Kerry are wiser and better this year

The questions are being fired at Cavan from all directions, even more rapidly than at a defendant in a court dock. Was the Ulster title their main goal? Do they have the motivation to take things a step or two further? How will they cope with Kerry's fast and skilful forwards? In effect, how good, really, are they?

Of course, the answers won't be supplied until tomorrow's All-Ireland football semi-final at Croke Park. What we do know, however, is that no team wins the Ulster championship without possessing the sort of ingredients, pace and skill, combined with physical strength, which are so important to taking football silverware in the 1990s.

Cavan are worthy Ulster champions. Martin McHugh has brought a tactical astuteness to their play that has been absent for a number of decades, particularly in their attacking strategies. Also, he has instilled a high level of fitness in the team which, more and more, is a vital attribute when you reach the All-Ireland series.

But Kerry, too, have come on enormously this year. When they lost to Mayo in last year's All-Ireland semi-final, I felt they showed a degree of complacency and naivety that was unacceptable. Such an attitude has disappeared this time round, replaced by a far more clinical and pragmatic approach.

This should be an interesting encounter. I'm sure the Cavan forwards will attempt to take the Kerry backs all over the place. Another question. Can they create the sort of chances Offaly managed against Meath and also capitalise on them? Certainly, this Cavan attacking unit possesses great pace and understanding and is capable of breaking down the Kerry defence.

Indeed, Kerry's defence will be the rock on which they stand or fall. The loss of Killian Burns from the defence is a blow. However, Kerry's two promoted players - Sean Burke for Burns, and Stephen Stack for Mike Hassett - are very experienced and know what it is like to play in an All Ireland semi-final.

Burke and Stack have important jobs. The Cavan corner forwards, Larry Reilly and Damien O'Reilly, are fast, have great skills and will need tight marking. This area of the field will be very important. Burke and Stack flank Barry O'Shea, a vastly improved full back, who will also need to be on top of his game. In fact, O'Shea's personal duel with Fintan Cahill should be an intriguing one which will have a big bearing on the outcome.

Yet, Kerry have improved noticeably in their defending this year, mainly because their midfield and half forward line have shown a greater willingness to undertake some of the donkey work and also to chase and harry back.

Kerry's midfield pairing of Dara O Se and William Kirby is much maligned, often unfairly. I'm aware that they are not the best pairing in the country for winning possession from kicks-out, but they both put in an enormous amount of work, helping out defence and attack, and this workrate often goes unnoticed.

In contrast, Cavan's midfield pairing of Dermot McCabe and Stephen King is one of its strongest points. However, I don't expect they will have things all their own way tomorrow, especially because the Kerry half forward line of Pa Laide, Liam Hassett and Denis O'Dwyer are well aware of their defensive duties.

It is up to the Kerry forwards to repeat what they did to us (Clare) in the Munster final. That day, Kerry's forwards put the Clare defenders under a lot of pressure and I imagine that Kerry's defence will tomorrow attempt to get quick long ball into Maurice Fitzgerald and Brian Clarke in particular. The entire Kerry full forward line is made up of good ball-handlers, though, and they are also good finishers. They know where the goalposts are.

No player will go into the game with as much confidence as Laide. His pace is quite exceptional and Patrick Shiels will have his work cut out to stay with him. Indeed, if I have any real fears about the Cavan team, it is the defence's tendency to leak scores. In the Ulster final they conceded 16 scores. A repeat tomorrow could prove too much.

I expect Kerry to rely a lot on the direct ball into the full forward line, while also getting Liam Hassett to take his marker Bernard Morris away from the heart of the defence to leave a gap in the centre, thus allowing Laide and O'Dwyer to make telling runs. However, I don't anticipate Kerry adopting the ball-carrying tactics so often used by them. This time, the direct approach is the one which could pay dividends for them.

Unlike Cavan, Kerry were in an All-Ireland semi-final last year, and seem to have learned from that debacle. I think Kerry will have the knowledge and confidence to go one step further this year and, at least, make it to the All-Ireland final. To them, the Munster final was a means to an end. Okay, they retained their provincial crown; but the real target is the Sam Maguire, so that win was really another piece of the puzzle slotting into place.

Cavan's win in Ulster wasn't a means to an end. It was, perhaps, their main goal starting out for the season. Now, they must readjust slightly and set their sights even higher. I don't know if they are capable of doing that, although I'm sure McHugh will have them physically and mentally prepared for the job at hand.

Yet, I still have reservations about Cavan. Can they really have the hunger and appetite they showed throughout Ulster, especially against Derry? I have no such reservations about Kerry. They are a much stronger team than 12 months ago. I also believe they are physically and mentally better prepared than they were this time last year.

I don't expect any slip-up from Kerry this time. They should win - not by any great margin, but still with enough to book a place in the final.

(In an interview with Philip Reid)