DEJA BLUE

Dublin have soared to top of rankings as door to Sam opens up

- BY KARL O'KANE

THIS is one topsy turvy football Championship, shaken to its core by Meath, as they added the scalp of Kerry to that of Dublin over the weekend in the two biggest shocks of the season.

Last weekend's victory at Tullamore has turned the whole All-Ireland race upside down again in the space of a fortnight.

After Round 2 of the group stages we had the following top 10 in terms of their All-Ireland chances: 1 Armagh, 2 Kerry, 3 Donegal, 4 Galway, 5 Tyrone, 6 Dublin, 7 Monaghan, 8 Derry, 9 Mayo and 10 Meath.

One dramatic round of games later and everything has changed.

Dublin have jumped from sixth to first, with Donegal and Meath also up the rankings, while Armagh and Kerry have fallen.

Kerry's defeat by Meath means they now have to play a preliminary quarter-final against Cavan this weekend.

More serious are the injuries to six players and the fact the Meath defeat has set them on a collision course with Armagh in the quarter-finals.