What a difference a year makes for provincial winners

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What a Difference a Year Makes

Dublin's victory over Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final on Saturday night ensured that all four provincial winners have qualified for this year's semi-finals for the first time since the introduction of the Qualifiers in 2001.

Indeed, the last time all four provincial champions made it through to the last four of the Championship was the year before the Qualifiers were brought in, back in 2000, when Kerry, Kildare, Armagh and Galway contested the semi-finals.

The success of the provincial winners comes a year after the only time all four provincial champions failed to make it past the quarter-finals in the Qualifiers era, Kerry, Roscommon, Meath and Tyrone all perishing at the last eight stage in 2010, making the plight of the provincial champions a cause célèbre in the media. What a difference a year makes.

How the provincial finalists have fared, 2001-2011(Number of provincial winners in brackets)

2011 (4): Kerry, Donegal, Dublin, Mayo

2010 (0)

2009 (2): Cork, Tyrone

2008 (1): Cork

2007 (2): Kerry, Dublin

2006 (3): Cork, Dublin, Mayo

2005 (2): Kerry, Armagh

2004 (2): Kerry, Mayo

2003 (2): Kerry, Tyrone

2002 (3): Cork, Dublin, Armagh

2001 (2): Kerry, Meath

Pre-Qualifiers

2000 (4): Kerry, Kildare, Armagh, Galway

New Low for 2011 Top Scorers?

It hasn't been a vintage year for individual scoring feats, but it is surely unprecedented that not one of the four remaining teams in the Football Championship has a representative in the current top-10 scoring charts?

As outlined above, the fact that all four provincial champions are still standing means that they have played fewer games given they are handed automatic passage to the quarter-finals. There has also been a lot made of a supposed slump in free-taking standards, with many teams, including Dublin on Saturday night, opting to use their goalkeepers to take dead balls.

It all means that unless someone does something pretty special in their two remaining games, Wexford free-taker Ben Brosnan's total of 0-32 is likely to go unchallenged at the end of the season.

Bernard Brogan (0-19) leads the way for Dublin, Darran O'Sullivan (3-8) is next for Kerry, while Cillian O'Connor (0-16) of Mayo and Michael Murphy (1-11) of Donegal look too far back to mount a serious challenge.

Should Brosnan remain at the top on the third Sunday in September, his total of 0-32 will be the joint lowest total to lead the scoring charts at the end of the season since the introduction of the Qualifiers in 2001. As things stand, Johnny Doyle's 2-26 (32) in 2008 is the lowest end of season total in the Qualifier era.

Brosnan would also become only the second player whose team hasn't played in the knock-out stages of the Championship to top the charts; the other is his former Wexford team-mate, Mattie Forde, who led the way in 2004, despite the fact that the Models failed to make it further than Round 3 of the Qualifiers.

The 5-49 (64) scored by Stephen O'Neill in Tyrone's 2005 All-Ireland winning campaign remains the biggest ever end of season individual tally.

Top Scorers 2010-2001

2010: John Doyle, Kildare (1-49)2009: Colm Cooper, Kerry (1-34)2008: John Doyle, Kildare (2-26)2007: James Masters, Cork (3-30)2006: Conor Mortimer, Mayo (1-35)2005: Stephen O'Neill, Tyrone (5-49)2004: Mattie Forde, Wexford (3-38)2003: Peter Canavan, Tyrone (1-48)2002: Oisín McConville/Ray Cosgrove, Armagh/Dublin (1-38/6-23)2001: Pádraic Joyce, Galway (3-45)

Premier Goal Machines

The four goals Lar Corbett scored against Waterford in the Munster final sees the Thurles Sarsfields man move well clear as the Premier County's all-time leading goal scorer on 25. Corbett is now four goals clear of his team-mate Eoin Kelly, who scored two more against the Déise, and has accumulated 21 goals throughout his career. Kelly, however, is Tipp's all-time leading scorer with a quite remarkable 21-342.

Dublin-Tipp Connections

Sideline Snippets has frequently related to our loyal readers the family links present in various teams. This Sunday, however, two competing counties, Dublin and Tipperary, demonstrate the unique connections that exist between the teams competing for a place in the All-Ireland final.

• Dublin forward Ryan O'Dwyer is from Cashel

• Dublin forward Declan O'Dwyer's father, Francis, is from Clonoulty-Rossmore and is a former committee member of the Tipperary Supporters Club, the fund raising and support group for Tipperary hurling founded by 'Babs' Keating in 1986.

• Shane Ryan's father Jack is from Moneygall, his paternal grandfather was the late Seamus Ó Riain who served as President of the GAA and his maternal grandfather was the late Sean Ó Siocháin who served as Director General of the GAA for many years. Shane's uncle, Eugene Ryan, is currently Secretary of the North Tipperary GAA Board.

• Dublin selector, Richard Stakelum is from Borrisoleigh and has previous experience leading teams out of hurling famines - he captained Tipperary to victory in the Munster Championship final replay at Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney in 1987, Tipp's first title since 1971.

(Special thanks to Tipperary PRO Gerard Ryan for providing the final snippet in his superbly compiled press pack ahead of the Tipperary-Dublin All-Ireland semi-final.)