Liam Kearns has kept the faith in the same starting 15 since defeating Cork in the Munster semi-final.

Leinster defence coach Kurt McQuilkin insists Ulster are the “screaming-hot favourites” coming into Friday’s sell-out Guinness Pro12 semi-final at the RDS.

Cork minor manager Brian Herlihy says there is “absolutely no fear of complacency” from his charges ahead of this evening’s Munster semi-final clash with high-flying Limerick.

The Kingdom slowly killed off the home challenge with a string of second-half points.

City never found momentum after captain Vincent Kompany was forced off yet again early on.

Ross County booked their place in the League Cup final against Hibernian in sensational style.

“They tore Ireland apart last week, we had to work hard to stop them scoring a try.”

Australia survived a rousing Argentina fightback to set up a final against old foes New Zealand.

Earlier in the summer, after the Munster final replay between Kerry and Cork, I highlighted championship games with a short one-week turnaround are where managers and coaches earn their crust.

Some years ago, Páidí Ó Sé told the GAA world that ‘a grain of rice can tip the scales’. He must have heard it from a Chinese Emperor on a visit to Ceann Trá!

We await the exact reasoning behind the Disputes Resolution Authority’s decision to rescind Diarmuid Connolly’s red card but it can safely be said the GAA’s appeals structure is undermining the authority of referees on and off the field.

Dublin 3-15 Mayo 1-14: It lacked the deliriousness of the All-Ireland semi-final replay 12 months earlier, when Mayo and Kerry set Limerick alight, but this last four second act wanted for little else, save the sort of dramatic ending that seemed a given for so long.

Redemption. Reformation. Rehabilitation.

The sanction was opposed on technical issues, with the substantive matter left to one side. 

The same XV are entrusted with toppling the Dubs.

Mayo’s dramatic late comeback against Dublin last Sunday will count for nothing if they fail to win Saturday’s replay.

The Mayo pitch invader banned for 12 months after the county’s All-Ireland semi-final replay defeat to Kerry insists he has no regrets about his actions.

When I was involved with Kerry, ‘controlled aggression’ was always a mantra we tried to take onto the field. 

Could more be done to guard against the probability of sites wilting at the worst times?

Mayo and Dublin have just six days to right their wrongs from Sunday’s bruising All-Ireland semi-final in Croke Park.

September dawns and the GAA’s disciplinary system finds itself occupied in a month in which it is usually dormant.

The GAA have expressed disappointment with the unfurling of a large “Right 2 Water” banner on Hill 16 on Sunday.

Dublin chairman Sean Shanley said they will in all likelihood contest Diarmuid Connolly’s red card in an attempt to make him available for Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Two years ago, we reviewed the Dublin-Mayo All-Ireland final after Jim Gavin contended Joe McQuillan was a 16th man against them. The foul count read 33-12 against them at the end. Our study found five of the 33 fouls against Dublin were contentious but only one of those conceded by Mayo was dubious.

They say to really see a game properly, you need to be in the stand taking it all in, being in a position to see players’ movement, the real shape of a team or the off the ball tussles which TV cameras often don’t pick up.

Aidan O’Shea has claimed he was headbutted in yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

What has Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot, the Boston Red Sox in 1978 and Jean van de Velde at the 1999 British Open got in common with this Dublin team?

Dublin 2-12 Mayo 1-15: Seven electric minutes at the end couldn’t overshadow the caution and cynicism that preceded it, but Mayo may well have saved something of football’s soul — not to mention their season and sanity — by clawing back a seven-point deficit to claim a replay from this tempestuous All-Ireland semi-final.

About 10 minutes into the second half yesterday, an unmistakable salty air wafted into Croke Park. Tyrone couldn’t be collared for it. Not this time.

Jim Gavin accepts that players on both sides crossed the line at times in yesterday’s drawn encounter, but he kept his counsel on individual incidents and whether or not an appeal would be launched against Diarmuid Connolly’s red card.

A lot of the talk among supporters coming out of Croke Park yesterday was about the referee.

Aidan O’Shea has confirmed that he was head-butted by Philly McMahon during the second-half of yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Croke Park will host 165,000 supporters inside 24 hours next weekend, an unexpected development that’s worth an additional €3m to the GAA.

Mayo by creed, a Liverpool and Chicago Cubs fan by deed, Billy Joe Padden may just be a glutton for punishment.

You need a thick skin in this game. Analysing football, and playing it.

His approach as a pundit:

Jim Gavin has named the same team that won their All-Ireland quarter-final to face Mayo on Sunday.

Goalkeeper David Clarke has been passed for it for Mayo’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final with Chris Barrett replacing the injured Tom Cunniffe in the Connacht champions’ only change.

It’s the thought occupying most Dublin fans’ minds right now, though county great Jimmy Keaveney believes too much is being made of how the Dubs’ will cope with Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea.

Chris Barrett takes over the number six jersey for Mayo.

Reader, we’ll let you in on a little secret. When counties hold press conferences ahead of big championship games, the better interviews are usually held later in the week closer to the match. No biggie, right? Managers are often the exception but they can, on the odd occasion find themselves in the Saturday edition.