Dublin secured a home tie in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals after edging a thrilling final game encounter against a luckless Derry side in Páirc Esler on Saturday evening.
With Ciaran Kilkenny superb and the returning Con O'Callaghan helping himself to five points, it was the Dubs' third quarter which gave Dessie Farrell's men the platform for victory - but this was a game of the finest margins.
Paddy Tally's Oakleafers left everything on the pitch but it was a game that summed up a season of near misses for a Derry team who probably deserved more than they got.
They can point to a series of near misses, Shane McGuigan, who finished with 0-10, seeing a two-point effort strike the post late on before Brendan Rogers watched an even later goal chance fly past the far post. Lachlan Murray also watched a goal chance slide inches the wrong side of the post; but ultimately they didn't do enough.
And with Galway claiming a single point victory over Armagh at Breffni Park, it means Dublin's return to form has arrived at exactly the right moment to secure second spot and remind anyone foolish enough to write them off that rumours of Dublin's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
With Odhran Lynch picking up a quad injury in Derry's final training session of the week, Tally named the same 15 that started the draw with Galway while Farrell made three changes from the team beaten by Armagh. O'Callaghan started despite being initially named among the substitutes. John Small and Lee Gannon also came in with Lorcan O'Dell and Alex Gavin dropping to the bench and Colm Basquel missing out.
And it didn't take long for O'Callaghan to mark his return, taking a pass from Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne to split the posts within 10 seconds of throw-in as the Dubs started like a runaway train.
The score was half a goal chance but Dublin didn't pause for breath, Killian McGinnis adding a second point before the opening minute had elapsed. Paddy Small added another with only 90 seconds gone before, seconds later, the same player burst clean through only to elect to fist over instead of going for goal.
Four points up, two minutes gone, Derry looked shell shocked: they didn't respond like it though.
With his team needing settling, Conor Glass stepped forward to take a pass from Shane McGuigan and get Derry on the scoreboard five minutes in. Dublin responded with a second O'Callaghan point but Derry had joined the party and the fireworks weren't long behind.
Ethan Doherty fired narrowly over before Small's failure to hand back the ball for a free proved costly as the ball was moved with McGuigan range and his fired over for a crucial two point free to make it 0-6 to 0-4 on 10 minutes.
That three points without reply would become six, Shane McGuigan drop-kicking one over before adding his second two-point free to edge the Oakleafers ahead for the first time after 15 minutes. The Slaughtneil ace would then add a free to leave it 0-08 to 0-06.
But anything Derry could do, Dublin could do likewise, well almost as five in a row from McGinnis, Cormac Costello, from a free, Paddy Small and a Stephen Cluxton two-point free swung the pendulum back to the Dubs at 0-11 to 0-08.
Yet in keeping with a half that couldn't quite make up its mind, Derry levelled once more though Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy and McGuigan but the half wasn't finished there.
A two-point free from Costello after Ciaran McFaul had held up Brian Howard was cancelled out by McGuigan's third two-pointer of the half after a similar infringement.
The sides level and Páirc Esler could finally catch it breath at the break.
Points apiece on the restart from from O'Callaghan and Niall Loughlin brought the teams level for a fourth time but from there Dublin went through the gears to outscore Derry by 0-07 to 0-02 over the next 15 minutes to move 0-21 to 0-16 clear - though McGuigan had seen as superb effort at a fourth two-pointer strike the upright.
A McGuigan free did reduce the deficit and the Oakleafers almost had it back to the minimum with 10 minutes left when McGuigan sent Rogers through coming in off the right, Rogers seeing his low shot flash across the face of goal and inches wide of Cluxton's far post.
Derry were indebted to sub Ruairi Forbes for a breath-taking goalline clearance as the Dubs tried to wrap things up but even when Rogers' late point left only two between them, Dublin were winning enough of their own kick-outs to keep Derry at arm's length and edge over the line.
The're plenty of life left in Dessie Farrell's team.
Scorers - Derry: Shane McGuigan 0-10 (3tpf, 3f), Conor Glass 0-02, Ethan Doherty 0-03, Niall Toner 0-01 (1m), Paul Cassidy 0-01, Niall Loughlin 0-02 (1m), Brendan Rogers 0-01
Dublin: Con O'Callaghan 0-05, Cormac Costello 0-04 (1tpf, 1f), Paddy Small 0-02, Lee Gannon 0-02, Killian McGinnis 0-03, Stephen Cluxton 0-02 (1tpf), Sean Bugler 0-02, Ciaran Kilkenny 0-01, John Small 0-01
Derry: Ben McKinless, Diarmuid Baker, Eoin McEvoy, Patrick McGurk, Conor Doherty, Brendan Rogers, Padraig McGrogan, Conor Glass, Dan Higgins, Ethan Doherty, Paul Cassidy, Ciaran McFaul, Shane McGuigan, Niall Loughlin, Niall Toner
Subs: Lachlan Murray for N Toner (44), Conor McCluskey for McGurk (50), Ryan Mulholland for McFaul (58), Ruairi Forbes for Cassidy (62), Cahir McMonagle for Loughlin (67).
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton, Sean McMahon, Theo Clancy, David Byrne, Brian Howard, John Small, Lee Gannon, Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne, Killian McGinnis, Ciaran Kilkenny, Sean Bugler, Niall Scully, Paddy Small, Con O'Callaghan, Cormac Costello
Subs: Cian Murphy for Clancy (48), Eoin Murchan for McGinnis (48), Ross McGarry for Scully (53),Tom Lahiff for Gannon (59), Nathan Dornan for P Small (67).
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare).
Watch an All-Ireland Football Championship double-header, Monaghan v Down and Donegal v Mayo, on Sunday from 1.30pm. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
