Dublin and Kerry games come so mossed over with myth and memory that the modern instalments seldom deliver as much as they promise

No surprise then to find two teams who are officially works in progress submitting patchy performances in yesterday's league outing here.

The weather was as generous as could be expected at this time of the year and the travelling Dublin support swelled the attendance to the outskirts of respectability. Kerry, whose winter has been filled with all manner of discontent and whose spring is overshadowed by whispers of the return of Maurice Fitzgerald, won handily enough, 2-11 to 0-14, taking their second brace of league points and setting up a log jam of sides on four points in Division 1A.

Both counties are using the spring to experiment with bright young things, and as such yesterday was a day for the fancier, for the student of the game. In Kerry, where recent crops have thrown up Declan Quill, Declan O'Sullivan, Eoin Brosnan and Colm Cooper, there are ever greater hopes placed on the young shoulders of Donncha Walsh. Even the trees whisper that he will be the next great Kerry midfielder.

Throwing him into the half-forward line in a relatively testing home game against Dublin was a mark of the Kerry selectors' faith in him. Walsh didn't scorch the earth, but nor did he disappoint, and he showed enough touches and provided enough glimpses of his class to reassure us that the fuss won't be for nothing.

Walsh will be a luxury for a little while yet in Kerry. Dublin's needs are more acute. They have a young side, many of whom have been involved in sapping Sigerson action in recent weeks. The Leinster champions finished last season satisfied that they had the guts of a decent defence and just needed to find some forwards to compliment what they had. In Tomás Quinn the appear to have found a forward with the same potential and style as Alan Brogan, and just behind him in the pecking order is the even younger Brian Cullen, who is tagged as a star of the future. Meanwhile the defence has begun springing holes.

Yesterday was a case in point. The Dublin full-forward line scored nine points from play, but the alarm bells sounded often at the back where Kerry burst through twice to score fine goals in the first half. Both were set up by Quill, this year's team captain, who looks like reaffirming the immense promise he showed a couple of seasons ago.

Those two goals were enough to insulate the Kerry side against the best which Dublin could do in the second half. Dublin strung together a little necklace of fine scores after the tea-break, but it never looked like being enough to win the game.

Late on Jason Sherlock joined the action and veterans were reminded of a dank afternoon in this very stadium many seasons ago when Sherlock announced himself as a wonderkid with an extraordinary goal. Dublin went on to win the All-Ireland the following summer with Sherlock's influence being the tipping point between success and failure.

We didn't see anything quite like that yesterday, but solidity over flash is the hallmark of the modern game. Both sides see action again next weekend.