Can anyone catch the mighty Dublin?

Such supremacy is as a measure of the GAA’s negligence as it is of Dublin’s exemplary management, from John Costello to Jim Gavin, writes Kieran Shannon.

On the last page of  The Road To Croker, his rollicking travelogue following the 2003 GAA championships, the writer Eamonn Sweeney retreats to a bar near Croke Park shortly after Tyrone have claimed Sam Maguire for the first time. Just as he’s sipping a pint to take in all he’s just witnessed, he overhears a conversation between Tyrone fans already discussing the following year.

They like their own county’s chances; now that they’ve finally won one, that group of players could go on to win three or four.