A converted free by John Heslin in the fifth minute of injury-time secured a vital brace of National Football League Division 2 points for Westmeath against Clare in Mullingar on Sunday afternoon.

Paul Keane previews Division 2 of the Allianz Football League.

Not for the first time in Clare jerseys, David Tubridy and Gary Brennan rose to the occasion with huge displays to propel their team to victory in Mullingar and to within touching distance of the Super 8s.

Clare forward David Tubridy says confidence is building all the time as the Banner look to move one step closer to the Super 8s.

For the fourth year in a row Clare followed their Munster Championship exit to Kerry with victory in their opening qualifier game of the summer, but the challenge for Colm Collins’ side is to to put

Clare fended off a strong Leitrim resurgence in the second-half as Colm Collins’s side worked their way into Round 3 of the qualifiers with a convincing win over Leinster at Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

Big enough to expect a win, small enough to fear a defeat — that’s the position Clare are in travelling to Carrick-on-Shannon this evening.

It’s seldom football talk isn’t top of David Tubridy’s conversation agenda during the month of June.

On the road up to Ennis on Saturday evening, Clive Tyldesley was being interviewed on the radio about his recollections of his 1999 Champions League final commentary on ITV, and specifically about those final, frantic minutes when Manchester United went from 1-0 down in injury-time to somehow turn the tables and beat Bayern Munich 2-1.

The result was never in doubt, so why did Kerry’s victory feel like a let-down?

Kerry made hard work of seeing off Clare in heavy conditions to book a Munster final spot against Cork in three weeks’ time.

Eoin Cleary admits the Clare footballers must improve their shot-selection if they are to shock Kerry in Saturday’s Munster SFC semi-final.

Long-serving Clare footballer David Tubridy has described their successful relegation escape “as a huge result for the future of Clare football”.

It was rather fitting that Gary Brennan and David Tubridy should deliver the scores which rescued Clare from relegation to Division 3.

A 70th minute Keelan Sexton goal preserved Clare’s Division 2 status and, in the process, condemned both Cork and Tipperary to Division 3 football next spring.

Rory Gallagher isn’t shying away from it. Five games into a division they were favourites to be relegated from, unbeaten Fermanagh took another big step towards a fairytale promotion at Brewster Park yesterday and their manager isn’t blinking at the bright lights ahead.

Relegation favourites at the start of the campaign, unbeaten Fermanagh have taken another big step towards a fairytale promotion to the top flight with another low-scoring victory at Brewster Park.

When Cork football rolled out its 2024 vision document last month, it was generally applauded how pragmatic its proponents like Graham Canty were by acknowledging that Cork were now outside the top 10 teams in the country, in truth, a mid-table Division Two side, and a distant second in Munster.

Colm Collins blamed a frozen pitch in Páirc Esler for the horrific ankle injury sustained by Dermot Coughlan, while Kieran McGeeney was unhappy three key decisions went against Armagh in an action-packed Division Two draw in Newry.

You probably know the Páirc Uí Chaoimh playing surface yesterday was the subject of much negative comment, to put it mildly.

As much as Clare have progressed and consolidated under the masterful watch of Colm Collins, they’ve developed a regrettable tendency to foil glorious chances to nail a big trophy head upon the wall.

It might only be the McGrath Cup, but the Cork footballers, for a variety of reasons, would be best served by ensuring the pre-season silverware is perched at the front of the team bus when it pulls out of Willie Clancy country tomorrow afternoon.

“A self-inflicted wound” is how Gary Brennan felt about Clare’s game management in a frantic finish at the Athletic Grounds after their four-point lead ended up in a four-point defeat.

Kerry 0-32 Clare 0-10: New-look Kerry and new ground broken.

After a weekend of missing one another, David Tubridy fields the call on Sunday evening. Before we delve into his 11 seasons with the Clare footballers or their latest trip to Killarney, there’s an afternoon of shocks to parse through.

Cork 0-12 Clare 0-14: Clare took the honours in this Division 2 clash on a bitterly cold night in Pairc Ui Rinn.

Clare 0-11 Tipperary 0-11: Tipperary selector, Shane Stapleton, was in hospital last night, after a collision with Clare forward, Jamie Malone. The latter received a straight red card.

Following their 12-point McGrath Cup win over Waterford in Meelick on Saturday, Clare manager Colm Collins says it would make sense to double up their January 14 tie with Cork, rather than play each other on successive weeks.

Mayo's up and down summer continues as a determined second-half showing at Ennis progressed Stephen Rochford’s side into the fourth round of qualifiers.

Éamonn Fitzmaurice couldn’t have written away for a script as perfect as yesterday’s Ennis test of mettle for Kerry.

Galway 3-13 Clare 1-11: It’s six years since Galway lost their top flight status and while they are now in the driving seat to make a return, manager Kevin Walsh is not getting too excited just yet.

Allianz FL Division 2

Ulster 3-17 Munster 1-15: Kerry men have been leaving Dublin empty handed for quite a while now and Kingdom duo Aidan O’Mahony and Tommy Walsh experienced more of the same yesterday. Defeat while on interprovincial duty at a near empty Parnell Park won’t of course sting like a loss at nearby Croke Park to the Dubs in August or September.

Clare made a little bit of history in Salthill this afternoon.

An excellent second-half display saw Clare move into the last 12 of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship following their seven-point defeat of an overpowered Sligo at Markievicz Park today.

Clare only led once in this qualifier, but they hit the front when it mattered most, landing a winner as the game slipped into stoppage time to crown a great weekend for the Banner County.

Clare 2-17 Kildare 1-19: The joy was evident and there were plenty celebrations but perhaps the most notable aspect of this historic victory for Clare was the absence of delirium.