Shocks, drama and records broken - the GAA weekend

ByDavid Mohan

BBC Sport NI journalist

It's been another weekend of shocks, drama and eye-catching performances across the provinces in Gaelic football and hurling.

Favourites stunned, rivalries renewed and records broken are some of the takeaways as the race for provincial honours stepped up another gear.

Just three weeks into the championship and it already looks set to be one for the ages, so let's take a look at some of the stories from Saturday and Sunday.

Prior to the weekend, we noted the shocks that had already taken place in Connacht and Leinster, with Leitrim beating Sligo and Westmeath stunning Meath.

Munster was having none of it on Saturday with Kerry and Cork sweeping past Clare and Tipperary respectively, so it was over to Ulster.

With Armagh out of sight against Fermanagh at half-time in Enniskillen, that door was also closed despite a spirited fightback from the Ernesiders, so it was left to Down to tear up the script in Letterkenny.

They did just that was a heroic performance, full of energy, drive and courage to take it to the back-to-back Ulster champions.

Although Down were underdogs, they have certainly been on an upward curve and have threatened to take down one of the top dogs for a few years - see Armagh in 2024, plus Donegal and Galway last year.

With Odhran Murdock, Daniel Guinness, goalscorer supreme Miceal Rooney, Pat Havern and the returning Caolan Mooney driving them on, they have blown Ulster wide open and have kept their hopes of playing for Sam Maguire this year on track.

They have Armagh to come next week, a tantalising prospect as Conor Laverty's men seem to have fully rediscovered that Down swagger.

For Donegal, it's back to earth with a bump after their league final win over Kerry. They'll be disappointed their three-in-a-row hopes for Ulster are over, but their eyes are on a bigger prize this year.

On the subject of Fermanagh's second half fightback, perhaps the standout performance of the weekend was delivered by Darragh McGurn.

With the Ernesiders 16 adrift at the break and staring down the barrel of a real hiding, McGurn came into his own and although the gap was out to 20 at one stage in the second period, Fermanagh reduced that to 11 by the end.

In such a lopsided game, it is highly unusual for a member of the defeated to pick up the man of the match award, but McGurn's exploits were bordering on the outrageous, finishing with 1-12 to his name which included five two-pointers and a sublime goal.

The 27-year-old is yet to savour an Ulster Championship victory, but could not have done more for the Fermanagh cause.

Declan Bonner's men will look at that first half when their shooting let them down with huge regrets, but will take heart for the Tailteann Cup, knowing if they continue to play with the freedom they produced in the second period against Armagh, they can have realistic hopes of silverware later in the year.

Backing up last week's win over Antrim in the Joe McDonagh Cup was vital for Down and they did just that on Saturday with their victory over London which should leave them in a good place for the rest of the competition.

Ronan Sheehan's men were favourites this time, so it was interesting how they would cope with being the hunted rather than the hunter.

London were dogged, but Down did what they had to do with Donal Hughes proving he's not just about last-gasp winning goals, picking off five points this week.

They have a tough run to come with games against Carlow, Laois and Westmeath, but with the first and last of those at home, they ought to have confidence they can push on and claim a place in the final.

It's a different scenario for Antrim whose chances of a place in the final may not be quite over, but certainly hanging by a thread after another defeat this time by Laois.

It's just not happening this year for Davy Fitzgerald's side as they were again caught down the stretch, so a week off to reassess couldn't have come at a better time.

Favourites before the start of the competition, the remit must now be to ensure things don't get worse and preserving the McDonagh status has to be the primary aim.

We're probably out of superlatives when it come to the Munster Hurling Championship, but it surpassed itself again on Sunday with two games that delivered incredible drama to the final whistle.

While Limerick got the better of Cork for the league title on Easter Sunday, it was the Rebels' turn to return serve this time, edging a thriller at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

It took three late points for them to do so against 14 men after Cian Lynch was show red, and with Aaron Gillane missing due to a calf injury, it's not ideal to be without both for the trip to face Clare in Ennis next week.

However, their fighting spirit can't be questioned and were right in it until the last, but these teams deliver classics on a regular basis and there's every chance we'll see them meet again at least once before the year is out.

While Cork are sitting pretty with two wins from two, it was a high-pressure day for Watrerford and All-Ireland champions Tipperary who both lost last week.

It looked like Tipp were ready to cut loose when 11 up at half-time, but the Deise weren't done, getting level, ahead, then three behind in injury-time before Kevin Mahony buried an equaliser with the last play.

Defeat for either would have spelt curtains, the draw keeps them in it. There's going to be plenty of twists and turns before this competition is over.

While the Leinster Championship didn't reach the same heights this week, there is a hat-tip for Kilkenny's TJ Reid whose 1-1 off the bench in the Cats' thrashing of Wexford puts him top of the all-time scoring list.

While Leitrim gave Galway a fright in the Connacht football semi-final on Saturday, Roscommon's dismantling of Mayo on Sunday was the story of the weekend out west.

The Rossies have been threatening to make a breakthrough for a while and a second half scoring return of 1-17 saw them take down their neighbours in eye-catching fashion.

That they did so without the suspended Daire Cregg made it all the more impressive and they will now seek to finish the job against the Tribesmen in a fortnight in their bid for a first provincial title since 2019.

As for Mayo, Andy Moran will know there is a lot of work to do before the All-Ireland campaign begins next month.