Kerry don’t lose many championship games in Killarney, but Mayo could cause Peter Keane’s charges a mountain of problems.

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.

It’s a talent in itself that James Horan can come across as offended even in triumph.

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

Mayo arrested a seven-game losing run against their neighbours with this wire-to-wire victory that sees them face Kerry in Killarney in their opening Super 8 game tomorrow week.

Collateral damage or a typically tigerish season? This evening’s all-or-nothing duel with a county they have not beaten in five league and championship games will go a long way to defining Mayo’s 2019.

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.

Mayo will have to manage without their injured captain Diarmuid O’Connor for tomorrow evening’s do-or-die All-Ireland SFC Qualifier against Armagh in Castlebar, but the true cost of his absence may not be felt until later in the All-Ireland series.

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.

Monaghan v Armagh is the pick of the All-Ireland Round 2 SFC qualifier draw although Mayo face a tricky encounter against Down at Newry on Saturday week.

Until last weekend, Andy Moran had made it through his entire Mayo football career without losing to Roscommon in the Championship.

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.

Mayo 3-11 Kerry 2-10

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 chance of claiming a first national title in 18 years is not to be sniffed at but in the event Mayo do fall short of reaching the final tomorrow James Horan seems satisfied with what he has learned from their Division 1 exploits.

Mayo 0-12 Galway 1-11

Cavan boss Mickey Graham has lashed out at a series of decisions he claims have gone against his team in the opening rounds of the Allianz Football League.

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

Both Mayo and Galway have championship debutants for Sunday’s Connacht SFC quarter-final clash in MacHale Park in Castlebar (4pm).

There’s a school of thought that Chris Barrett should have been named man-of-the-match in last year’s All-Ireland football final.

Reigning Footballer of the Year Andy Moran has admitted he acted out of character when he remonstrated with referee Maurice Deegan last month and says he was “disappointed” with his actions.

The game panned out along expected lines with Dublin racking up another routine victory, and Jim Gavin stuck to a familiar script afterwards when he spoke to reporters.

Mayo captain Cillian O’Connor insists they’ll be gunning for Allianz League success, despite Chris Barrett’s assertion it will be “next to impossible” to win it.

Yet again the spin of the roulette table came up black when Andy Moran had put everything on red but you wouldn’t know it by his demeanour.

Catch up on this morning's headlines...

Lee Keegan and Eoghan O’Gara could join Donie Vaughan on the sidelines for the first round of next year’s Allianz League.

Dean Rock was Dublin’s hero as his additional-time free kick won the county their third consecutive All-Ireland SFC title.

A stunning Mayo performance put an out-of-sorts Kerry out of their misery in a thoroughly deserving All-Ireland semi-final replay win.

The reflex impulse immediately after the final whistle yesterday was to describe this game as a classic. 

John Fogarty considers the selection issues facing the Kerry and Mayo management teams ahead of Sunday’s All -Ireland SFC semi-final.

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.