Dublin hearts given a lift

Valentine's Day and the Gaelic games season breathed anew, with county grounds filling up for the business end of the league and exchanges which left just the faintest tingle at the thought of good times to come.

After the dark preamble through last October and November, the contenders for this year's Church and General Football League are at last beginning to identify themselves.

Dublin, who began this year's campaign in helter-skelter winning fashion which went against the general slumbering grain, continued to set the pace in Division 1A when they dismantled lowly Leitrim while giving a clinic for the purists. Seamus Quinn was shown the red card as his team fell by 1-19 to 0-6 in a match which saw Brian Stynes pop over six points from play.

Larry Tompkins's Cork team are progressing towards the playoffs with an ominous lack of fuss. They merrily went about damping the mood of the carnival crowd who now follow Galway. The All-Ireland champions will have to knuckle down if they are to see league fare beyond the regular season.

Tyrone confirmed that when Peter Canavan is around, life is beautiful. They put their pre-Christmas nightmares to bed by crushing Donegal in a tight match. Derry's love affair with the league would appear to be waning; they drew with Monaghan in a gnarled, tight affair which means that Eamonn Coleman will have to depend on unlikely mathematics if his team are to advance.

The going was equally miserly in Newcastle, where Down hosted Meath, but it was a match made fascinating by the grim beauty of two ferocious defensive units. Six points was all either side could squeeze out of the other, leaving Sean Boylan's side virtually assured of play-off action.

Down could yet stir the pecking order in Division 1B, in which Kildare confirmed their lofty status by overcoming Laois, who could really use a win.

In the less glamorous sections, Sligo stretched their limbs, defeated Wexford and could well emerge from a group which will continue to throw out unpredictable results. Out-of-sorts Cavan suggested that their New Year revolt has left them jaded; they conceded 1-2 during a stunning injury-time lapse as they fell to Longford in Breffni Park.