Dublin v Kildare, Croke Park, Sunday, 4.30. Leinster SF Final:WHEREAS it wouldn't have been out of the question at the start of the season, the meeting of Dublin and Kildare in tomorrow's Bank of Ireland Leinster football championship final wouldn't have been a consensus prediction, writes Séan Moran

But these are the teams that the GAA expects to attract a 40-year record crowd to the new Croke Park. Dublin were on the same side of the draw as Meath whereas Kildare have had a ramshackle look in the wake of injuries and retirements.

After the first round of matches, it looked an even longer shot. Wexford nearly beat Dublin and had Louth shown just a little moderation in their wides tally, they would have put out Kildare.

The two teams that have arrived at this unexpected pass are at different ends of the evolutionary scale. This is Mick O'Dwyer's last year as manager of Kildare and some of his team have slipped through the exit ahead of him. New players have been introduced, but the side looks at an early stage of the trial-and-error process.

Dublin, on the other hand, are under new management. The ebullient Tommy Lyons has taken a cadre of players who have been around for a while, added some new talent and produced a team with reasonable credentials for a first provincial title in seven years.

This is Dublin's fourth successive final and the previous three have ended in failure. Yet the pressure isn't as pronounced because it is a new line-up and has already taken a major scalp, defending champions Meath, something that has eluded the county in recent years.

The most relevant of those unsuccessful finals is that of two years ago when the counties last met. Dublin blew a six-point half-time lead in the replay for the most demoralising defeat of Lyons's predecessor Tom Carr's managerial tenure.

But look at the nature of that final. Kildare this weekend don't really bear comparison with the side of two years ago. In 2000, O'Dwyer's side were driven principally by Glenn Ryan and Willie McCreery. Ryan is on the bench this weekend, getting over an injury, but in reality has lost so much mobility that even fully fit would struggle to start the match. McCreery has retired.

Two years ago, Kildare had claims to being the best defence in the country. The half-back line of John Finn, Ryan and Anthony Rainbow were formidable. Tomorrow, only Rainbow will line out.

Centrefield thrusts major responsibility on to Dermot Earley and he has responded well so far, but the sector still hasn't found a suitable foil to replace the selfless and relentless industry of McCreery.

Given Ciarán Whelan's more focused role in this area, Earley will have his work cut out. Up front, Karl O'Dwyer still carries a disproportionate burden in terms of ability to score and he is increasingly bothered by injury.

This indicates that tomorrow will be a bit of a struggle for Kildare. But it's not completely without hope. Dublin were able to enter the match against Meath as complete outsiders whereas their opponents were assumed to be motoring again with the same old menace.

As it turned out, Meath were as poor as they have ever been against Dublin in Seán Boylan's 20 years in charge. And Dublin were blessed with the timing and nature of their two goals, which put pressure on Meath and then wrecked their - admittedly half-hearted - comeback.

But, regardless of its nature, the win will have greatly encouraged Dublin. So will the quality of the first-half forward play. On the broader spaces of the new Croke Park pitch, Alan Brogan, Ray Cosgrove and Collie Moran found plenty of room and sharp forward tactics from Lyons ensured Meath defenders were isolated.

Tomorrow's corner backs Brian Lacey and Ken Doyle are unlikely to end up as flustered as Meath surprisingly did.

Although there was a worrying period for Dublin in the second half, it owed more to inaccuracies than a total shut down.

Kildare will be facing a bigger challenge than the one from Offaly that nearly derailed them in the two-match semi-final. Their largely untested defence will be put under pressure all around the zone.

Dublin have their own clouds. Jonny Magee has become integral to the team's play in the past couple of years and having made such an effort to reach the fitness levels required by Lyons, it is rough on him to miss out with injury.

Kildare have the advantages of experience and a good record against Dublin in recent years, but Dublin have momentum and a growing self-belief that is likely to prove decisive.

The GAA have announced that a limited number of tickets for the final will be on sale from 10 o'clock this morning from the Ticket Office at the back of the Cusack Stand in Croke Park.

All of the terrace and family tickets for Sunday's game have been sold out, but a limited number of stand tickets will be available from this outlet only while stocks last.