Tom Humphriestalks to key figures from the Meath and Dublin camps who were keen to accentuate the positives

Draws are strangely anti-climactic unless they involve Dublin and Meath. As virtual full house slipped away from Croke Park in the unseasonal wind and drizzle there was no sense of duty about having to attend again in a fortnight's time.

Dublin and Meath sometimes go at it just as an appetiser.

"It was a great game," said Meath centre back and captain Anthony Moyles standing in the tunnel as the big house emptied

"I thought there were some great scores form both sides. We've a nice few young lads there who have serious ability. It was great to be able to bring them in. Brian Farrell was obviously a big loss. I think it went well today. Hopefully we can improve."

To say it went well from Meath's perspective might be understating the case. Down at the turf accountants Dublin were prohibitively priced and when they cantered into a five-point lead the questions over Meath's ability were being uttered again.

Moyles and his companeros were aware of the mutterings.

"The character of this team has been questioned over the last couple of years. I suppose we've questioned it ourselves. One thing we've talked about was no matter what Dublin always start well in front of the Hill, the usual stuff, but we knew if we stuck with it and stuck to our game plan we'd get there.

"They went five points up and we never panicked, we clawed them back. They got the goal and sucker-punched us before half-time. We have faith in this team. We knew we'd always be there. Lads came in and did great. Just a pity we didn't win it but hopefully the next day."

Meath march on in to a replay with fresh hope in their royal hearts. Dudley Farrell, their manager for the day (Colm Coyle continued his exile in the stands and denied himself the pleasure afterwards of conversing with the media) felt Meath had proved something. "People say Dublin have three years of an advantage over us in terms of team building but I think we are up with them. Our lads, everyone in there believed they could do that today and go a step further and beat Dublin. The people outside didn't believe that. We were outsiders."

Okay Dudley. Outsiders? By how much. "Dublin were 4 to 11 on to win today but when I saw 7 to 1 on Graham Geraghty to be sent off I was nearly going to have a flutter myself! Betting on football is a madman's game, though. We knew there wasn't that gap between us.

"There was good football played out there from both sides. It was up and down the pitch, the ball was greasy.

"Lot of mistakes were made but they were made on both sides. Decisions which went against us today might go our way the next time."

Speaking of decisions and controversy, Geraghty, fresh from electoral disappointment in Meath, was back in the green jersey to receive the warm greetings of his fans and well wishers on Hill 16.

" Yeah! I got a big reception!" he said with a charmed grin. "That's normal. Part of the banter and crack of playing against Dublin!"

And the key decisions of the game, two of which went against him without hope of a recount.

"I suppose on the spur of the moment I thought they were a bit harsh. We'll have to look back tonight on television and see how the referee came to his decisions. I thought the second one was definitely a penalty but the first one I'll have to look at again. I thought I jumped cleanly for the ball. These things happen in big games. Just have to get on with it."

Farrell and Moyles were less politically adroit in dealing with the issues. Farrell compared Geraghty's disallowed goal to Alan Brogan's score just before half-time.

"The two of them looked to me to be similar. Even the linesman, I was talking to him and he was sure it (Dublin's goal) was a square ball. Another day they go with you. Graham's goal, I couldn't see much of a push there. It was a tussle for the ball and Graham got it. Maybe because it was Graham Geraghty it was blown against him. I could see nothing wrong with it."

"We were hard done by maybe on a few decisions," said Moyles. "Certainly I thought Graham's goal in the first half, well, I didn't see anything wrong with it. I thought their goal was a square ball but square ball it's always difficult to know if it is or it isn't. Yeah we'll do it all again whenever. I'm looking forward to it."

Dublin manager Paul "Pillar" Caffrey came and spoke to RTÉ and stood for a while in front of the thicket of microphones and tape recorders in the corridor. With vocational certainty Pillar dealt with the evidential issues surrounding the key incidents. "TV replays will show that they were fairly clear-cut decisions."

End of discussion! We asked about those imponderables. How a game like yesterday's would affect teams. Geraghty at the other end of the tunnel had offered the view that Meath's earlier outing against Kildare didn't offer any nutrition to the winners as "Kildare didn't show up on the day."

Yesterday would be good for who? "That was our first game in eight weeks. It will bring the lads on a good deal. I was very pleased with our battling qualities. We'll see what happens when we meet again. Who knows how it will stand to us? Well it was always going to be factor today. It will bring Meath on today also that performance."

Had he expected Meath to hurl that cliché item of domestic cleansing at them? "Well, I expected Dublin to throw the kitchen sink into it. It was a fantastic game. Great intensity. We both live to fight another day. There were huge positives. A lot of heart shown by Dublin players. This Dublin team isn't going anywhere fast."

Pillar noted when Dublin were five points up it was too early in the game to think everything was going his side's way. We learn from history and we move on. Both sides left quickly, accentuating the positive, eliminating the negative as they went.