Eamonn Fitzmaurice isn't sure that the gap between the 2017 All-Ireland football semi-finalists and everybody else is as big as perceived.

Dublin, Kerry, Tyrone and Mayo comprise the last four for the third time in five years and all of them enjoyed landslide victories in their respective quarter-finals. But the Kerry manager says the onus is on everybody else to bridge the apparent divide:

"I think you have to look beyond the scorelines. While many might have predicted the four teams that are there to be the semi-finalists this year, I don't think many would have predicted results like Down beating Monaghan in Ulster and Armagh beating Kildare," he tells The Irish News.

"I think the onus is on those that are behind to play catch up to the others. The one reason that I think the top teams dominate is that they are able to adapt to things much quicker on the go than others. You definitely see that with teams in Division One of the league.

"A lot is thrown up for teams in those matches that they have to learn how to deal with quickly as opposed to what you might have to deal with in the other divisions.

"Everybody wants to compete for Sam Maguire. You could definitely look at having something afterwards for those who are knocked out early but it's not something that I have given a whole lot of thought to, being honest."

Tweet

Most Read Stories