It is just possible that the outpouring of public outrage over the less than pulsating Church & General National Football League quarterfinals has been exaggerated.

The trend of disrespect for the League has after all been well in train for a few years. Yet this much is also true: of tomorrow's semi-finalists, only Dublin will be in a position to represent a National Football League win as progress without championship corroboration later this year.

It's worth pointing out that the problems of the league derive from one essential fact - it is less important than the championship. Consequently, team managers value it only in as much as it benefits - or at least doesn't hinder - their championship prospects.

Those teams who have a bit of time to spare between the conclusion of the league and their first championship date may well deem it worth while to give the league a whack.

In all of this, the difficulty arises from the proximity of the league finals to the beginning of the championship. Either that must be changed or else league performance must carry some championship spin-off. Only then will the status of the competition recover.

The second match at Croke Park (Dublin v Armagh, 3.30) best represents the varying emphases teams place on the league. There is a view in Armagh - not necessarily shared by the team management - that a run to the final is the last thing the team needs. Winning the title for the first time would be a significant distraction as the team prepares for a difficult first round, against Donegal in Ballybofey four weeks later.

Finishing second in the final is not that appealing a prospect as the experience of five years ago indicated. During most of the campaign Armagh moved so well, particularly in the forwards, that they were entered in some books as the "next All-Ireland winners from Ulster (after Down, Donegal and Derry)".

In the final they collided with a Meath team in transition and suffered something of a mauling. Their morale never really recovered and a subdued championship was ended summarily by Tyrone.

The lesson is: if you have to experience defeat in the later stages of the league make sure you lose unhelpful illusions rather than your self-respect.

This far in the current league Armagh have been impressive in a non-showy way. After a poor opening performance against Donegal, they moved carefully through the remainder of the campaign. Furthermore, they have done so in the absence of a couple of their best players from Crossmaglen.

As Oisin McConville, John and Tony McEntee have not been named in tomorrow's line-up although there remains one vacancy to be filled, moving up a gear for the summer is a possibility.

For Dublin, the league has so far been useful. With the exception of the Cork match, which they were under pressure to win yet didn't, the campaign has been a combination of gratifying results and some encouraging performances. However, even a half-paced Kildare midfield caused problems for Enda Sheehy and Ciaran Whelan and the full back line continued to look suspect. Whether the attack can function as well in the more claustrophobic environment of championship action also remains to be seen.

Answers are unlikely to emerge tomorrow. In the quarter-final, Armagh struggled more than was seemly against a self-curtailed Sligo challenge and will not have the same margin for error this time.

Meath's campaign has been fitful, boosted by thumping wins against distracted opposition before Christmas and entangled in lack-lustre displays afterwards.

At present there is a list of injured, recovering or otherwise unavailable players whose absence would spancel any team: Tommy Dowd, Trevor Giles, Brendan Reilly, Nigel Nestor, Barry Callaghan, Stephen Dillon and Enda McManus.

Should Meath reach the final, Giles and Dowd will be back in the frame but the growing concerns about Reilly's availability for the summer shifts a considerable focus on to Nigel Crawford who has recently moved to full forward since the return of John McDermott and Jimmy McGuinness.

Against a weakened Cork midfield, Meath can be expected to win possession and their attack performed well in the first half against Kerry. Yet they were poor in the second half and against Cork's energetic and mobile defence, the absent forwards will be missed.

Cork won't have the whale of a time accorded them by Derry but they may get through for enough to tilt the balance.