All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Louth v Mayo, Saturday 6pm – Live on RTÉ Two and BBC TwoThere’s a fascinating psychology around this one. When was the last time an All-Ireland semi-final contained two teams who can be described, in that faintest splash of praise, as being in bonus territory? Even if nobody in the Louth or Mayo set-ups would dare breathe such a phrase this week, we can all accept that they’d have taken a last four spot for their year’s work if offered it in January.So go on, then – when was the last time? You could maybe make an argument for Galway v Derry in 2022 but you’d want to be careful to do it out of Pádraic Joyce’s earshot. Before that, you’d have to go back to Kildare v Down in 2010. Down had been put out of the championship by Wicklow in 2009 and though Kildare had made an All-Ireland quarter-final, they were still presumed to be a rung or two below the elite. An All-Ireland semi-final was a good year, regardless of how it turned out.Both these teams have a bit of that this weekend. Both have first-season managers for whom the report card will make pleasant reading whenever it is issued. Even in the event of one of them taking a hiding here, bringing what turned out to be a simply-not-good-enough team to the last four will go down as an achievement. Their job this week is to convince those around them that just getting here isn’t enough.Moran does at least have horses in his stable who’ve ridden this trail before. Of the 26 players named in the panel on Friday, 11 have been on the winning team in an All-Ireland semi-final, most of them more than once. Even if their experience of finals has been uniformly dreadful, they’ve generally been okay getting through this stage. Mayo's Padraig O'Hora and Ryan O'Donoghue celebrate their 2021 All-Ireland semi-final victory over Dublin. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho [ Gavin Devlin’s long road from Mickey Harte’s lieutenant to Louth leaderOpens in new window ]Given that the last of those semi-finals was five years ago, maybe it won’t count for much. But with so little to choose between the sides, they’d presumably prefer to have the experience rather than not.Louth will miss Seán Callaghan in the middle of the field and it remains to be seen whether or not Paul Matthews actually lines out, as he has struggled with injury since the Monaghan game. They showed a fortnight ago they are well able to absorb losses and keep trucking but eventually the pips might squeak around the middle and they may need more out of Tommy Durnin and Ciarán Byrne than the cameos they’ve been putting in so far.One way or the other, they are some bunch. This group of Louth players have been through three different management set-ups since playing in Division Four five years ago and have improved out of sight each time, pushing back the boundaries of what’s supposed to be possible. Promotions, a Leinster final followed by a Leinster title, All-Ireland quarter-finals followed by an All-Ireland semi-final. They keep bouncing back and bouncing higher.Is this a step too far? No reason it has to be. Louth are the only team that has gone through the All-Ireland series unbeaten. In doing so, they accounted for three Division One counties. They’ve had nothing easy, needing a last-kick goal to beat Armagh and beating Monaghan with 14 men for pretty much the whole game. Their journey to this point is undeniably more impressive than Mayo’s.But Mayo have Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne playing like they’re not teenagers. And Ryan O’Donoghue having his best season in years. And two-point threats from play in Jack Carney and Jordan Flynn. And size around the middle where Louth have been weakened. Moran’s defensive structure is still hard to trust but they’ve had two clean sheets in three games now and a goalkeeper who keeps bailing them out. You couldn’t have a dogmatic view on this one. But we’ll go with Mayo to edge it. Verdict: Mayo[ Conor McManus: Building steadily and tactically brave, Louth’s progress has been no shockOpens in new window ]