Derry City and Cork City, poles apart at either end of the country, have, thankfully to most people's minds, split the growing Dublin monopoly of the Eircom League Premier Division.

Tucked in behind Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne in third and fourth place respectively, with Bohemians, St Patrick's Athletic, Bray Wanderers and UCD immediately behind, Derry and Cork are welcome additions to the challenge for what's developing into a far, far tighter title race than any pundit could have predicted.

A growing concern within the domestic game is the strength, and strength in numbers, of the Dublin clubs, particularly with the change to a 10-team Premier Division next season in mind. If you include Bray Wanderers, 50 per cent of the Premier Division, as it stands, consists of clubs from the Dublin area.

If Dublin City were to win promotion, a distinct possibility, next season's new-look Premier Division could have seven teams from the capital, scarcely an ideal "national league" as efforts are made to spread the gospel of the senior domestic game to the provinces.

With three teams relegated and one in a play-off to allow for the switch, Galway United and Monaghan United, adrift at the bottom on six points, have already left themselves with a mountain to climb if they are to survive.

That leaves perhaps three clubs - Longford Town, Dundalk and UCD - likely to fight it out for the remaining automatic relegation place and the play-off position.

With UCD, a pre-season tip for relegation, now looking well capable of surviving under the fledgling managership of Paul Doolin, the additional loss of either Dundalk and/or Longford would be a massive blow to the game in the provinces.

Vast tracks of the country are already left untapped by a senior club playing in the Premier Division, a blow to the well-being of the game as a whole.

As Shelbourne manager Dermot Keely has pointed out, the national league is in danger of becoming a Leinster league. But it's no coincidence that the clubs that have done well are those that have "got their act together", as Keely put it, and are building for the future both on and off the field.

The reduction to 10 teams next season will inevitably mean a larger percentage of Dublin teams and more Dublin derbies.

With that in mind, Derry's emergence as a relative force again this season is to be welcomed. Following the lost of key players Peter Hutton and Paul Hegarty in the summer, the Candystripes were expected to struggle to make an impact but they have been the surprise packets of the league and have made the Brandywell a fortress again with just two points dropped from six home games.

Cork sent out a few alarm bells with their poor start, but they have recovered superbly to join what was initially perceived as being a two-horse race between Bohemians and Shelbourne.

With Shamrock Rovers at last looking likely to sustain their challenge and St Patrick's Athletic in fine form as well, the title race couldn't be tighter - with the provincial clubs playing an all-important, albeit numerically less prominent, role.