The usual replay jokes were being filtered through irony after this mind-numbing Bank of Ireland Leinster football championship first round encounter. "Any fear of a ticket?" would accurately reflect the public mood after Dublin and Kildare had served up as turgid a match as has ever attracted more than 60,000 people.

It wasn't just the quality of play - although heaven knows that was bad enough - but the whole atmosphere was curiously flat, with little of the intensity that would be expected from this level of championship.

Dublin manager Tom Carr afterwards compared the feel of the match to a league quarterfinal - a comparison which did the play-off stages of the National League no favours. The lack of urgency on the pitch was compounded by the loosest marking imaginable and a plague of misdirected kicks and passes amid sundry other errors.

That Dublin survived is bad news for Kildare, because even if there was nothing on the afternoon to suggest that Dublin would improve, that Kildare have once again choked on the brink of taking a big championship scalp has about it a sense of deja vu.

It will be the fifth replay between Kildare and either Dublin or Meath, and Mick O'Dwyer's team have yet to win one.

Wides, ill-luck and the all-too-familiar dithering play combined to leave Kildare short of attaining the result which their general dominance deserved. Their defence coped well, their centre-field was completely on top - turning the sector in the second half into a one-way street - and up front enough chances were created to put the opposition away comfortably.

For Dublin and Carr, in his first championship match as manager, the only consolation was the result - and even that only if they improve sufficiently to prove yesterday's proceedings an aberration.

From an early stage, the defence was under pressure. Karl O'Dwyer, at full forward, scored two points within the opening 15 minutes and made Paddy Christie look vulnerable by coming deep for ball and generally winning it.

Beside him, Martin Lynch was giving his marker, Brian Barnes, a hapless time of it, winning ball almost at will, though not always engineering much with it. Curiously, in the second half, Lynch was moved onto Christie while O'Dwyer was picked up by Barnes' replacement, Mick Deegan. The net effect was that things improved for Dublin, and neither Lynch nor O'Dwyer, who was replaced because of injury in the 54th minute, were as prominent again.

In the opening quarter, Dublin showed some penetrative potential but also emulated the worst excesses of Kildare's short game, moving the ball aimlessly back and forth across the pitch.

Within the first 12 minutes, Kildare nearly had two goals. In the seventh minute, a high, dropping free from Niall Buckley was fisted into the net by Dermot Earley who was penalised for an infringement in the square.

Five minutes later, after a Jason Sherlock break had nearly resulted in a goal for Dublin, Kildare worked the ball the length of the field. Willie McCreery galloped clear into space, but only managed to chip the ball harmlessly wide with debutant goalkeeper Davy Byrne off his line.

The scale of Dublin's ineptitude wasn't fully reflected even in a 0-4 to 0-1 deficit after the first quarter. Considering its potential, the attack looked flat and short of inspiration.

Sherlock was well contained by Brian Lacey, and Declan Darcy showed flashes sporadically, but it was left to Dessie Farrell and Jim Gavin to make the most consistent impressions on a defence well marshalled by Glen Ryan, who curtailed his taste for adventure and stayed deep.

Early in the match, they switched positions, and Gavin worked hard whereas Farrell showed some nimble touches which nearly yielded two goals. In the 21st minute, he slalomed through the defensive cover, shook off the last marker to give himself a great sight of goal, but the shot was too high.

Nine minutes later, he dispossessed Christy Byrne in the Kildare goal and tried to guide the ball through a thicket of covering defenders. Ken Doyle got in the block and Ryan completed the clearance.

Kildare's interval lead of one point, 0-6 to 0-5, flattered Dublin, but they had a substantial breeze to come. The only changes made saw Paul Curran and Dermot Harrington switch wings, a move that had been expected from the start but was slow to arrive considering Earley's strength in the air.

Five minutes after the restart, Barnes was replaced by Mick Deegan. There is a rationale for substituting players a few minutes into the second half rather than at halftime, but I can't remember what it is. Certainly, Lynch hadn't seen any more of the ball when his marker was called ashore.

By now centre-field was dominated by Buckley and McCreery, with only occasional argument from Paul Bealin.

Kildare led by 0-8 to 0-6 when a couple of incidents that were to have a bearing on the outcome occurred. Eddie McCormack looked to have earned a penalty in the 43rd minute, but referee Brian White turned it down. Two minutes later, the same player was straight through on goal but drove his shot across the face and wide.

Had either chance ended in a goal, Kildare would probably be preparing for a semi-final against Laois. Instead, Dublin found a higher gear and three successive points from Brian Stynes, Darcy and Sherlock pushed them ahead. Kildare were to score only once more in the remaining 17 minutes.

By now, Ciaran Whelan's anonymous afternoon had ended with substitution and Robbie Boyle taking his place. Darcy was out on the wing, although not seeing an awful lot more ball. Despite the less than physically imposing forwards now ranged on the forward lines, Dublin persisted in hoisting high ball in on Gavin, Farrell and Sherlock.

Gavin showed great leadership in the final quarter and kicked what was to be the equalising point in the 64th minute. This cancelled out McCormack's lead score five minutes previously, brought about by the otherwise defensively solid Keith Barr's toppling over after taking a pass from Deegan.

Indeed, Barr saved Dublin at the very end after substitute Brian Murphy beat Deegan in the left corner and played the ball back across the goal. Barr just about cut it out.

The final action saw Davy Byrne, who could be fairly happy with his championship debut, bravely take a dropping ball from McCormack . . . and nearly get decapitated in the process.