More so than any of the other three quarter-finals, there seemed to be little doubt about who would emerge victorious from today's game between Dublin and Cork.
While the Munster side would keep with Dessie Farrell's men in the first half, it was a very different story after the interval. Despite never really getting out of third gear, Dublin would continually stretch the gaps between the sides before eventually emerging as 0-21 to 0-11 winners.
Brian Fenton increases the lead for @DubGAAOfficial with another impressive point. pic.twitter.com/xrE6gK9r1p
— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 25, 2022
This was yet another handy day's work for the Dubs, who strolled through the Leinster Championship before reaching the All-Ireland series. They certainly weren't asked too many questions on this occasion and will face into a semi-final against either Kerry or Mayo untested in this year's championship.
Jim McGuiness & Peter Canavan disagree on Dublin scoring issues
Considering the level of opposition on show today, it can be difficult to assess this performance from Dublin.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Jim McGuinness said he was very impressed with their display. However, fellow pundit Peter Canavan suggested that there was a few shortcomings in their performance that could prove to be trouble later down the line.
McGuinness: I don't believe that they really pushed on into fifth gear at any stage. It felt as if they were just keeping an eye on that big game coming down the track. They rested players coming into this game so it's almost the perfect scenario for Dessie Farrell.
They put 0-21 on the board in a quarter-final having not really pushed the button...
Canavan: I agree with Jim in that defensively they were very good. There were problems in the first half but they tightened it up in the second half.
Regarding going forward, I was disappointed. I thought they would go on to win that, I don't think they created any goalscoring opportunities. If you compare Derry versus Clare with Cork, teams of similar stature, Derry dismantled them and were ruthless.
There is much more in Dublin. Is it a case that they haven't got back to the levels they were at, or maybe they're thinking of further down the line?
McGuinness: I'm not sure they were going for them. I just feel that they knew coming into this game that they were going win, that's why there were so many scores around the periphery of the 'D'.
Canavan: We kept saying that last year and they never got back. I'm feeling a bit unsure of them moving forward...
McGuinness: I do think that they're going to be hard to beat. They have so many things tactically, players close to goal giving them a different dimension, getting advance marks and longer kicks in.
They've added that from last year, so it's going to take one hell of a team to beat them.
It can be difficult to judge a team when they win a game as comfortably as Dublin did on this occasion.
In truth, we may not be able to correctly assess this performance until we see how they fare against better opposition in the semi-final.
Either way, it should make for a very intriguing clash against either Kerry or Mayo in a few weeks.
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