Both All-Ireland SFC semi-finals take place at Croke Park this weekend and - even though Dublin and Kerry remain on course to meet in next month's Sam Maguire Cup decider, as widely predicted at the start of the year - Tyrone and Mayo are entertaining legitimate hopes of lodging a spanner or two in the works.
 

Saturday August 26th

All-Ireland SFC semi-final replay

Kerry v Mayo, Croke Park, 3pm - RTE/Sky

These sides couldn't be separated last Sunday, although Mayo were definitely the better team in the drawn match and can carry a lot of confidence into the replay. Kerry were at sixes and sevens for most of the original encounter, especially in their full-back line.

There were question marks around both teams going into that fixture and little happened to resolve any of these uncertainties. Exactly how good are the Kingdom? Granted, they are always one of the strongest sides in the country but there's something about them that fails to convince. A lot of key players have moved on in recent years and, naturally, they are struggling to fill the gaps.

On Sunday, Andy Moran and Jason Doherty ran them ragged. Even though Cillian O'Connor was fairly quiet, the Kerry defence was stretched throughout. Can Eamonn Fitzmaurice plug those holes during the intervening six days? It's a tall order. Kerry's replay record is superb but their conviction has surely been rattled by what transpired first time out.

Mayo have been an enigma all season, hanging on by the skin of their gritted teeth, but they are still standing and now have an excellent chance of progressing to the All-Ireland final. While conventional wisdom might decree that they missed the boat and that Kerry will improve significantly for the replay, it's difficult to overlook how disjointed the Munster champions looked in the face of adversity last weekend.

Kieran Donaghy and Paul Geaney got them out of jail and they will need more of their players to step up to the mark on Saturday afternoon if they are to seal a place in the 2017 All-Ireland SFC final. This game could clearly go either way. Kerry certainly have the most room for improvement and are expected to progress because they are Kerry after all but, based predominantly on what we witnessed last Sunday, it's hard to shrug off the nagging feeling that they simply may not be good enough.

Verdict: Mayo

 

Sunday August 27th

All-Ireland SFC semi-final

Dublin v Tyrone, Croke Park, 4pm - RTE/Sky

As is their wont, the Dubs have effortlessly swept aside all before them (Carlow, Westmeath. Kildare and Monaghan) to arrive at the penultimate stage of the competition. We could point out that they haven't really been tested yet but, then again, how many teams in the country are truly capable of testing Jim Gavin's sensational side?

They're bidding for a third successive All-Ireland, a fourth in five years, and a fifth in seven. Dublin have been the dominant force in gaelic football this decade and, although there has been a lot of talk recently about the 'big four', it would be more accurate to speak of a 'big one'. Dublin are the best team in the country by some distance … but this of course does not mean they cannot be beaten.

En route to the last four, the Red Hands have been mightily impressive themselves. They are arguably the second-best team in the competition and the one with the best chance of inflicting on the unflappable Gavin what would only be his second-ever championship defeat as manager. The bear's claws have been bared since Jim McGuinness poked it at this stage in 2014.

Mickey Harte's men eased past Derry, Donegal, Down and Armagh to arrive on Sunday's big stage and will have known since the start of the year that - if they took the direct route - they were on a semi-final collision course with the holders. So they surely have been gearing themselves up towards this fixture from a long way out.

Can Tyrone beat Dublin? Yes. Will they beat them? Probably not. They play as a team, are tactically aware, highly motivated and have versatile, intelligent players all over the field. The McCanns, the Cavanaghs, Peter Harte, Ronan McNamee, Cathal McCarron, Padraig Hampsey, Niall Sludden, Mattie Donnelly, Mark Bradley ... there is no questioning the quality in the Red Hands ranks. Ten different men scored in the quarter-final dismantling of Armagh and the northerners have eye-watering strength in depth this year.

But Dublin are Dublin. With or without Diarmuid Connolly, they have a litany of players capable of playing big games on their own terms. From Stephen Cluxton and Philly McMahon to Jonny Cooper, Cian O'Sullivan, Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, the brilliant Ciaran Kilkenny, Jack McCaffrey and Dean Rock, they possess an embarrassment of riches. Con O'Callaghan has stepped seamlessly into the team and the largely unheralded pair Paul Mannion and Paddy Andrews can inflict massive damage on opposition defences.

It promises to be a fascinating duel between two superbly-drilled, tactically-astute teams featuring an abundance of individual and collective talent but, when you consider that the aforementioned Connolly, Paul Flynn and Bernard Brogan have only been bit-part players so far this year - extraordinary options to have in reserve - it's almost impossible to look past the talent-laden, record-breaking champions.

Verdict: Dublin

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