Question marks hover as Mayo and Dublin collide again

There's little time for Mayo to bask in a win over the neighbours with another seismic game against our modern foes looming.

Let me declare at an early stage that Mayo will go in as underdogs despite their massive preliminary quarter-final victory and Dublin's relatively low-key run to this stage.

The tension in Salthill last weekend was unbearable because there was so much on the line. Goals were decisive in three of the four preliminary quarter-finals and what a beautiful one to win it for Mayo.

There was a lot of worry about the functioning of our forward line in the aftermath of the Cork game but trust the old reliable full-back to canter forward and get the only goal after giving the keeper the eyes, a wonderfully cool finish from David McBrien.

While the goal was crucial in the outcome, the stand-out moment from the match came in the first half when Paddy Durcan raced back to prevent Matthew Tierney steaming in to rattle a goal for Galway.

If Paddy doesn't make that ground up, it's a two-on-one situation and a likely goal. But Durcan got back, Mattie was forced into an early shot and it flew over the bar. At the time, it probably felt alright for the Tribesmen, another point, keep the scoreboard ticking over.

But looked at overall, it was a massive moment in the context of the game.

While the result was everything, Mayo have plenty of scope for improvement. They dominated the third quarter, in which they made the crucial winning burst, but the last 15 minutes were a bit messy in places and they didn't finish the game as impressively as they would have liked.

Factor in the loss of Damien Comer, Sean Kelly operating at 30% capacity and the off-day for Shane Walsh and a one-point win doesn't look too hot. But ultimately those