Some mantras we accept blindly.

Q. Who or what has been the biggest disappointment of the football championship so far?

So how does Jim Gavin get out of this bind?

Fermanagh 1-13 Westmeath 0-7: Fermanagh displayed new levels of maturity and confidence to overcome Westmeath in Breffni Park on Saturday and book their place in the last eight of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

James Owens improved his chances of refereeing his first senior All-Ireland hurling final with an impressive handling of the Galway-Cork All-Ireland quarter-final yesterday.

After taking some heat for the penalty decision which changed the course of the Munster final in Killarney a few weeks ago, Padraig Hughes erred on the side of caution in Cavan on Saturday night.

Pete McGrath will end his boycott with RTÉ after Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC qualifier against Westmeath.

Gaelic football pundit Joe Brolly could be in more hot water after his comments about referee Pádraig Hughes on Sunday.

Monaghan 1-20 Fermanagh 0-13: Monaghan took a long time to get going on the longest day of the year, but eventually made the most of Ryan McCluskey’s straight red card to book their place in the Ulster final.

Fermanagh 1-13 Antrim 0-08: They struggled with the favourites tag, but Fermanagh finally got to grips with their nerves and kicked 1-3 in the dying minutes to get past 14-man Antrim yesterday.

Armagh 0-16 Fermanagh 0-11: It may ‘only’ have been the Division Three Allianz league final, but Armagh showed enough in Croke Park on Saturday night to suggest they have the tools to become a team worth fearing again.

Armagh 1-10, Fermanagh 1-10:

Colm O’Rourke is no stranger to controversy, but even he was startled by the backlash that followed his column criticising the Gaelic Players’ Association.

Fermanagh 3-13 Antrim 2-18

Antrim won a high-scoring Ulster SFC clash with Fermanagh by 3-13 to 2-18 at Brewster Park.

Connacht 2-19 Ulster 1-7

Colm O’Rourke is usually the safest pair of hands on The Sunday Game, but he crossed the line in an attempt to make a humorous point about the size of Kildare’s players a few weeks back.

Fermanagh captain Ryan McCluskey has claimed steroids are being used in Gaelic games.

Fermanagh 0-15 Cavan 3-13, Brewster Park

Clare senior football manager Micheal McDermott has spoken out against proposals to resume seeding the Munster SFC.

Arthur McConville will make his Championship debut for Down when they take on Fermanagh in Sunday's Ulster SFC quarter-final at Brewster Park (throw-in 3.30pm).

Fermanagh captain Ryan McCluskey will find out on Monday if he requires major surgery after sustaining a sinus cavity fracture in an accidential collision in training earlier this week.

Some of the summer’s favourites may already be scampering for survival by the first week of June

TYRONE legend Peter Canavan returned to Healy Park last night as Fermanagh manager but failed to take the scalp of his old friends.

MANAGERS who break the training ban are acting in the best interests of their players’ welfare as they face pre-season action, according to Ireland International Rules fitness coach Mike McGurn.

OFFALY hurling duo Brian Mullins (pictured) and Ger Oakley have confirmed their retirement from the inter-county scene.

Fermanagh 0-7 Armagh 0-11, Enniskillen

It was a night to savour for victorious manager Malachy O'Rourke as Fermanagh claimed their first win over Cavan in the Ulster Senior Football Championship since 1914 at Kingspan Breffni Park last night.

MOST of their players may be small in stature but Fermanagh proved yet again they are capable of big things with a dogged three-point win over Down in the preliminary round of the Ulster Football Championship yesterday.

ROSS CARR last night named his starting line-up for tomorrow’s Ulster SFC clash with Fermanagh in Enniskillen.

MARTY McGRATH insists that last year’s agonising close call in the Ulster final has only increased Fermanagh’s appetite for an historic breakthrough this summer.

The 2008 GAA Football All-Stars, sponsored by Vodafone, will have 32 players drawn from 11 counties making the trip next Wednesday to San Francisco.

The Gaelic Players Association have unveiled the nominees for the 2008 Opel Gaelic Players Awards for football.

Ten players from Tyrone have been nominated for this year's Vodafone GAA Football All-Stars, which will be announced on October 15, two days prior to the All-Stars Banquet at Citywest Hotel.

Martin McGrath's efforts in driving Fermanagh to their first Ulster final in 26 years have seen him selected as the Ulster GAA Player of the Year.

In picking his team for Sunday's GAA Ulster SFC final against Armagh at Clones, throw-in 2pm, Fermanagh manager Malachy O'Rourke has kept faith with the 15 players that started the Ernesiders' semi-final win over Derry.

Fermanagh 1-11 Derry 1-9

IT WILL HARDLY come as much consolation to Shelbourne fans but if there is a counter-balance to the shock loss of one famous Dublin club from the Premier Division, it’s to be found in the welcome return of another.

Armagh 0-16 Fermanagh 1-8

GAA President Sean Kelly has again defended the Tommy Murphy Cup but has also accepted for the first time that, if the will isn’t there, the competition may not have a future.

Down 1-11 Fermanagh 0-7

Derry's Patsy Bradley is set to return for the Oak Leafers for Sunday's rescheduled National Football League Division 2 semi-final against Monaghan at Clones.