Analysis: It was a weekend when two of the most prominent All-Ireland contenders moved to the forefront of our minds. Armagh and Galway are coming into form at a time of year that spells danger for all the remaining counties, writes John O'Keeffe.

On Saturday, Armagh gave an emphatic answer to those who questioned their hunger. In a sense, their's was the performance of champions. Their All-Ireland confidence shone through in their composure and confidence. What struck me was that the critical input came from slightly different sectors here. Paul McGrane was sublime and the McEntee boys both gave outstanding accounts of themselves.

And during that vital last 20 minutes, Armagh just looked like better footballers. Their play was more clever and they mixed a short and long ball, fired in diagonal passes for Steven McDonnell and just generally looked more comfortable than Dublin.

It goes without saying that Dublin could ill-afford to lose Stephen Cluxton. The brief personnel advantage they held was critical and once they threw it way, the odds were always stacked against them. With 14 men each, Armagh just went from strength to strength and Dublin could not live with them.

Dublin will obviously be devastated by this loss. They are searching hard for a team that they believe will bring them towards an All-Ireland but it is just not working for them. Every season they come up with a find - I thought Paul Griffin's introduction this season was a success. But you look at Dublin and the primary sense is of watching athletes, players like David Henry and Shane Ryan who work hard and run well and carry the ball well. But Dublin's build-up is slow and deliberate and faced with a team like Armagh, with many bodies behind the ball, they failed to make the goal chances.

I felt for Dessie Farrell because he looked like the one guy that could open up Armagh's defence. There were periods in the first half that they looked the better team but once Joe Kernan impressed upon his team what had to be done, Armagh looked a different team and Dublin began to doubt.

And you can see how devastating the effect of that is when marquee players like Ciarán Whelan and Ray Cosgrove are suffering for confidence.

If Dublin are serious about it, they will need to work hard at minor level to produce the key players that are lacking. I feel, for instance, that they would benefit hugely from a centre forward a la Greg Blaney, a guy with a natural instinct for forward play.

Armagh have that. Diarmuid Marsden and McDonnell in particular just know where the goal is. And the other thing about Armagh is that they always play the simple ball. Their support play is immaculate. But most importantly, this is a team with immense mental strength. Suffice to say it is going to take a very good county to beat them.

There were no surprises in Galway but I think the future is bright for this Mayo team. It was the old story here; a young team beaten by old masters. There was a classic contrast in styles. Mayo played with abandon and I suppose a certain degree of naivety. But overall they can take a lot of heart from this. I was really taken with Gary Mullins and Conor Mortimer and the general way they took the game to Galway. They paid dearly for their first-half penalty miss and it was tough justice that they went in at the break trailing by five points.

Galway were calm and assured and always had an easy response every time that Mayo applied the pressure. They have so many options and are incredibly difficult to stop.

They are certainly prime All-Ireland contenders. If there was a small worry, it was that their back-line looked caught for pace on a few occasions.

In a way, it has come together nicely for Galway and Armagh, who look to be approaching full sharpness and may well be operating as they would wish around the All-Ireland quarter-final time.