IF it stands for a thousand years, Croke Park will be hard pressed to conjure up an atmosphere to surpass the scenes that enveloped the storied venue two Saturdays ago.

A LEADING Irish sports psychologist yesterday rejected Cathal Lombard’s claim that he took the performance-enhancing drug EPO merely to compete on a level playing field and not to boost his medal chances.

JOE KAVANAGH and Kieran McDonald took remarkably different paths to today's All-Ireland quarter-final but both were inspired by an enduring love of the game.