The damage may have been done in 90 seconds, but over the 70 minutes of Saturday's Bank of Ireland Leinster final replay, the essential difference between Dublin and Kildare was thoroughly laid bare. Kildare have been performing at a far higher level than Dublin over the last four seasons and their demeanour in high-stakes championship confrontations reflects that fact.

Mick O'Dwyer's team has its limitations - which may or may not sabotage the county's push for an All-Ireland - but they are mentally strong and haven't panicked in five nervy matches this summer. They acquired this resolve the hard way over years of disappointment. Dublin possess some good players, but have none of the moral fibre which wins afternoons like this. Perhaps they will acquire it and if they do, what happened at the weekend will loom large in the instruction manual.

Identifying what went wrong won't be an arduous - whatever about an unpleasant - exercise. An inability to pace their challenge or respond to the first hint of adversity combined with poor tactics to sink Dublin's chances. It was so straightforward that hardly anyone in the crowd of 51,156 could have doubted the likely outcome just a few minutes into the second half.

Yet when the boot was on the other foot in the first half, there was still the niggling feeling that Dublin would need an awful lot in the bank to guarantee solvency by the final whistle. They were impressive as they set about amassing their fortune. Ball from the middle sector to the attack was well delivered and the forwards were thoughtful as well as predatory.

Would six points do as a half-time lead? This really remained to be seen because Dublin hadn't come under any sustained pressure and once Kildare hit the pedal in the second half as they were certain to do, how would Dublin respond?

If this sounds a little too inspired by hindsight, look at what happened as Dublin closed the half. Their lead had been rapidly racked up and in the 29th minute stood at six points. Then Jason Sherlock fired a goal opportunity over the bar. It was a very tight chance, but the player's reaction to the score wasn't celebratory.

Brian Stynes then dropped a scoring chance into Christy Byrne's hands. The Kildare goalkeeper immediately initiated a

move which could have ended in a goal for Martin Lynch but the Kildare man took a point. This was followed by a wide, controversially but correctly attributed to Des Farrell. Padraig Brennan slotted a free and the lead was down to five. In other words Dublin were exhibiting signs of vertigo.

The most misleading action of the afternoon was the manner in which Ciaran Whelan stamped his authority on the game in injury-time before the interval. Taking charge of a ball at centrefield, he strode down the pitch and restored the six-point lead. But neither he nor any of his teammates were able to replicate that act of inspiration when the world collapsed in the second half.

In the aftermath, it was a matter of puzzlement that Dublin appeared so ill-prepared for Kildare's frantic raids on the restart. Surely it was drummed into them that the lead had to be protected for 10 minutes? The manner of the first goal was crazy. Kildare were allowed basketball the approach work until Dermot Earley slipped the cover and coolly rolled the ball under Byrne. The second half was 30 seconds old.

The sequel was reminiscent of the 1994 All-Ireland hurling final. As Dublin entered this vortex, Kildare substitute Brian Murphy popped up in space and as David Byrne moved out to close the opportunity, Murphy played in Tadgh Fennin for the second goal.

The effect on the minds of Dublin's players appeared to be that a lifetime of toil had been lost on two throws of the dice. All the enterprise and enthusiasm drained away. It was back to square one but Dublin hadn't the stomach to regard that as anything other than an insuperable setback.

After the two-goal salvo, all Dublin's advantages disintegrated and their disadvantages got worse. The weakness in the corners was exacerbated by events around the field. Willie McCreery, Earley and Lynch - lucky to stay on the field after elbowing Brian Stynes in the 49th minute - turned around centrefield and with Karl O'Dwyer back in action at last and making a big impact at the heart of the attack, the pressure mounted on Dublin's defence.

Yet - and this is the most damning indictment of Dublin - Kildare took a long time to turn the screw after the goals had changed the match. It was all of 15 minutes before the winners hit the front. The downstream effect of their lead's evaporation was that Dublin's ability to attack was drastically curtailed.

Instead of Kildare being forced to attack and Dublin being able to exploit the space, the match took on the sort of complexion which so suits Mick O'Dwyer's team. Dublin assisted in this by launching laborious, short-ball movements which ended with the last forward surrounded by about four players.

There were some opportunities, but Dublin's nerve and accuracy were gone. Jim Gavin missed a chance to give the ball inside to an unmarked Sherlock and compounded the error by dithering over his crack at a point until Ken Doyle blocked the shot and dispossessed him.

There was to be only one point for Dublin in the whole second half, but it was enough to keep them within a score of their opponents until the final three minutes, during which the excellent Brennan pointed a free and McCreery added a grace note. There was a final eccentricity from the Dublin bench as Wayne McCarthy, a specialist free-taker, came on long after his speciality might have been much use and at the expense of Vinnie Murphy whose hefty presence would have facilitated the possibility of the Hail Mary goal on which Dublin were by then relying.