Our idyllic Italian sojourn is over: we’re back to the leaden skies and stupidly low temperatures that the rest of you have had to put up with over the last few weeks, although I hear there’s some talk of the weather picking up somewhat by the weekend. We’re back well in time for the draw for the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals this coming weekend and for the action itself on the August Bank Holiday weekend.

I’d like to extend a huge thanks to FourGoal, ontheroad and Ed for keeping the fire so excellently stoked here on the site while I was away over the past two weeks. With all that high-quality output you’ve been enjoying courtesy of those in the guest slot, I really think I should get away more often!