There's probably no need for three of them to be in there at all. Their prints are already on file. They've been hanging around, causing trouble to Dublin for some time now; well-known faces that have upset The Hill more than once in recent seasons. Yet strangely Conefrey was the only one to get near the Dubs this time around and even he ended up being stranded on the tracks despite holding Bryan Cullen scoreless from wing-forward.

At least he got close. Fergal Byron was Laois captain.

Twice in two years there had been next to nothing between his side and Dublin, this time he picked three balls from the net and saw 17 go over his head. There were the kickouts too, a duel he lost 27-22 to Stephen Cluxton. Ciaran McManus did little better in the middle as Offaly lost their kick-out battle 29-16 and he was cleaned out by Ciaran Whelan throughout their Leinster final. Dessie Dolan, who tormented Barry Cahill two years ago during Westmeath's shock win, was held to a single point and Westmeath to just five.

So what's changed. Why are Dublin suddenly so untouchable?

FERGAL BYRON (LAOIS) WHAT struck us first of all was the improvement Dublin have made and as a goalkeeper you can see that's universal, across the park.

We played them the last couple of years and there's been nothing in it and all of a sudden we go out this time and look at the score. It's 3-17 to 012 and you're wondering where it's come from. But their staying power is much better and their physical strength is much greater. It's not so much that they've gotten very bulky but they seem to be really strong with the ball in hand. And that stands to them, particularly in the last 15 minutes.

Their movement up front, too, is phenomenal and it's that obvious you wonder why teams can't do anything about it. It's so well rehearsed though, basically it's just a wheel. And it's not like they change a couple of times in the game either, I'd say it could change every five minutes. It's a great system and trying to mark it is so tough because you need to have specific markers but the thing is, if you shove a full-back out to corner-back or wing-back, they can really be exposed while all the Dublin forwards can play in any of the six positions. On top of that it can be hard to communicate because of the noise when the Dubs are in Croke Park.

But they still need possession and they won a lot of ball from my kick-out and from their own they win almost everything. Ciaran Whelan is playing so well and a good lot of people have underestimated Shane Ryan and his ability to get off the ground.

When it came to my kick-out, they weren't even breaking it.

They were just going up and winning primary ball. From their own, they aren't really putting themselves in a position where it's 50/50. Stephen Cluxton is getting them on the wings. It's the sort of tactic teams should be able to cut out but they are so well practised, teams haven't managed to stop them.

CATHAL CONEFREY (Longford) They do move in the forwards, but we didn't find it all that hard at the back. Let them rotate, follow your man and if you're struggling, then switch. But stay on him initially because it has to be about man marking. I was on Bryan Cullen and since then he's moved to six and has become a key man in the team. From marking him at wing-forward, there's no doubt he's a class player but whoever he is marking has to turn the tables. They have to make sure he's not commanding going forward and breaking into midfield and beyond. They have to do their own job and maybe kick a couple of early scores to put him under pressure. Maybe then he'll be stuck thinking about his defensive duties.

Otherwise it'll again turn out to be the case of the tail wagging the donkey.

What struck me about their forwards that day was the pace and power with which they run onto ball.

They go hell for leather and play at such a ferocious pace.

It can be hard to stop and maybe the key lies further down the field. I suppose we found they break an awful lot of ball so as someone who was in the half-back line, you have to get in hard looking for the breaks and try to disrupt them around the middle. If you can get numbers in there, you've as good a chance of winning the breaking ball which means you've a lot less defending to do.

CIARAN McMANUS (Offaly) The whole Dublin team is working well. They aren't depending on their midfield to get forward, they can just give the ball in and others will take care of it. So in that respect they can look after their own patch and they've been doing that really well.

And behind them, their backs are doing nicely and are giving them good ball to work with when they are not under pressure. So the support for the middle two is coming from all over. And it's a simple game that Whelan and Ryan have. When they get the ball, they aren't trying to carry the ball into tackles, they are just giving it on which obviously reduces the chance of errors.

It's difficult when their halfbacks push up and that leaves a lot of space for the midfield to run onto ball. You're chasing and we were a bit naive because there are a lot of things we could have picked up on. Their wing-backs are pushing up and some of the time you can read the signs of where the kick-outs are going to go. If you can get one in every few, that would make a massive difference because they need to have more pressure put on them in the middle. That might knock their confidence and disrupt them.

But what you'll find, no matter what team you play, when they're all going well as a unit, it can be very hard to get on top of any of them.

They are thinking ahead of you, they are supporting each other and there are a lot of things there that people don't see. So I wouldn't say there is any huge improvement in midfield, it's just as a unit the team are all synchronised. They are all thinking the same. If I got to go at them again though, I'd flood midfield and the half-back line, I'd get behind the ball and break like Tyrone did and that's what's been missing when teams played Dublin this year and that's how to beat them.

DESSIE DOLAN (Westmeath) It's hard to pinpoint just their defence as a reason for their improvement, but it's given them a platform. Physically all over the pitch they are stronger than they have been and the conditioning just seems much better. But just looking at their defence, they are playing as a better unit and covering for one another, which makes it very difficult.

They've a very good set-up there. I think you cannot underestimate what Bryan Cullen has done for the defence either. He's one of the best footballers in the country. He's very strong and leads that unit from the front and has every attribute you could think of. There's the strength in depth as well.

Look at the likes of Stephen O'Shaughnessy coming in.

From our own point of view we didn't play well but it was very difficult to get ball in and then when we did, you were marked very quickly and they didn't foul. It was just good, tight marking. They get men back and Bryan holds his position well.

As for weaknesses in the defence? The whole lot of them are playing well and there is no one you could say is a passenger and that's where teams are having a problem. The only thing that could disrupt them is if a team gets a couple of points ahead, then you could wonder how they'll react but that hasn't happened much, so nobody knows. It's better than having no hope at all.

DUBLIN'S UNITY TO LEAVE MAYO LOOKING AT YET ANOTHER YEAR ALL IRELAND SFC SEMI-FINAL DUBLIN v MAYO Referee P Russell (Tipperary) Live, RTE Two, 3.40 Before we look at who'll win and why, let's remember who's playing and why. We all know football's Big Three; how, between them, they've annexed the last nine national titles. Which is why it's fitting the two teams most capable of smashing that cartel are the ones fighting today for the right to stop Kerry. Fact: these last three years . . . this one included . . .

Kerry, Tyrone and Armagh have been among the best five teams in the country. So have Mayo.

Fermanagh enjoyed such status in '04 but have since been replaced by Dublin. We repeat.

This is a clash between two top five teams. Until they become top dog though, today's sides will have to contend with the kind of lazy and unfair jibes that Armagh and Tyrone did until 2002.

Dublin, we keep hearing, are the products and victims of hype.

Really? Only once in the last 25 years has the side who has beaten Dublin failed to either win Leinster or reach the All Ireland final. Good teams and maybe the lack of a freetaker or a scoring forward are what have stopped Dublin winning more titles, never . . . bar '92 perhaps . . . hype.

Then there's Mayo. Last week this parish's own Liam Hayes described the county as a "dwarf" in football's constellation.

Which begged the question:

which planet is Liam on? Since his native county won the last national title of the last decade, no other county has been in more All Ireland under-21 or minor finals than Mayo, no other county has won or competed in more club finals, only Kerry and Armagh have been in more All Ireland semi-finals, while only Tyrone and Galway have won more All Ireland titles in all grades. In the last 24 months alone, Mayo have had teams compete in the All Ireland senior, under-21, minor and club finals . . .

and reached two national league semi-finals; no other county can tick those boxes. If Mayo football is a dwarf to the Big Three, then 20 other counties, Carlow and Meath included, are insects.

All Mayo is missing is Sam, just like all Colin Montgomerie is missing is a major. But who seriously thinks Paul Lawrie is better than Monty? Who dwarfs Mayo? In the last 10 years only one club has won the Armagh county championship while four different Mayo teams have won Connacht. No Tyrone team has contested an All Ireland club final;

Mayo have had six in the last 12 years. Only Kerry dwarf Mayo.

And yet Mayo keeps coming back, trying to gulf that gap. You have to have a heart bigger than a mouse's to do that.

Mayo have limitations though.

Dublin have not yet met a better midfield this summer and won't meet a better defence, but Mayo's attack is not the kind which wins All Irelands. We heard Waterford before the Munster hurling championship constantly bemoan the fitness or unavailability of Messrs McGrath, Mullane and Kelly; Mickey Moran, for all his excessive rants this summer, has had the grace and sense not to make an issue of the fitness or unavailability of Trevor Mortimer, David Brady and Austin O'Malley . . . all of whom have been voted Man of the Match in one of their last three appearances in Croke Park. All three are fit to come in today though, and at least two of them will have to.

It will be a fascinating clash of styles and personalities. Dublin hit hard; Mayo work hard not to be hit. Mayo's half-backs carry and fist the ball; Dublin's move it by foot. Just as Darragh O Se and Nicholas Murphy's battle last week was an All Star eliminator, so too today is that between Ciaran Whelan and Ronan McGarrity. Alan Brogan has possibly been the forward of the championship but Keith Higgins has the intelligence and pace to contain him. Conor Mortimer saw off the second best corner-back in Leinster this past fortnight but will he see off Paul Griffin?

As last week showed, semifinals and finals hinge on forwards and scores, and ultimately Dublin have the greater movement, cohesion and personnel up front. This year they have that free-taker and extra scoring forward or two.

Verdict Dublin to win by three, Mayo to be back again next year MAYO D Clarke; D Geraghty, D Heaney, K Higgins; A Higgins, J Nallen, P Gardiner; R McGarrity, P Harte; AN Other, G Brady, A Dillon; M Conroy, C Mortimer, C McDonald DUBLIN S Cluxton; D Henry, B Cahill, P Griffin; P Casey, B Cullen, C Goggins; C Whelan, S Ryan; C Keaney, A Brogan, R Cosgrove; J Sherlock, K Bonner, T Quinn