DUBLIN
Their recent form says… that Leinster was another piece of cake for the Dubs but they had the test they needed against Donegal at the quarter-final stage. Questions were asked and questions were answered although Dublin’s discipline let them down as Diarmuid Connolly and Eoghan O’Gara were issued with red cards. Defensively, they’re a tough nut to crack, even without Jack McCaffrey and Rory O’Carroll, and they have forwards of proven quality doing their stuff.
The player they cannot do without is… Ciaran Kilkenny. The former dual star is in the form of his life and conducting the Dublin forward orchestra. Kilkenny can score and create but he also works incredibly hard for the team. Dublin have shown they can survive without top stars O’Carroll and McCaffrey but any injury to Cian O’Sullivan would hurt them at the back too as he’s excelled in the sweeper role.
They will be happy because… they’re exactly where they want to be, potentially just 140 minutes away from retaining their All-Ireland crown. Leinster was annexed again with minimum fuss and while Donegal gave them enough of it, Dublin never looked like losing that game. Having skated through the province, Donegal was exactly the game they needed ahead of a clash with old rivals Kerry.
They will be worried because… it’s Kerry in the semi-final. The Kingdom will feel they owe Dublin one, particularly at Croke Park where their record against the Sky Blues is poor in recent years. Kerry won’t need much more motivation than last year’s All-Ireland final defeat but the League final between the counties earlier this year seemed to indicate that the gulf between them has widened. Kerry’s challenge now is to disprove that theory.
KERRY
Their recent form says…they didn’t have to be at full whack to get through the Munster championship, as Tipperary underperformed in the provincial showpiece. Huge question marks still remain over Kerry and we can’t really gauge much from their form-line following a run to the last four that has seen them play Clare (twice) and Tipperary.
The player they cannot do without is… Donnchadh Walsh. This guy performs such an effective role in the Kerry team, getting through the hard graft and opening space for others around him to exploit.
Walsh can also take a score and he collected 1-1 in the quarter-final victory over Clare at Croke Park. There’s still an unsettled feel about Kerry’s midfield as Anthony Maher, David Moran, Kieran Donaghy and Bryan Sheehan compete for two positions but Walsh’s presence around the middle third provides extra solidity.
They will be happy because… they have the chance to gain revenge against Dublin for All-Ireland final defeats in 2011 and 2015, and a semi-final reverse in 2013. Their path to the semi-final has been relatively straight-forward but on the flipside, that’s also a cause for concern as they haven’t been tested. Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice knows that he has the forward potency to trouble any opposition but it’s at the back where the Kingdom need to tighten up.
They will be worried because… of that lack of a test. The Munster semi-final against Clare was negotiated with minimum fuss before Kerry recorded a comfortable final win over Tipperary. The All-Ireland quarter-final draw was kind to Kerry as Clare came through to meet them again and just as it was in the province, victory was assured from a long way out.
But now Kerry face their acid test against Dublin and they won’t have encountered intensity of this nature in championship 2016 until they hit the field on Sunday week. The hard work starts here but the last time Kerry met Dublin at GAA HQ, they lost a League final by 11 points.
MAYO
Their recent form says… they’re building up a nice head of steam. Since that shock Connacht semi-final loss to Galway, Mayo have improved incrementally through the qualifiers, beating Fermanagh, Kildare and Westmeath along the way before scoring their most impressive victory over Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
The player they cannot do without is… Colm Boyle. Mayo may be a team of marquee stars but Boyle has helped to shore up a defence that creaked badly against Galway. Even in the Galway defeat, Boyle performed well for Mayo and he’s driven the team forward since then. Mayo have important players in every line of the field but Boyle is their heartbeat at the back, with Lee Keegan also returning to top form.
They will be happy because… it’s Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final. No disrespect whatsoever is meant to the Premier County here but there was an immediate feeling in the Mayo ranks after beating Tyrone that it was a win that could have sealed a passage to the third Sunday in September. Mayo are on the perceived easier side of the semi-final draw and while Tipp will give them plenty of problems if they perform, anything other than victory for Stephen Rochford’s side would represent a major surprise.
They will be worried because… if they get through to the final, the huge weight of expectation will fall on Mayo’s shoulders again. It’s a burden they haven’t carried well in previous final appearances and there’s still a feeling that even though Mayo have got this far, they’re still not clicking like they’d hope. They’ll also be extremely wary of a dangerous Tipp team who hammered Mayo’s Connacht championship conquerors Galway.
TIPPERARY
Their recent form says… that they’re a team very much on the rise. Having reached the last 12 twice during Peter Creedon’s reign, Tipp cracked that nut and then went one better by steamrolling Galway to reach a first All-Ireland semi-final since 1935. Beating Cork in the Munster semi-final was a landmark moment for Tipp but they didn’t do themselves justice in the provincial decider against Kerry. But a three-week break allowed them to regroup and get back on the road with that memorable qualifier victory against Derry, before those Galway heroics at GAA HQ.
The player they cannot do without is… captain Peter Acheson. With Colin O’Riordan in Australia and Steven O’Brien with the hurlers, manager Liam Kearns was facing midfield troubles ahead of the 2016 championship. George Hannigan’s timely return from long-term injury strengthened Tipp in this vital area but Acheson is the driving force for Tipp from the centre of the field. He’s also played at centre back and centre forward for Tipp this year but Acheson’s form at midfield has made him a live contender for an All-Star.
They will be happy because… they’ve exceeded all expectations to get this far. Bearing in mind how many players they lost, and the injury crisis that hit the squad earlier in the year, reaching the last four of the All-Ireland series is the football story of the year. Anything from here is most definitely a bonus for Liam Kearns and his history-makers.
They will be worried because… they’ll entering a phase of the competition that they’re wholly unfamiliar with. Manager Liam Kearns has acknowledged that Tipp are now heading into a rarefied atmosphere when they lock horns with a Mayo team preparing for a sixth successive All-Ireland semi-final. Tipp are also expected to announce an unchanged team for a fifth successive game but without real depth in their panel, how long can they get away with it?
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