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?

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.

Donegal were 9-point winners against Meath at the sun-kissed Ballybofey, although the scoreboard only tells half the story of a gripping contest.

Here’s John Fogarty’s low-down on the final eight for the Sam Maguire Cup.

They were clinging on by their fingertips at the finish in Portlaoise but Meath are through to the Super 8s for the first time after edging an epic Round 4 qualifier.

The Leinster Senior Football Championship has long been crying ‘stop’ and Dublin have long since stopped listening. This wasn’t quite a pulverisation, but unquestionably another endorsement of capital might.

If Meath’s Michael Newman had swapped jerseys with Niall Scully before the start of yesterday’s Leinster final, then all six starting Dublin forwards would have been on the scoresheet.

We all know the biggest bugbear about GAA officiating is inconsistency and there was a classic case of it in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday. For the same infringement, Anthony Nolan made three different calls.

In time, we may all be indebted to the work of Donal Keogan.

Michael Murphy will lead Donegal into an Ulster senior football championship final for the eighth time on Sunday hoping to get his hands on the Anglo-Celt Cup for the fifth time.

Warm June rain greeted us as we exited Croke Park yesterday with smiles on the faces of the Royal supporters, in particular. Dublin pelleted over points for fun while both Kildare and Laois squandered some great goal chances. The centurion Cluxton culled the Lillies’ goal efforts and the quality of the forward play and score-taking was exceptional, at times, from all four participating teams.

The powerful midfielder crashed home a goal in the 31st minute to put Meath into a lead they wouldn't relinquish and his second with nine minutes to go killed the contest.

Two goals in as many first-half minutes laid the platform for favourites Meath to cruise past Carlow in Portlaoise and through to the Leinster SFC quarter-finals.

Former Meath captain Kevin Reilly rejects the resigned attitude of some players who left the panel this year and believes their decisions have cost the county.

Magnificent Longford’s long wait for a Leinster championship win finally ended when they created a massive shock with a thoroughly deserved victory over 14-man Meath before an attendance of 5,591 at Pearse Park yesterday.

All-Ireland winner Patrick McBrearty showed all his big game experience with a dramatic 73rd minute winning point at Pairc Tailteann to send Donegal through to Round 4A of the qualifiers.

Graham Reilly crowned his first Championship game as Meath captain with a thrilling display to help secure a Leinster SFC semi-final clash with Kildare.

Galway 0-15 Meath 1-12: You can only imagine the scale of the inquests in Meath this morning had Mick O’Dowd’s men not rescued a draw with a scramble of points in the closing stages of this bizarre game at a cold, wet Salthill.

Meanwhile substitute Cian O’Brien was the hero for Meath as his late equaliser rescued a draw.

Meath 1-10 Armagh 0-8: On goes Meath’s winter of content.

Tyrone 1-10 Meath 0-11: Two teams virtually crippled by the fear of losing finally threw off the chains at Healy Park, and it was Tyrone who found a way to handle the pressure.

Westmeath 3-19 Meath 2-18: To put all the madness in its proper context, consider where Westmeath were exactly a year ago to the day.

Veteran Meath forward Stephen Bray has admitted that prolonging his inter-county career has required him to be “very selfish” and put a significant strain on his family.

Meath 0-13, Laois 0-13:

Full-forward Patrick Sweeney scored 1-5 as Galway moved to the top of the Allianz Football League Division 2 table with a 2-13 to 2-12 win over Westmeath at Cusack Park.

Meath 1-14 DCU 1-14: Meath will have key attackers Stephen Bray and Mickey Newman available for their O’Byrne Cup clash with Dublin.

O’Byrne Cup

Former All Star attacker Stephen Bray has given Meath a major boost by confirming he will continue his inter-county career.

Armagh 0-18 Meath 0-13

Meath 7-13 Carlow 0-06

Mickey Burke has been named in the Meath team to take on defending champions Dublin in Sunday's Leinster SFC final at Croke Park (throw-in 2pm).

Dublin manager Jim Gavin says that Alan Brogan still has a chance of playing in Sunday week's Leinster SFC final, but only if he shows form in training.

Allianz FL Division 3 final

Damien Cahalane is the most notable inclusion in the Cork football side for Sunday’s McGrath Cup game with Cork IT.

Donegal’s Karl Lacey was last night named the 2012 Footballer of the Year.

All-Ireland champions Donegal swept the boards with eight All-Stars, one more than their haul when they previously won the All-Ireland title 20 years ago and two better than their predecessors’ Dublin’s total in 2011.