Dublin 1-14 Donegal 0-7The most relieved and happy people at Croke Park at the weekend must have been in the box office. Saturday's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football quarter-final replay drew an attendance that constituted the GAA's second 39-year high of the summer.

Yet any cashiers looking at Donegal's empty performance must have felt blessed that one full house, let alone two, had turned up to watch the match.

Of the 79,057 who were there, the huge preponderance was from Dublin. By the end with only the victory margin in question, Donegal's depressed followers were shimmering away into the evening sun and Croke Park presented a strange spectacle, packed by the supporters of just one county.

In simple terms Donegal couldn't emulate their display of less than a fortnight ago, whereas Dublin identified their own shortcomings and tried to remedy them.

Manager Tommy Lyons was back on the line after his famous indisposition for the drawn match but the most important of the changes made by his management was the introduction of Darren Magee at centrefield. The younger brother of centre back Jonny made a big impression. He caught plenty of ball and grafted hard but the greater significance lay in the knock-on effects.

Magee's enthusiasm created the space for Ciarán Whelan to concentrate on his own game and the talented centrefielder gave his best championship display for Dublin in a seven-season career.

As well as the familiar repertoire of athletic breaks up the field, Whelan provided marksmanship when the match was still alive and ferocious tackling when his team's advantage was threatened, his challenge back on Brendan Devenney in the first minute a manifest of what was to come. It was a performance of towering commitment.

With Jonny Magee sealing off the route for Donegal's third centrefielder, Paul McGonigle, Dublin dominated the middle. A first-half injury to John Gildea was an obvious hindrance to Donegal and with nearly half an hour to go, both of the Ulster finalists' centrefield had been replaced - Jimmy McGuinness before half-time.

The benefits for Dublin were obvious. Donegal's two frontmen, Devenney and the hitherto rampant Adrian Sweeney, were left to survive on scraps and what they got was hungrily disputed by a vastly improved defence.

Coman Goggins reverted to the corner after his dummy selection on the wing and tussled very effectively with Sweeney, banishing the memory of his five-point mauling the last day. Peadar Andrews once again took a little while to accustom himself to Brian Roper's pace but again he quickly established control.

Paddy Christie dominated an increasingly cranky Devenney and in a match where Donegal needed enhanced concentration to survive, they allowed themselves to become distracted.

This was, however, by no means a complete performance from Dublin - good news in that Lyons has plenty of room for improvement. There is sometimes a lack of composure about the team going forward. Too often players for whom it constitutes an unsustainable leap of faith attempt scores when colleagues are better placed. Too often well-won possession is kicked aimlessly adrift.

After Ray Cosgrove's goal had placed Dublin in a commanding position at 1-5 to 0-2 in the 27th minute, Dublin had the chances to put the match beyond doubt by the interval but a passage of untidy play saw players fail to keep their wits about them and Donegal survived until the break with the concession of only a typical, surging run and point from Whelan - which was cancelled out by Michael Hegarty's 45 deep into nearly five minutes of injury-time.

The recalled Dessie Farrell wasn't entirely blameless in this regard but he did enough in his 43 minutes on the field to steady and direct the attack and justify his return. The goal was an example. Darren Magee broke and placed Farrell inside on goal. He was sufficiently alert to spot Cosgrove peeling off his marker and set him up for a one-on-one opportunity.

A deft sidestep was all it took and the prolific full forward - six goals in four matches - was off behind the posts tap dancing for a jubilant Hill.

Farrell, having suffered an unfair yellow card for what was a legitimate shoulder challenge in the 16th minute, had injury added to insult when Eamonn Doherty launched himself as a human missile at the Dublin veteran after he had provided the assist to Cosgrove. Instead of being dispatched immediately, the Donegal full back received only a yellow card.

At the start of the second half, Donegal briefly hinted at excitement when Sweeney snapped up a loose ball for a quick point. But less than a minute later he opted out of taking a free and instead hit it short for Paul Casey to intercept.

That's as far as it went and Dublin began to outscore their opponents as remorselessly as they had done in the first half. A much improved Alan Brogan - unlucky to see a goal attempt crash off the underside of the cossbar in the ninth minute - the hard working John McNally, doing well on his relocation to the half forwards, and Senan Connell all got in on the scoring act.

One discomfort for Dublin about a one-sided second half was the slack marking at the end that allowed Donegal some good chances. Stephen Cluxton in goal maintained his excellent form with another flawless display, capped by an alert block on a through-ball to the unmarked Colm McFadden in the 62nd minute.

When it was all over Dublin players toured the field to acknowledge their massive support; a triumphant caper that wouldn't have been out of place had they won the All-Ireland - an originally improbable prospect now possibly just two matches from realisation.

Finally, when will the GAA learn that the more often they defer the start of matches to accommodate latecomers, the longer the problem will persist? Saturday's throw-in was deferred by 15 minutes as the Dublin fans' legendarily relaxed attitude to starting times asserted itself. As soon as a few thousand fans miss half of the first 35 minutes some day, a change in habits will ensue.

HOW THEY LINED OUT

DUBLIN: 1 S Cluxton; 6 J Magee, 3 P Christie, 7 C Goggins (capt); 4 P Andrews, 5 P Casey, 2 B Cahill; 8 C Whelan, 9 D Magee; 11 J McNally, 12 C Moran, 10 S Connell; 13 A Brogan, 14 R Cosgrove, 15 D Farrell. Substitutes: 19 J Sherlock for Farrell (43 mins); 21 S Ryan for Moran (53 mins); 23 P Curran for McNally (65 mins); 18 D Homan for D Magee (67 mins), 24 E Bennis for Connell (68 mins). Yellow cards: C Moran (14 mins), D Farrell (16 mins).

DONEGAL: 1 T Blake; 2 S Carr, 3 E Doherty, 4 N McGinley; 6 D Diver, 7 K Cassidy, 5 R Sweeney; 8 J Gildea, 9 J McGuinness; 10 C Toye, 11 M Hegarty (capt), 12 B Roper; 13 A Sweeney, 14 B Devenney, 15 P McGonigle. Substitutes: 18 K Rafferty for McGuinness (35 mins), 19 B Boyle for Gildea (44 mins); 24 C McFadden for Toye (51 mins); 21 R Kavanagh for Roper (59 mins); 20 C Dunne for McFadden (64 mins). Yellow card: E Doherty (16 mins), B Devenney (70 mins).