Dublin are coming into the All Ireland quarter final having lost to Kilkenny, but given the year they have had, and the injuries they have suffered, the Leinster final defeat is unlikely to tarnish them mentally.

It seems at this juncture as though Daire Plunkett, David Treacy and Joey Boland could be in line to start, and Ryan O’Dwyer is back from suspension. Dublin will be justifiable favourites. They are the Division 1 league champions, they have beaten every Division 1 team in the country this year either in the League or the championship, and they have a stronger panel than they had in the Leinster final. Limerick, on the other hand, while beating all before them, went toe to toe with a Waterford team that were pummelled in the Munster final, before winning qualifier games against two teams that would not be deemed to be at the same level as Dublin.

Two years ago, at the quarterfinal stage, Dublin were expected to pull through at Thurles against Limerick, but didn’t, mainly through their own inadequacies and a strange substitution of Johnny McCaffrey. The door was open, and they didn’t go through. Again, they ran aground against Antrim last year. This year has been different for them. There is no disgrace in losing to Kilkenny as part of a learning curve, especially if key players are missing. Kilkenny found out themselves in the league final that teams cannot go without their best players. However, Dublin have to deliver here to sustain their rate of progress, but Limerick are a team that Dublin will not like to be facing, even if it’s a different Dublin team to the 2009 model. The big question from a Dublin perspective is did they peak for the league this year, and if so, how much is left in the tank, even if they progress beyond the quarter final.

Given the way in which Limerick are attempting to play under O’Grady, Dublin will try to stop their attacks at source. A pre-planned first half short puckout against Antrim last weekend resulted in a swarm of Antrim forwards pressurising the ball players, the result was a turnover, in the form of a line ball. Antrim succeeded in disrupting the Limerick pattern for three quarters of that game, and but for the fact that Antrim lost a player to a red card in the first half, Limerick would have needed every break to cross the finishing line intact.

One assumes that Dublin have studied that game and will attempt to replicate what Antrim did and force the turnovers. Dublin are not set up to score goals. They are a points machine. They take their frees and they are set up to force turnovers and have the appetite for that. Limerick players cannot afford to get caught in possession, and if they do they will be punished and may even pick up needless injuries. Therefore, the pace at which they play the game is crucial. Of all the games Limerick have played this year, that Antrim game is the one where the most questions were asked of them, and even at times against fourteen men, the desirable answers weren’t forthcoming.

Dublin tend to shoot from sight somewhat and rely almost exclusively on frees for at least 50% of their scores. The famous Babs Keating theory about a team going places needing a full forward line contributing at least 70% of the scores from play in every match doesn’t seem to apply here and Dublin need to get to that level if they are to score the goals that win matches against better opposition.

Where will the game be won and lost? Limerick are conceding enough frees within Paul Ryan’s range to offer Dublin a significant advantage on that count. However, Dublin conceded a huge number of scorable frees against both Galway and Offaly. Declan Hannon has been settled upon as the Limerick freetaker and given his youth and relative inexperience, an early close in free is desirable to get him off his mark.

From play, Limerick offer the greater goal threat, through brute force and ignorance as much as through any creativity. Limerick, for instance, could conjure a goal through a bullocking run from someone like James Ryan before parting off to another forward to finish. Dublin don’t have that type of goal in their artillery and this is where they may well be vulnerable - given the absence of first choice defenders and having been carved open a number of times in the Leinster Final and against Galway, who might well have achieved the tallies they put up against Clare and Cork, if they took all their chances against Dublin that night. Kevin Downes (if fit) is a marked man now, but bear in mind that Peter Kelly is not an experienced full back and can get turned. Factor in the likes of Seanie Tobin, Richard McCarthy, Graham Mulcahy (if fit) and Declan Hannon, who all have an eye for a goal if the opportunity presents itself.

Dublin could well outhurl Limerick for long periods of this game and yet get caught for sucker punches of goals to undo their work. A scoreline of say Limerick 3-13 to Dublin 0-20 is not unrealistic. In their last four competitive games, Limerick have scored four goals in the league final, three against Waterford, one against Wexford and three against Antrim. Dublin, on the other hand, against substantial opposition in comparison, scored zero in a league final that they dominated, two against Offaly, zero against Galway, and one against Kilkenny. Eleven goals to three, regardless of the opposition tells its own story and it’s one reason that Limerick have a fighting chance in a game against a team operating on a higher plateau.

In truth one would expect that Limerick would need to step up to that plateau to merely compete with Dublin, whereas Dublin at their current level should be able to beat Limerick. However, these goal stats place a question mark over that. The match-ups will also be crucial. Conal Keaney plays a lot of ball, and Wayne Mac could be just the player to upset him, through tormenting him. An hour on Wayne Mac will always test the resilience of any player, and any frustrations with him from supporters have stemmed from unforced errors rather than how he has handled opponents. He has improved significantly this year, and may well wear down Keaney. If Keaney interchanges on top of Brian Geary or our to midfield, then we need a contingency plan. Geary has mastered Ryan O’Dwyer in the past and won’t fear him. Tom Condon attacks the ball well, but has a tendency to leave it behind him then which could be punished. Midfield would most likely be won by Dublin, given that Limerick could be without their first choice pairing for this game. Niall Moran has been doing what he does best in the championship this year, adding to his scoring tally from play. Drifting from his position has helped in this regard, and it will make it difficult for the Dublin half back line to prevent him scoring. From the bench, both sides have players who can make an impact so there is little enough between the sides here.

The current qualifier system mirrors that of 2009, subbing Antrim in for Laois. In 2009 Limerick drew with Waterford before scraping past Wexford, Laois and beating Dublin. The rumblings from the camp this year is that every facet of their preparation is far superior to the regime in 2009. However, there are Justin supporters within Limerick who are of the viewpoint that for all the boxes ticked, O’Grady has achieved nothing to date that Justin didn’t achieve two years ago. Beating Dublin is crucial to eliminating that perception.

The most significant milestone for Limerick hurling in 2011 is not what is or isn’t achieved on the field, it’s securing the services of Donal O’Grady for 2012 at any cost.

Nothing apart from the win would be a positive for Dublin. They need to cross that bridge and go where they have not gone before - into a semi final. From a Limerick perspective, the win is important, but not if it leads to a hiding in a Semi Final. As said above, the battle to keep O’Grady is the important thing, and if a depleted o