All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Analysis: Dublin may have won yesterday but they looked vulnerable at times and if Roscommon had taken the goal chances that came their way it would have been a different story.

Luckily for the fans though, this game was a good contest. This was because Roscommon got a good start with their three early scores, but if Dublin had got out of the traps quicker they would have coasted it.

Instead, Roscommon can look back on their best display in this year's championship.

It was a performance of pride even if it seemed all along there would be only one winner. Once Dublin got parity on the scoreboard they looked superior. Roscommon's inability in the first half to take their goal chances showed a lack of self-belief.

Séamie O'Neill's effort after 20 minutes was well hit but it was straight at Stephen Cluxton, while Stephen Lohan then had a chance that he blasted over the bar.

Dublin got one goal chance and they took it. They now look more like contenders but are still nowhere near the finished product. When Ian Robertson moved out the field things began to work and the goal even came from this as Alan Brogan flicked on for Jason Sherlock, even if it exposed naivety in the Roscommon defence.

Sherlock was my man of the match. He took the goal as he did of old (the 1995 era) and his return to form was the major plus factor of the afternoon for Dublin. He did a lot apart from this, simple things that were lacking previously.

Brogan also showed up well with three scores from play and some decent lay-offs.

Ciarán Whelan may have scored a crucial point early in the second half, increasing the cushion, but he is still not settled at centre forward.

In contrast, Bryan Cullen showed shades of Kevin Moran coming forward from centre back, even if he did look more comfortable going forward than going backward.

He took his point well with a drive through the middle and looks more likely to score now than when he was playing in the forwards.

Kerry will be a massive game but the major worry will be the Dubs defence, which got a real roasting yesterday.

Going in I thought they were a lot tighter. Ger Heneghan had the run of Paul Griffin, a good defender, and against Armagh or Tyrone they might not have passed the test.

Still a lot to do but if the swagger comes back they will be hard to stop. This will not bother Tommy Lyons though as they won yesterday and that's all that matters to him.

Of the four teams in Croke Park yesterday, Tyrone were the ones that brought it up another notch. They looked impressive but the margin of the result merely illustrated the whole injustice of the system.

Laois were drained both mentally and physically. They got their first score early on and looked like they would be competitive but that changed very quickly as the Tyrone machine begins to run smoothly again.

Mark Harte got two goals but he was merely the end point of the assembly line. Their teamwork is superbly typified by selfless running.

Also, they showed their depth by replacing Owen Mulligan with Barry Collins, instead of Peter Canavan. Stephen O'Neill was moved into full forward to good effect, showing the vast options Mickey Harte has in a pivotal role.

Although Harte gave his reasons for not introducing Canavan this still surprised me. Now that they are drawn against Mayo in the quarter-finals Canavan needs as much football as he can get. I know he played a club game midweek but it's not the same.

The only weakness remains in the full-back line, where, significantly, Mayo have been winning games from this season.

I feel for Laois as they really struggled and the contest looked over early on. The big problem they showed in the Leinster final was evident here again.

To live with Tyrone your half-forward line needs to drop deep, which Laois did do, but they failed to get back up into attack. This isolated the full-forward line and they were unable to win the 50-50 situations.

The solution was to move Padraig Clancy into full forward but this only left Noel Garvan in midfield.

At half back Tom Kelly got on the ball regularly but he also gave a lot of possession away.

I have sympathy for Micko as it was his 100th championship game. He won so many All-Irelands in the 1970s and 1980s by playing only three matches but Laois had to play that many in two weeks.

The system needs major scrutiny.

An idea could be to play the National League in early spring under lights midweek and start the club scene earlier.

This would allow the clubs to get prime slots for Sunday games and by finishing the league earlier it would give more room to the championship.