It was an enjoyable game, with a particularly pulsating first half, played at an even quicker pace than last week's absorbing Meath-Tyrone affair. Ten minutes in and Bradley had already scored a point from either foot off a bedazzled Ross McConnell, Paul Murphy had curled over a fine point off his left, and by the 15th minute Conleth Gilligan had knocked over two off his left too. That was five points, all from play. Dublin had only two points, both from Mark Vaughan deadballs.

Derry were winning every break around the middle and with their half-forwards drawing out the field, they'd oceans of room to hit their inside line or carry the ball into.

Then Dublin picked it up. In the 16th minute they managed to get Alan Brogan on the ball for the first time and he managed to win a dubious free off Sean Marty Lockhart for Conal Keaney to tap over. A minute later his brother Bernard registered their first point from play, and within five minutes Alan Brogan, Keaney and Collie Moran had all kicked points from play.

From being three points down, they had reeled off five points in succession in 10 minutes, all from play, to jump into a 0-7 to 0-5 lead.

The inspiration and platform for most of this was, once again, Ciaran Whelan. In that spell he fetched four balls clean out of the air, and broke another couple down to a blue shirt. The game had been in danger of running away from Dublin, someone needed to intervene, and once again him.

When Derry did get to break past Whelan though, they had the Dublin backs in all kinds of bother. Paul Griffin had by now assumed the task of marking Bradley but Bradley quickly burned him for his third point. Murphy again blitzed through the centre for his second while Colin Devlin's perpetual motion was rewarded with a score of his own to level it.

For the second Saturday in a row though, an Ulster team was getting no breaks or calls from the referee. Anything Alan Mangan was giving was going to Dublin, and, despite all their scores coming from play, Derry trailed at the half by two points, 0-10 to 0-8.

Dublin's advantage was based on more than just Mangan's generosity and Whelan's majesty, mind. This was the day that Bernard Brogan finally announced himself as a serious inter-county player, ripping Francis McEldowney for three points from play in that blistering first 35 minutes, while the authority and control which Vaughan was striking his frees with was remarkable, killing the Vaughan v Quinn free-taking debate once and for all. While Kevin McCloy was dominating Keaney, one of Derry's attacking totems, Enda Muldoon, and his fellow wing-forward, Mark Lynch, couldn't get into the game.

Within two minutes of the restart, Dublin had doubled their advantage, Alan Brogan and Vaughan on target again, but Derry should have erased it soon after. Twice in as many minutes Eoin Bradley, introduced at half-time for the injured Murphy, was through on goal but his efforts lacked conviction and were safely dealt with by Stephen Cluxton.

After that, Dublin took over.

Though Muldoon started to win some kickouts, Eoin Bradley continued to waste possession while the Dubs defence picked up its intensity, forcing Derry to repeatedly spill the ball over. David Henry in particular was immense in that third quarter, while at the other end, the Derry defence was confused and tormented by Alan Brogan's roaming and Sherlock's runs across the line. When Sherlock skinned McGuckin for his second point 10 minutes from time, the Dubs' lead was out to seven, 0-18 to 0-11.

Derry did not lie down. Fergal Doherty kicked over a fine point and won a couple of Cluxton kickouts. Paddy Bradley recovered from missing a simple free by scoring a wondrous point from play and when his brother Eoin finally found his shooting boots, it was back down to three, 0-18 to 0-15 with three minutes to go. And when Muldoon floated a ball into the Dublin square for Bradley to win and shoot, visions of a replay flashed to mind. But it didn't materialise.

Instead Barry Cahill blocked his shot and it trickled into the clutches of Cluxton.

Dublin had survived.

Deservedly so.