Dublin have what it takes

For all the talk about how Dublin's All-Ireland credentials haven't been validated, the team will certainly be tested in one aspect of All-Ireland reality: the hype surrounding tomorrow afternoon's match, 70 minutes that might deliver a first Dublin-Kerry final in 21 years, is intensifying all the time.

The consensus is that Mayo will be Dublin's stiffest test of the season but that the Leinster champions should come through. The margin of this projected victory varies according to taste but there is a strong view that Mayo won't be around for next month's final.

This has raised the usual objections about Dublin arrogance and the quality of the teams they beat along the way but it is not an unreasonable point of view.

That Mayo are being quoted at daft odds by most bookies while deserving to be no more than marginal outsiders in any rational analysis shouldn't disguise the fact that Dublin have done enough to be rated favourites.

Their progress has been unhindered by serious competition for nearly three months but Mayo's back catalogue isn't hugely more impressive even if they have emerged from tighter corners.

This isn't going to be about anything other than the teams. For all that big Croke Park crowds are regarded as a significant advantage to Dublin, that largely depends on how the team are playing. During the meltdowns of a couple of seasons ago, the massive "support" generated pressure as well as in a small number of cases, abuse. The team's done enough to be spared the latter tomorrow but the former will raise its head if Dublin find themselves having to chase the match.

In terms of development and experience both teams are roughly on a par. Each has won and lost an under-21 All-Ireland in recent years and Mayo have more top-level practice, having contested a senior All-Ireland two years ago.

Both teams have done particularly well at centrefield but generally squandered the abundant possession.

Mickey Moran and John Morrison, the Mayo management team, protested that the characterisation of their team's quarter-final with Laois as lacking in intensity was ill-informed, citing the speed of the play and both sides' preference for not taking the ball into contact.

The crux of tomorrow's match is the extent to which Dublin give Mayo a choice in this. So far the Leinster champions have revelled in the contact up to centrefield and let fly after that with some well-choreographed forward moves, the main deficiency of which has been the failure to find a final ball that hurts or to finish accurately.

Mayo have been in some ways the opposite. They move the ball quickly from the back and will probably target the unproven cover defence of Ray Cosgrove and Kevin Bonner on Dublin's wings, given the counter attacking instincts of Peadar Gardiner and Aidan Higgins.

The problem for the Connacht champions is the reliance on Ciarán McDonald in attack inevitably slows the move and draws the momentum. Perhaps the deployment of a target man on the inside line would encourage the quicker ball that Conor Mortimer needs for optimum effect. But it remains to be seen who fills the vacancy if Billy Joe Padden doesn't pass the fitness test.

Dublin have been criticised for the failure to open up teams they had already beaten but the loss of urgency has been palpable in recent matches. As soon as Tomás Quinn slotted the goal, Westmeath were beaten; at best Offaly survived until Alan McNamee's dismissal.

That lack of focus is inevitable when teams' adrenalin levels drop. That is unlikely to be the character of this match. Even with possession Dublin have to cope with an experienced defence and the excellence of relative Mayo newcomer and corner back Keith Higgins.

The most persuasive aspect of Dublin is the one most people agree about - that their focus is sharp and their attitude aggressively confident. Those attributes haven't waned during one-sided victories even if the application has, and it's mentality that will swing this match.

Mayo have done best when underestimated by opponents.

That won't be the case in the Dublin camp whatever about on the streets. Dublin to get the result they want and the challenge they need.