kerry 0-15 Dublin 1-10

Cork 1-15 Dublin 0-16

Kildare 0-19 Dublin 0-24: Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup final: For the second time in five years, Jason Ryan was left to rue the red card extra-time rule against Dublin, as the Dubs took full advantage of replacing dismissed Michael Darragh Macauley in the additional periods at Newbridge yesterday

Dublin ended Kildare’s recent dominance of the Bord na Móna O’Byrne Cup at the end of a hugely entertaining game that needed extra time to produce a definitive result.

O’Byrne Cup

They are the most scrutinised, most spoken about team in the country with everyone having an opinion on them.

Philly McMahon is the only change to the Dublin team that beat Kerry for tomorrow’s All-Ireland SFC final with Mayo.

Mayo legend Liam McHale is hoping that Ger Brennan retains his place in the Dublin defence for Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final because it would suit the Connacht champions better.

Dublin 3-18 Kerry 3-11

As football has evolved in recent years, many aspects of our game have changed and one of the most prominent developments has been how much counties now measure themselves on the strength of their squad rather than the strength of their team.

The Dubs rolled on and into the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals with a five points win which was not without its flaws.

Dublin 0-18 Tyrone 0-17

Dublin 1-15 Down 0-9

Dublin 1-15 Down 0-9

Dublin 1-14 Tyrone 0-18