Croke Park will be packed to the rafters on Sunday for the second of this year's All-Ireland SFC semi-finals between Dublin and Kerry. Who better to give his verdict on the eagerly-anticipated clash than recently-retired Dub Barry Cahill.

The 32-year-old St. Brigid's, Blanchardstown clubman, who brought the curtain down on an 11-year inter-county career last February, was one of the stars of Dublin's memorable All-Ireland final victory over the Kingdom two years ago, and he's backing Jim Gavin's new-look side to come out on top again and secure a final date with Mayo with on September 22.

"I expect Dublin to win it," he confidently predicts.

"That have more power and pace than Kerry, and they are two great qualities to have on a big pitch like Croke Park. I also feel they have the stronger bench. Having that said, Kerry are Kerry and they won't be coming up to make up the numbers. It will be the toughest game Dublin will have had to date."

In contrast to the Dubs who won the Allianz League title in the spring and have blazed a trail to this stage of this championship, Kerry have looked a pale shadow of their former selves in many of their games this year. Mind you, the same thing was being said about them in 2009 before they came to Croke Park and blitzed Dublin by 17 points in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

"The big question is: are Kerry primed for an ambush? They are still a very talented team and have got stronger as the year has gone on," Barry points out.

"They've picked it up since the end of the league when they went up to Omagh and beat Tyrone to avoid relegation. The only game they've had to push themselves in the championship so far was the Munster final against Cork.

"It's hard to know what to make of their performance against Cavan (in the All-Ireland quarter-final). They racked up 10 or 11 points in the first half and had the game won by half-time. But they seemed to change their system for the second half. They were much more defensive. They might have eased off with Dublin in mind…"

Cahill believes Kerry will be hell-bent on avenging their 2011 All-Ireland final defeat to the Dubs. But he wonders if their scoring ability has been reduced by Colm Cooper's switch to the '40'.

"Dublin are going in as favourites and that's always a dangerous thing, especially as Kerry will have huge motivation after what happened in 2011. They will feel that All-Ireland was the 'one that got away'. They were leading by four or five points going into last 10 minutes and looked to be in control.

"But we hit a late purple patch to win by a point. It was a particularly sore one for them."

He continues: "I can see the merits of bringing 'Gooch' out to centre forward. He has more room out there and is able to get on the ball more. On the other hand, they are missing his scoring threat inside. From a Dublin point of view, the further away he is from the goal, the better."

Barry has been highly impressed by a Dublin side that has been many people's All-Ireland favourites since early in the season. Since Jim Gavin took over the reins from Pat Gilroy, the likes of Jack McCaffrey, Paul Mannion and Ciaran Kilkenny have made the step-up from U21 to senior look easy and have arguably made Dublin stronger.

"They haven't put a foot wrong all year," the 2007 All Star wing back enthuses.

"They developed a winning habit in the league and have maintained it throughout the summer. Their only defeat all year was to Tyrone on the Paddy's weekend and they made up for that in the league final.

"They have been very impressive in the championship. They could have beaten Cork by 15 points rather than five the last day. They beat both Westmeath and Kildare by 16 points which means their combined margin of victory over the three Division 1 teams they've played has been 37 points. That's some going.

"With a new management coming in, there was always going to be changes. Jim would have had a lot of players from his successful U21 teams in mind. They have blended in very well with the lads from the 2011 team.

"What has impressed me most is the fitness, speed and pace around the middle third of the pitch. Other teams haven't been able to live with Dublin. I still think there's another gear in them. They have a lot of talent up front and the strength in depth is frightening. You saw what they're capable of when they scored 2-9 in an 18-minute blitz against Mayo in the league semi-final."

Is this team better than Pat Gilroy's All-Ireland champions of two years ago?

"Potentially, they could be, but we won't know until they win an All-Ireland or two," Barry replies.

"There is a good mix of youth and experience, and all the lads have the experience of winning All-Irelands, be it at senior, U21 or minor level. Tyrone are the only other county that can say that. There is serious competition for places. The competition is such that the likes of Dean Rock and Kevin McManamon - who would get on any other team in the country - have to settle for 15 or 20 minutes.

"From what I've heard, the in-house games have been very competitive. That's very important because we've been sucker-punched before after not being tested in the run-up to All-Ireland quarter or semi-finals."

Having graced Croke Park on numerous occasions during his Dublin career, Barry now works there as a Business Development Manager with the GAA/GPA. One of Dublin's most versatile players of the past decade, he made his championship debut in 2001 and went on to win eight Leinster SFC medals as well as a coveted Celtic Cross in 2011.

Barry insists he has no regrets about hanging up his inter-county boots and has made a surprisingly smooth transition from player to spectator.

"I don't miss it. I had 11 great years; I had my fill and am happy with the decision I made last February," he explains.

"Obviously, I still have a huge interest in the Dublin team. I've been to a good few of their games this year. I was in Portugal when they played Cork, but I hope to be there on Sunday.

"St. Brigid's have Paddy Andrews and Shane Supple on the panel, while Declan Darcy is a selector. Paddy was man of the match in the first round of the Leinster championship against Westmeath, but was hampered by a groin injury after that and has only returned to fitness in the past couple of weeks. He should be in the mix for Sunday."

A desire to give more playing time to his beloved St. Brigid's was also a factor in Barry's decision to call it a day with the Dubs.

"I feel I still have another couple of good years left in me at club level. It's nice to be able to give them 100 per cent for a change. We beat Whitehall/Colmcille in the first round of the senior championship and are waiting to play Thomas Davis in the last 16.

"Under Gerry McEntee (the former Meath star) and Mark Byrne, we lost the 2010 county final to Kilmacud Crokes, beat St. Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh in the 2011 final and lost last year's semi-final to Crokes. Gerry and Mark are still over us and hopefully we'll be there or thereabouts again this year," he concludes. Tweet

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