With their senior teams having already marched into the semi-finals of the Championship in the last two weeks, the present state of Dublin and Kerry football seems very healthy. And fans of both counties can take an added boost from their minor team's efforts this weekend in the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.
Dublin and Kerry both secured safe passage into the semi-finals with comfortable wins over Clare and Louth respectively. They will be joined in the last four by Cavan and Derry. Cavan upset Galway while the Oak-leaf county pipped Sligo by a solitary point.
Each game saw some really promising performances that provide this week's nominees for the Electric Ireland Minor Player of the Week. You can cast your ballot every week on Electric Ireland's Facebook page, and get involved in the conversation through #GAAThisIsMajor.
David Clifford - Kerry
Captain David Clifford led with distinction throughout as he scored 9 points, with 6 coming from play. The Fossa man set the tone early on with the opening score after just 47 seconds.
Louth could not live with his size and physicality as well as his surprising turn of pace for such a big man. Clifford, who starred in Kerry's victorious minor campaign last year, appears to have taken his game up another level this year as he has racked up scores of 1-4, 2-8 and 0-6 in his side's three previous encounters.
Red Óg Murphy - Sligo
It's not often that a player from the losing side gets the nod for a player of the week nomination but that is a testament to the brilliance of Sligo's Red Óg Murphy. The Curry man scored the bulk of his county's 0-15 total with a personal tally of 0-11(7f).
The full-forward was a thorn in Derry's side throughout as even towards the closing minutes, he pointed to equalise matters before Derry eventually struck the telling blow.
While Sligo's season has now ended on a heartbreaking finish, their fans can take a lot of pride in their performances and in particular those of Murphy's given that he also scored 1-2 and 0-2 in their Connaught matches.
Cian Madden - Cavan
In what was probably the pick of the minor quarter-finals, Cavan mounted an unbelievable comeback against Galway.
It's no surprise that forward Cian Madden was at the heart of that monumental effort as this is his second nomination for player of the week this season.
He played a huge role orchestrating the attack as Cavan outscored Galway by 1-5 to 0-1 in the final 15 minutes to secure a 1-11 to 0-11 win.
The Gowna man scored 0-4(1f) which included the two final points of the match which proved to be the final hammer blows of an epic response.
One could be mistaken for thinking that comebacks are the preferred method of winning for this Cavan team. In previous rounds versus Monaghan and Down respectively, they have made up four and five point halftime deficits to come out on top.
While Dublin and Kerry are frequent participants at this late stage of the competition, this is the first time the Breffni will be represented at minor level in the final four since 1974.
You can cast your vote for the Player of the Week nominees every week on Electric Ireland's Facebook page.
