Blues reach new heights but chasing pack have to find answers Atmosphere is not what clubs want on big day

CLUB finals day has been one of the greatest in Irish sport but I just wonder if it’s losing its lustre.

Last year I took some friends from abroad and it was very a disappointing occasion with little atmosphere.

I feel having the games at Croke Park is, perhaps, not the way to go any more. The further away teams are – with all the hassle of getting to Dublin on St Patrick’s Day – the smaller their following is likely to be.

Throw the clash with the rugby today into the middle of it and you’d fear for what sort of crowd there’ll be.

The two best teams have reached the football final. Nemo have flair, history and tradition WITH Dublin now so far ahead, sometimes it’s easy to forget just how far behind they were in the not too distant past.

Ten years ago this summer they took a hiding from Tyrone in the All-ireland quarter-final.

Kerry had 17 points to spare on them at the same stage 12 months later and dished out a far more comprehensive footballing lesson than what they received last Sunday.

Wind it on another year and Meath took them apart at Croke Park, hitting them for five goals.

Around that time, with the 1995 All-ireland win slipping further and further into the distance, the county’s footballing brand was fading fast and Dublin were on the edge of a cliff. If they’d fallen off, they might never have got back up.

Then 2011 happened. That year’s All-ireland final was a game that Kerry should have closed out to win comfortably but when they didn’t, everything changed.

On the back of that, there’s a fair debate to be had now on who the greatest team of all time is – Mick O’dwyer’s Kerry or the current Dublin side? For me it’s Dublin. but Corofin are a serious outfit aswell.

They didn’t do themselves justice against Moorefield and will still be smarting from last year’s semi-final loss to Dr Crokes.

I think they’ll win by three or four points and with their rich underage system, they could be around for a while yet.

There’s nothing I love more than watching them. Their skill, power and pace is extraordinary – as is their adaptability.

They inflict so much psychological damage on teams even before games and certainly during them. Most sides are beaten into submission before the ball is thrown in and then it becomes a sobering reality once it is.

But, for all Dublin’s greatness, the single biggest thing playing into their hands is the ineptitude of counties who were once serious contenders.

Take six counties who used to be able to compete with them – Tyrone, Donegal, Cork, Down, Armagh and Meath. Nobody can say those teams haven’t regressed, some to an alarming degree.

There might only be one of those teams in Division One next year. Down or Meath could be in Division Three.

Amid Dublin’s brilliance, there’s been a serious deterioration among a lot of their main competitors.

The biggest difference between this Dublin team and any I’ve seen is their mental strength. In the past, you’d always feel you could do them if it was close coming down the stretch. Not now. The gap between Dublin and their nearest rivals on a given day is not particularly huge but their belief, mental strength and game management is incredible.

The biggest worry over the coming years is whether the counties I’ve mentioned – or others – will up their game to compete with them more.

Kerry and Mayo have had their chances to put them away in recent years and haven’t taken them.

The gulf is not that great if every manager out there was as capable of getting the best out of his players as Gavin is, but instead it appears to be getting bigger.

The way they coast through these League games continually builds confidence and, moreover, increases the psychological damage on those behind them, who seem to be losing ground while Dublin streak further away.

Thank God for Mayo.