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Donegal’s win over Armagh yesterday should come as no major surprise.
Donegal's record at MacCumhaill Park is exceptional. Between losing to Down in 2010 and Monaghan in round six this year, they went 21 matches unbeaten in the league at the Ballybofey venue.
During the same period, they lost just two championship games at the venue, in 2010, also against Down, and against noisy neighbours Tyrone in the Super Eights in 2018.
In contrast, Donegal's form at O'Donnell Park in Letterkenny has been awful. Since 2008, they've won twice from 12 outings at the home of St Eunan's, regarded as the best surface in the county.
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Interestingly, they do have a good record at Fr Tierney Park in Ballyshannon, having not lost at their joint-second choice venue since 2009. Although if former star Martin McElhinney is to be believed, it is a distant second.
"Donegal don't even want to go to Ballyshannon, I think it is the worst place in Ireland to be honest," McElhinney stated in 2018. Ouch.
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At corner-forward for Cavan against Antrim on Saturday was Cormac O'Reilly, son of Breffni great of the 1990s, Damien.
Cormac scored a point against Antrim but another score of his earlier this season helped create a little piece of history.
When Cavan played Leitrim in the National League back in January, it was the first meeting between the counties since 1995. To put that in context, Cavan had played every other county (bar Kilkenny), including London and New York, not once but twice in competitive fixtures since they'd last played their Connacht neighbours.
Damien O’Reilly scored in that 1995 game; Cormac scored in the 2022 clash. The first-ever occasion that a father and son scored in successive matches between two counties? One for the GAA stattos . . .
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One of the best resources for the discerning GAA fan on Twitter is the @GAA_Stats account, a consistent source of interesting trivia and statistics.
"GAA Stats" came up with another nugget over the weekend, pointing out that the Waterford hurlers, who lost to current top dogs Limerick, have not beaten the reigning All-Ireland champions since defeating Tipperary in 2002 and haven't actually knocked out the champions since eliminating Cork in 1967.
For the record, the years each of the current competing Liam McCarthy counties last knocked out the reigning senior champs were as follows: Limerick 2020, Kilkenny 2019, Galway 2016, Tipperary 2014, Wexford 2013, Cork 2000, Offaly 1995, Clare 1967, Waterford 1961, Dublin 1948, Laois 1891, Kerry n/a.
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The U20 football championships keep delivering. The grade changed to U20 in 2018 and has proven to be the most egalitarian of all inter-county football competitions since.
Offaly and Kildare have both ended long famines to claim All-Irelands. In Ulster, seven counties have contested the final compared to just five in the previous eight years (at U21).
But Sligo’s Connacht final win on Wednesday, their first ever at U21 or U20, has to be the greatest of all.
Word of Mouth
Wonder will @Armagh_GAA appeal the result?
Twitter user Joe Gibbons from Donegal has the final say.
By the Numbers
2-20 to 0-3
The score after exactly 26 minutes of the Galway vs Westmeath SHC match.
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