Shocks, drama and records broken - the GAA weekend

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.

Down swagger to shock Donegal win 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.