Lee Costello

Such is the hurried, chaotic nature of the condensed season, the Ulster Championship seems to have gone by in a blur, with only Donegal and Armagh left in the race.

The marathon that was the senior football inter-county Championship season is now a sprint, and it is moving at a rapid pace.

Northern Ireland fighter Paul Hughes is set to battle lightweight star Bobby King on his Bellator debut in Dublin come June 22, and feels ‘lucky’ to do so, as his sporting career nearly ended before it ever really started.

The spotlight has been fixed firmly on Donegal since Jim McGuinness made his return as manager, and there are several reasons for that.

No team has been able to knock Armagh out of the Championship without the help of a penalty shoot-out since 2021, meaning that they actually haven’t lost a knockout game in three years.

As Donegal locked horns with Tyrone in Celtic Park in their Ulster semi-final, the GAA world watched with great interest.

Armagh take on Donegal in Clones on Sunday in a genuine 50/50 game that is almost too close to call.

As the clock ticks closer and closer to throw-in, Donegal and Armagh supporters are getting more and more tense about Sunday’s Ulster Championship Final.

The word ‘penalties’ will be forever whispered in hushed tones around the county of Armagh, and the sound of eyeballs rolling, gritted teeth tutting and creaky necks shaking will soon follow.

There are few men in Derry who have worn the red and white county colours with as much pride as Gerard O’Kane, and after decades of representing them, he is now like the rest of the Oak Leafers — a passionate, but helpless fan on the sidelines.