Big games at the very serious business end of the season are never that easy, and while Westmeath were even more limited on the field and unimaginative on the sideline than we all thought they would be, the Dubs still did the job impressively.

Their concentration never slipped and their stranglehold on the game, in nearly every position on the field, never lessened. Yeah, despite struggling that bit to maintain their intensity and efficiency in the second half, the Dubs can be happy enough with themselves this morning. They performed without too much messing around, and didn't really get into any bad habits which might have worried Caffrey and Co in advance of the semi.

Just like poor Waterford six days earlier at the same ground, Westmeath needed to stop their bigger and bolder opponents from scoring a goal. Waterford were nailed by one goal late in the day in their All Ireland hurling semi-final last Sunday.

But, God knows, Westmeath should have been five goals down by half-time in this game and it was quite miraculous that they were only eight points behind at half-time.

Westmeath did have their chances and half-chances of putting more than two points on the board in that opening 35 minutes, but everything they did was such hard work. The team's entire creative process was just too laboured and overly involved, and it was quite clear that a longer and faster ball into a twoman full-forward line of Dessie Dolan and Dennis Glennon was the only way Westmeath might get close to even making half a game of this contest.

Equally, for some inexplicable reason, Westmeath never really copped on to the amount of easy ball Ciaran Whelan and Shane Ryan were winning from Stephen Cluxton's kickouts to the sidelines.

Westmeath did not make life in Croke Park any easier for themselves. Meanwhile, Dublin were all power and directness with the ball in their hands, and the smart running off the ball by all of their inside forwards ensured that no Westmeath defender ever settled into his position or settled into the game.

Last night, Dublin will have been thinking about those missed goal chances. With all the bad wides which the team kicked as the game meandered to a conclusion, it is becoming clear that without a couple of goals in every game Dublin might struggle to get their hands back on Sam.

Dublin will also be conscious that they have had enough Leinster opposition for one year. A change would be good for them. Mayo, in fact, would probably be perfect semi-final opposition for them. The opening of the backdoor has allowed any team to get their backside bitten at any time, and Laois would only love to get their teeth into Dublin in the All Ireland semi-final. And certainly, Laois look hungrier and sharper now than they did last June when The Dubs had 14 points to spare over them in the provincial semi-final.

Laois have travelled a long way in the intervening period of time. Tough wins over Tyrone and Meath especially have very quickly toughened up the defence which failed Mick O'Dwyer so dreadfully almost two months ago.

Brendan Quigley has been the Young Player of the Year by some distance this summer and, once again, he can team up with Padraig Clancy to give Laois a clear advantage in the middle of the field against Mayo this afternoon.

While Laois are only dying to get back to Croker, Mayo seldom if ever arrive at HQ brimful of confidence.

Even though the Connacht champs think they should be due greater respect in advance of this All Ireland quarter-final, two slim one-point victories at their backs this summer is not enough to change the general opinion most people still hold about this group of Mayo footballers. To achieve or, once again, under-achieve that is, as usual, the question to be faced and answered by them.

From what we have seen in the middle rather than the start of this summer, Laois look a four or five points superior football team and they must surely believe a semi-final meeting with Dublin is their destiny.