The moment Ian Robertson's success at full forward was mentioned, Tommy Carr, the Dublin manager, could not resist temptation and had to have his little rub at the media.

"Ye fellows were going on doubting the wisdom of Ian's selection all week. Now that he has starred in the position you're saying that he is the solution to all our problems in the front line of attack."

"Sure," said Carr, "he solved our problem in the position today but he may not be playing there again.

"The modern game of Gaelic football is more fluid now. It is not about players being confined to one position. A player must be able to play in most positions. It worked out well for us today.

"We took control when we needed to and kept going. We generally had a good cushion and Ian's goal early on settled us. I thought though that we would have had a match of tough, hard and fast quality against Louth. It didn't quite work out that way. The game died midway though the second half.

"Shane (Ryan) did well in his first championship match and the fact that many of our players like Brendan O'Brien, Paddy Christie and Ian (Robertson) experienced their first championship win here in Croke Park will be a great boost to the team in general," added Carr.

Dublin selector John O'Leary was adamant that "there is a lot of work to be done. What annoys me most is the fact that Louth scored 14 times. We allowed them back into the game repeatedly. For me there is no point in keeping the opposition happy and leaving them in with a shout."

O'Leary was very pleased for the younger players coming into the side. Like Carr, he feels that the win will bring them on significantly.

Louth manager Paddy Clarke said: "To prepare for that match we had to spend 80 per cent of the time working on fitness and the rest of the time on our passing and general skills.

"I wouldn't say we are gutted, you lay your plans and they don't come off. Their key players came big on the day. I thought Ciaran Whelan was inspirational in midfield. I thought the goals were the things that really finished us. Last year we had absolutely no hope, we threw caution to the wind and we gave Meath a helluva run for their money. Today we realised we had a rip roaring chance and we were probably afraid to go for it really."

Clarke continued: "We were a bit like Manchester United in the European Cup final. We were too cautious, afraid to be caught out on the break and afraid to press home, but fair play to the Dubs.

"Hope springs eternal and at the end of the day another 30 counties are going to be disappointed. My remaining on is a matter for the county board. We will sit down and talk it over. I only hope that some of our older players will stay on another while."

After the opening game, Sean Boylan, in his 17th year as manager of the Meath team, touched briefly on the sending-off of his centre half back Hank Traynor minutes before half-time: "It's a difficult situation for players. In other sports you cannot challenge from behind while in Gaelic it's different, you can. It's very difficult for the backs and players can be victimised severely under the new carding system.

However, if one of his players was going to be sent off, he was pleased that it happened when it did, a minute before half-time. "It gave us a chance to get organised and rearrange our strategy," said Boylan.

"The way the rules are now it is very easy to lose a player," said man-of-the-match Graham Geraghty who looked comfortable at full forward and carrying out the role of Meath's target man. "We played a one-man full forward line in the second half and covered up well out in midfield. It's a challenge for me to play at full forward. I hope it goes well for me."

Tommy Dowd said that most of the 10 second-half wides came when "we got a bit cocky near the end but it's something we will have to work on. We all agreed at half-time that we would have to work a little bit harder after Hank was sent off."

Niall Rennick, the Wickow manager, claimed that the two goals above all else "were the things that broke Wicklow." He reckoned that "there are very few teams in football who can give away two goals and win especially against a team as tenacious as Meath.

"We haven't been far off the mark of gaining promotion to Division One over the past two years but we haven't done so. Today it showed the difference of playing at that level all the time as distinct from playing in Division Two all the time. The likes of Wicklow need to get the chance of playing at first-division pace regularly."

Veteran Kevin O'Brien hopes that he can stay on for another year but said: "There are not very many 34-year-olds playing today. I think it is becoming more and more a single man's game.