Excuse me if things get a little confusing here but in the aftermath of the latest Dublin-Meath epic it was difficult to tell which team had actually won and lost.

Outside the Dublin dressing room Paul Caffrey stood stone-faced and talked coldly about missed chances and players unable to walk. "There was a lot of good football today," said Caffrey. "But we'd be unhappy with the number of scoring chances we converted today, that it's something that maybe won't be good enough the next day."

Outside the Meath dressingroom Colm Coyle stood half-smiling and talked warmly about heroes on both sides and the value of two hard games. "We've been delighted with the two games we've had against Dublin," said Coyle. "And I think we've proved that we're on the way back. And we're looking forward to the next game."

What is Caffrey's buzz? For a man who let out possibly the loudest roar of relief ever heard in Croke Park after Conal Keaney sent over the decisive score this was quite a comedown.

Clearly he has a problem showing any sort of emotion when either microphones or television cameras are involved. "Thrilled to get out it," he admitted, still without the hint of a smile. "It was another cracking game, but nothing more than you'd expect from two great rivals. We did finish well today, and that's something these guys are taking responsibility for, and showing more composure in the final stages of games, and I think further down the line that's what counts, and whether you win or lose games. That last 10 minutes, and how crucial it is for every ball to be contested, and then the clever use of it."

But wasn't Mark Vaughan a revelation? "Well yeah, he'd a big responsibility out there, and took his opportunity today very well. I thought from play he contributed hugely as well."

You needed him, going maybe 20 minutes without a score? "Well, sure some things don't change."

And Meath, they never gave up either?" "That's what you'd expect. Meath are very close to being back as serious rivals, and have given us two outrageous games here, and you can see by the relief at the end of it that we're glad to have come out on the right side of the result."

Looking ahead so, and Caffrey got a little more animated with talk of Dublin's next challenge - playing Offaly in next Sunday's semi-final, giving them just six days to recover. "That's a huge issue. There are some guys in there barely able to walk. It resembles an Irish rugby dressingroom with the number of ice packs in there. Offaly had a stroll in the park against Carlow, clocked up 2-19, so at the end of the day we have to take it on board that this is only a Leinster quarter-final.

"There's a lot of excitement about Dublin-Meath games, but for us it's just one more step. Offaly will definitely put it up to us. There's a lot of revenge on their mind from last year, and we've to get our heads around that, and try to recharge our batteries in such a quick turnaround."

Certainly, Caffrey was mot exaggerating when the team emerged from the dressingroom and, in many cases, hobbled on to their bus.

Meath aren't out again until July 7th in their qualifiers and for Coyle recovery is less of an issue - and instead it's about maintaining the progress of recent weeks. "Traditionally Meath have been very bad in the qualifiers," he said. "So we'll be looking to change that. It's our first year as a management team, and regards the development of the team there's no point in getting knocked out in the first round of the qualifiers. It would leave those two games irrelevant.

"We'd two great battles here, and I have to pay tribute to the Dubs. They were played in great spirit, and we'd hope they're still further down the road than we are, and we can learn from those games, and hopefully give the qualifiers a right shot."

Coyle avoided any silly excuses and instead had high praise for his team, and particularly Stephen Bray: "Well he's a tremendous footballer . . . A great talent, and I'm delighted the country are actually seeing how good he is. I've known that for years. He was outstanding there today, and I think there were a lot of heroes on both sides.

"We were doing okay for a long while, but I think the main thing we fell down on was the middle-third of the pitch. We just weren't getting the breaks, and that's really what won and lost it in the end. We had our chances, like when a point down Brian Farrell had a good chance, and just pulled it wide.

"They missed chances, we missed chances. There were a couple of goal chances at both ends, and in the end the game was still there for the taking. Dublin just took it."