Ulster champions Donegal flexed their muscle with a 10-point win in Navan, their first of the Allianz Football League Division 1 campaign.

Long after the final whistle and Donegal boss, Declan Bonner, was trying to process how his side were caught on the line in Saturday night's Allianz League opener in Ballybofey.

The Kerry forward line can do serious damage but you’d have to worry about the supply of ball they are going to receive, which makes this All-Ireland final a bridge too far for them.

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?

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.

In first-half injury time, with Mayo having pushed their advantage over a spluttering Donegal from two points down to six up, Fionn McDonagh hit Donegal’s Jamie Brennan with a ferocious, fair shoulder to win possession right in front of a heaving Gerry McDonald stand.

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.

Patience, we’re often told, is a virtue.

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.

Former Donegal footballer Brendan Devenney expects Declan Bonner’s men to dump Mayo out of the championship this Saturday but believes Donegal, along with Kerry and Tyrone, are playing for second place thereafter, as Dublin will not be toppled.

Shortly after the final whistle, the two teams mingled, swapped jerseys, and smiled in the middle of the field. Level 15 times and never more than two points difference between them, it was all they could do.

The climax to the second weekend of Super 8 football was needed to keep us interested. In truth, the other games disappointed in various ways.

A last gasp Michael Murphy free levelled this game for a 15th and final time in a cracking Super 8, Round 2 game.

Hugh McFadden believes the championing of the likes of Donegal and Sunday’s opponents Kerry as the main rivals to Dublin’s throne is merely something the media latch on to.

You know what? These Super 8s might be something after all.

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

When you run your finger to scrape off the dust on Donegal’s season, the turning point for many would be Michael Murphy’s first introduction of the campaign eight minutes before half-time when Armagh visited Ballybofey in March.

Diarmuid O’Keeffe and Jamie Brennan have been named the PwC GAA/GPA Players of the Month for June.

Former Tyrone star Owen Mulligan believes the ‘knives will be out’ for long-serving manager Mickey Harte if the Red Hand fail to come through tomorrow’s tricky All-Ireland qualifier trip to Newbridge.

The expression ‘be careful what you wish for’ was on the mind of many Kerry supporters who made the trip to Páirc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday.

Michael Murphy says the pain Donegal have endured in Ulster mean his fifth Ulster title in eight years is just as special as his first.

Donegal have progressed to the Super 8s largely unscathed, but also largely untested.

Don't be fooled by the scoreline.

Donegal swept past Tyrone to book their place in the Ulster SFC final, scoring a first win over fierce north-west rivals Tyrone in four Championship clashes as they triumphed by four points at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Hugh McFadden believes the rivalry that has dictated the tone of Ulster football for the last decade is currently being dictated by Tyrone.

Donegal wriggled free of Fermanagh’s blanket of stubborn defensive resistance to find the spaces at a claustrophobic Brewster Park and pick off sublime second half scores on their way to the Ulster SFC semi-finals.

It was the result most expected but Donegal's journey to the Allianz League Division 2 title was anything but straightforward at Croke Park.

Donegal waltzed back to the top flight of the Allianz League with a comprehensive 13-point win over a listless Kildare at Fr Tierney Park in Ballyshannon yesterday.

With Cork unable to do themselves any favours on Saturday, it was the unintentional goodwill of others that has them still in with a slim chance of avoiding the drop.

Donegal’s fourth league win of the spring has kept alive their promotion bid, while, in the process, moving Cork perilously closer to the relegation trapdoor.

Tipperary knew the implications of defeat here. Injury-ravaged and with only one point from a possible six, not to mention upcoming trips to Armagh and Newbridge, relegation to Division 3 would have been near unavoidable.

Declan Bonner, the Donegal manager, commended the resolve shown by his young side as they came from four points down late on to overcame Meath in a frost-bitten Ballybofey on Saturday night.

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.

Dr McKenna Cup semi-final Armagh 0-14 Donegal 1-10

Mickey Graham’s busy end to 2018 finished with a win in his first day at the office as Cavan manager, Conor Madden’s point deep into injury-time snatching a 0-13 to 1-9 McKenna Cup victory over Down.

Goalkeepers of the Year

Paddy McBrearty couldn’t wait to get close enough to scream into Eoghan ‘Bán’ Gallagher’s ear after Sunday’s Ulster final defeat of Fermanagh in Clones.

My expectation that Fermanagh would make things horrible for Donegal in yesterday’s Ulster final never materialised. Perhaps I hadn’t factored in how much of an occasion this was for the Fermanagh players.

Donegal sucked all the energy and drama out of Ulster final day on Sunday afternoon, strolling to a 12-point win against a Fermanagh side that never looked capable of mounting the challenge needed to upset the odds.

Clones and Thurles are now the only iconic grounds left that provide the ultimate in provincial championship final atmosphere. It’s as much about the town, the hill and the patrons as it is about the ground.

Donegal 2-22 Down 1-12

With two shock results at Omagh’s Healy Park having shaped this year’s Ulster SFC, tomorrow afternoon at St Tiernach’s Park in Clones, Donegal face Down for a place in a novel showpiece.

Donegal 2-20 Cavan 1-15

Although some of the fizz has been taken out of the provincial championships since the introduction of the qualifiers back in 2001, there’s a semblance of a climactic feel to Donegal’s preliminary round opener against Cavan in Ballybofey tomorrow.