Champions Coalisland were sent crashing out in a gripping Tyrone SFC semi-final yesterday as 2015 champions Trillick secured a 0-13 to 0-12 win.

Tyrone champions Coalisland swept aside Killyclogher’s challenge by 2-14 to 1-8 in a repeat of last year’s final to breeze into the LCC Group Tyrone SFC semi-finals.

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.

Talk of Dublin’s drive of five, or Kerry somehow bringing a halt to it will grow inescapably deafening in the next few days.

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?

And so what stands between Dublin and immortality is the county that itself was denied that very place in history on another All-Ireland final day.

How cute is Peter Keane?

Kerry are confident Stephen O’Brien will be cleared to play in the All-Ireland final against Dublin on September 1.

One hasn’t really lived as a journalist unless you’ve pointed a recording device at a winning manager and posed the most pointless question of them all: What was said in the dressing-room at half-time?

A rousing second-half Kerry display ensured it will be they who are the last men standing between Dublin and the five-in-a-row that eluded the Kingdom in 1982.

A master of his trade is asked to consider how the apprentices are faring.

Protect the D and Pepper The D: Kerry know that an aerial bombardment is coming their way and they must protect the D with their lives. Tadgh Morley and Jason Foley have the ability to break even with the Tyrone duo of Donnelly and McShane but naturally they need some help.

Two of the players most in danger of missing an All-Ireland final because of suspension could end up marking one another in Sunday’s semi-final.

Amazing the things you pick up while out and about.

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.

Six days out from his 16th All-Ireland semi-final and Mickey Harte sits down in front of the press at the Tyrone Garvaghy Complex, uncompromising and unyielding as ever.

Cork may have lost their third competitive game of the summer and exited the championship but do so with their heads held high.

A come-from-behind second-half effort secured Tyrone their second win of the Super 8s series and, in the process, all but guaranteed themselves an All-Ireland semi-final berth.

Cork will have again travelled up the M8 by bus yesterday in preparation for taking on Tyrone this evening in Croke Park.

A satisfying end to one of the most bizarre weeks ever for Tyrone GAA ended up with a controlled second-half performance, featuring five unanswered scores in a 13-minute period, which proved enough to get them the opening two points of the Super 8s series against Roscommon.

Tyrone struck an early and perhaps decisive blow in their Super 8s opener at Hyde Park, where they scored a four-point win over Connacht champions Roscommon.

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.

Tyrone blew Cavan away as they charged into the Super 8s series with a ruthless demolition of the beaten Ulster finalists.

There were no surprises at Pearse Park. Tyrone flexed their muscles and delivered a message that they’re in this for the long haul.

Qualifier specialists Tyrone are up and running again, and while a four points margin at Pearse Park will not inspire supreme confidence, they are set to gain momentum along the back door route.

Summer certainly hasn’t started temperature-wise but from a refereeing perspective it did yesterday. The games in Cavan and Kilkenny swung the Championship into life.

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.

The game itself was a walking, talking, advert for a tiered football championship, so when the competition on the pitch doesn’t scare you, you look for motivation elsewhere, and Richie Donnelly found it within his own dressing room.

Tyrone charged through to the Ulster SFC semi-finals with a demolition job at the Athletic Grounds.

Galway’s tortuous search for a balance between defensive security and offensive potency took a painful hit as they missed out on a place in the Division One league final.

Tyrone shot down Galway’s bid to reach the NFL Division 1 league final as they stormed back to win comfortably at Healy Park.

Ronan McNamee wasn’t surprised at the level of criticism aimed at Tyrone earlier in their Division 1 campaign.

Adding a more physical presence to Tyrone’s forward line is one of the major lessons Mickey Harte learned from 2018.

Mickey Harte declared himself satisfied with their new attacking strategies after his side moved a step closer to Division One survival with an Ulster derby win over 14-man Cavan.

Anthony Cunningham hailed his side’s resilience as Roscommon kept Tyrone’s second-half rally at bay to earn a share of the spoils in difficult conditions at Dr Hyde Park.

Frank Rich of the New York Times had within his gift the capacity to sink a Broadway play with a damaging opening night review, but at his most acerbic, he’d be hard put to pour cold water on this new Kerry production.

It’s All-Stars week and in the interest of keeping you informed, there is a change in the selection process from last year — an outfield player can be chosen for an award in an area other than the one they were nominated in, writes John Fogarty 

The Cluxton kickout

Dublin 2-17 Tyrone 1-14

Margin of error is something a lot of observers don’t consider when analysing a referee’s performance. Refs don’t go out with a plan to make mistakes but neither do they believe they are going to get everything 100% correct.

For me, this current Dublin team is the best ever and even now — a year out — there’s almost a certain inevitability about the five in a row.

Life as an inter-county defender, even one stationed in the relatively controlled environs of Dublin’s back line, brings with it the inevitability that you will be burned. The trick is doing all you can to limit your exposure to the fire.

Padraig Hampsey clearly isn’t of a mind that Monaghan were poorly served by referee Anthony Nolan in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Regardless of how the CCCC occasionally surprises us, with Ballybofey or Omagh unlikely to host an All-Ireland semi-final in this or any foreseeable lifetime, this is a big as it gets — or will ever get — in the north-west.