Is football’s empire being redrawn?

SOME games just become serious, almost despite themselves.

At the start of this year, the prospect of Cork-Dublin getting it on in the championship would not have set pulses racing from Swatragh to Rossclare.

Dublin were licking their wounds after another conclusive championship exit, while Cork had yet again come up short against Kerry – far shorter, indeed, than the four-point scoreline suggests.