ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL Kildare 2-17 Meath 1-12:ANOTHER THRONE unseated. Meath's return to Croke Park was an unhappy experience yesterday as they ran into a terrific Kildare team that possess the stamina and the attacking ambition to push on and win their first All-Ireland since 1928.

In the second half, they hounded their old rivals into submission and were still full of running when John Doyle floated a beautiful point in the 72nd minute to enhance the aesthetics of an afternoon of bruising football.

This was the second match in a weekend which will invite some stark revision of the state of Leinster football, a province that was much maligned just a few years ago. Louth have a moral claim on this year’s Leinster crown, Meath hold the cup but it may take an All-Ireland final between Dublin and Kildare to decide the best team in the province.

At the beginning of the championship, that would have seemed a remote possibility. But now, all dreams are equal and attainable.

Kildare go on to face Down now in a tasty and novel All-Ireland semi-final that will further enhance the rejuvenation of this championship. They have marched with absolute confidence since their defeat to Louth in June and only the scheduling can temporarily halt them; they have a four-week pause for breath before that match.

At least that will give them ample time to work on healing Dermot Earley. Their general was helped off in the first four minutes of this match but Kildare refused to accept either this setback or the subsequent concession of 1-3 after a rampant Meath opening act as reasons not to win.

Other teams – weaker teams – could have disappeared into a black hole here. Not Kildare.

The starkest statistic is that from the 14th minute, they outscored Meath by 2-17 to 0-9. As usual, the brackets after Doyle’s name were garlanded with several choice scores but when this match was in the balance, it was James Kavanagh who directed traffic for Kildare. His 27th-minute goal, which involved a wonderfully poised finish past Brendan Murphy, was the centre-piece of a performance that spooked the Meath full-back line.

He won several great high balls and always seemed to make the correct choice; by the time he faded a little in the last quarter of the match, Kildare’s ascendancy was irreversible.

Elsewhere, Hugh Lynch came in for Earley and had a storming match at midfield. Michael Foley was brought on to shadow Joe Sheridan, who was kicking points with impunity and he did just that – in the second half, the Seneschelstown man hardly got a shot away.

With Doyle and Kavanagh looking jittery with early frees, Eoghan O’Flaherty stepped up to land several key scores. Kildare’s fitness was staggering throughout and they have prime athletes in Hugh McGrillen and Emmet Bolton.

There was a period when they hesitated in putting Meath away and scores by Brian Meade and Jamie Queenie left a goal between the teams after 57 minutes. It was familiar stuff. Meath hanging around on the street corner, patient and watchful but there would be no late escape for the Royals

Meath’s goal highlighted what was a weird and wonderful first half. Kildare were forced to practically erase their blueprint for the match when Earley was forced off after wrenching a hamstring with his very first kick of the ball.

With Kildare already struggling to live with the dodgem-car intensity of the Meath game, they quickly fell into arrears through points from Shane O’Rourke and Sheridan, both of whom came charging through on the Kildare goal.

The Royals sensed there was, during that period, something of an open-house policy in the Kildare back line and in true tradition they came looking for more.

Sheridan, blisteringly direct in his approach, blasted a confident shot which thumped off the crossbar and when Meade went to ground after collecting the rebound, Marty Duffy whistled for a penalty.

Cian Ward, one of the most powerful strikers in the game, seemed to change his mind just before he struck the ball and although the shot was low, Brendan Murphy managed to smother it only to have it somehow slide from under him and just about cross the white line.

It was nothing as contentious as Meath’s winning goal against Louth but was enough to cause one man to sigh and ask: “Can they not just score proper goals?”

But whatever the category, it was all the same on the scoreboard and the Lilywhites trailed by 1-3 to 0-0 after 14 minutes of the match. In a weekend when anything suddenly seemed possible, the prospect of a Meath rampage briefly materialised.

Then Kildare remembered what they have been about this season. The 47,016 crowd were treated to a lesson in how to kill off a team over the last 10 minutes.

Overcoming the fear of winning is a key phase in the development of any team and it was evident here that Kildare have rid themselves of all those ghosts.

The mental toughness Kildare now possess will invariably be credited to Kieran McGeeney, who was as implacable as ever on the side line.

But it was up to his players to deliver the message on the field and once again, they did that with absolute conviction.

Their date with Down, the supreme exponents of All-Ireland chutzpah, promises a fascinating clash of styles.

A magical September beckons because both teams will share this realisation: they may never get a better chance than now.