Dublin and Derry now more balanced

IT’S a little odd that people should be surprised by the presence of traditional heavyweights like Dublin and Derry in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.

Is it really just nine weeks since Tommy Lyons was feeling the full wrath of the Dublin ‘faithful’ after the defeat to Westmeath? Or 13 weeks since Derry too seemed to be on the ropes and heading for the ten count after an eleven-point pasting by Tyrone in Ulster? And yet here they both are, two steps away from a place in the All-Ireland final after the greatest possible advertisement for the qualifier campaigns.

Dublin and Derry played eight games between them in the qualifiers and only two of their opponents - Cavan (Derry, Round Two) and Roscommon (Dublin, Round Four) - have been provincial winners in the last ten seasons.