Stephen Cluxton has been named Footballer of the Year for the first time in his career.

The only real issue I would have with the selection is different standards being applied to different players, writes Éamonn Fitzmaurice.

It used be thought you couldn’t win anything with young players, until Alex Ferguson came along and turned that on its head with his team of tyros from the class of ’92.

Dublin are on the brink of history and already have seven SFC wins to their name this summer, and John Fogarty reflects that in his August All-Stars. But how do the other counties fare?

Tony Leen A

As the hawks patrolled the skies above Croke Park on Saturday evening, Mayo folk averted their gaze from the carcass of their rollercoaster season, and looked west, long into the autumnal night.

A blitz of 2-6 in 11 early second half minutes inspired by Con O’Callaghan and Paul Mannion sent Dublin into a fifth straight All-Ireland final.

Dublin do the simple things extremely well.

Getting the match-ups right has gone a long way for Kerry and Mayo in recent years. We think of Aidan O’Mahony on Michael Murphy in the 2014 final, Lee Keegan on Enda Smith in the 2017 All-Ireland quarter-final replay and just last weekend Patrick Durcan tagging Ryan McHugh.

I can’t tell you how much of a buzz it would have been for David Gough to have taken charge of Saturday’s game in Castlebar.

Andy Moran kicked two injury-time points to ensure his Mayo side sealed a place in the All-Ireland semi-finals as they withheld any notions of Donegal comeback.

Former Mayo selector Tony McEntee insists tomorrow’s Super 8 decider is not personal for Stephen Rochford - but claims Donegal are in difficulty going to Castlebar.

It’s not often golf takes precedence over Gaelic games for me but this was an exception — and oh what an exception.

You could cut the tension with a knife. Everyone was on edge wondering how would the fun-loving, stone-mad GAA fan handle the windswept conditions in Portrush.

Little House on the Prairie is not an obvious starting point for a Super 8s allegory, but of all the virtues required by those who read and write about Mayo football, tolerance of the absurd is paramount, so I urge you to endure.

There is huge anticipation throughout the country this morning for the second coming of the Super 8s.

As a referee, there are games you look at and are so glad that you aren’t involved in. Mayo-Galway on Saturday night was as difficult a match to officiate as you can get.

Mayo manager James Horan said he and his team can’t wait to face Kerry in Fitzgerald Stadium in their opening Super 8 game.

Former Galway footballer Seán Óg de Paor does not expect Kevin Walsh to abandon his favoured defensive approach in tomorrow’s season-defining clash with neighbours Mayo.

So far the evidence would suggest Mayo are going down a similar route to 2017 for their qualifier odyssey.

Cian Lynch, Declan Hannon, Gearoid Hegarty, and Graeme Mulcahy have been restored to the Limerick team for tomorrow’s Munster hurling final.

Mayo manager James Horan has named his starting line-up for tomorrow's All Ireland senior football championship round 3 qualifier against Armagh in Castlebar.

In the typical nature of Mayo championship games, there was enough in their five-point win over Down on Saturday night for Mayo manager James Horan to get his teeth into when the post-match analysis starts in earnest.

Mayo got their hunt for a Super 8's place back on track after that messy Roscommon defeat in Connacht, with a typically nerve-shredding win over Down on Saturday night.

Mayo manager James Horan has made three changes for their Connacht Senior Football Championship semi-final against Roscommon on Saturday.

Mayo captain Diarmuid O'Connor has missed out on the Mayo team for their Championship opener in New York.

Ahead of last Sunday’s league final on the always-entertaining GAA Hour podcast, Steven McDonnell and Colm Parkinson came from contrasting schools of thought when it came to predicting a winner.

If Mayo supporters didn’t see their lives of final anguish flashing before their eyes as Stephen O’Brien squared the ball for David Clifford in the first minute of additional time then they are lying.

When the time comes for the movie to be made about Mayo football, the first words you will see with the opening credits will read “Loosely based on actual events”, as the reality of the last 30 years has been far too bizarre and nonsensical to properly fit a credible narrative.

We can’t say for certain if Mayo’s players will be back at Croke Park this year beyond Sunday but they will certainly be seeing the inside of plenty of churches.

The sight of some supporters streaming out of MacHale Park at half-time on Saturday night told its own story.

When Cork exited the championship in early July, Leesiders’ football interest moved from supporting our own to the ABK camp.

These are players to be admired and celebrated, not pitied, says Paul Rouse.

As has been their habit since the innocent summer of 2011, the Mayo football team hasn’t been short of takers lining up to bury and praise them in recent days.

Mayo 1-19 Tipperary 1-11

If Galway football captain Damien Comer was interested in keeping his head down ahead of the Connacht final, he probably couldn’t have taken a worse summer job.

We got our first taste of real summer over the weekend, both with a brief spell of fine weather at home, as well as a blistering start to the football championship in a different country.

Tyrone 2-14 - Mayo 0-8: After what he described as his team’s best performance in years, Tyrone manager Mickey Harte took aim at those who had been critical of Tyrone’s tactical approach this year.

Like their last two All-Ireland final clashes, champions Dublin have pipped Mayo by one in the 2017 PwC All-Stars, picking up seven to Mayo’s six.

The GAA have decided not to punish Lee Keegan for his actions in the closing stages of Mayo’s one-point loss to Dublin in the All-Ireland Football final.

For the first time in the history of the PwC All-Stars, there are four candidates for the footballer of the year including two goalkeepers, David Clarke and Stephen Cluxton, writes John Fogarty.

For the first time in the history of the PwC All-Stars, there are four candidates for the footballer of the year including two goalkeepers, David Clarke and Stephen Cluxton.