It wasn't all that pretty but it was effective. A highly competitive match between Dublin and Laois in the Leinster football semi-final replay kept the crowd of 33,268 on tenderhooks right up to the second last kick of the match when Chris Conway brought Laois within two points of Dublin with a penalty goal.

Once again Laois showed that they were persistent, if not very successful, protagonists and staged another come back. This time it was from from an eight-point deficit with only 14 of their players left on the field after a somewhat controversial sending-off earlier on. Few observers were willing to forecast that Dublin would now beat Meath in their clash Sunday week. Among those were Dublin stalwarts, Robbie Kelleher and Jack Sheedy who were more relieved than triumphant as they left Croke Park.

"There's quite a bit to be done yet," said Kelleher. "When you meet Meath in the Leinster final it is a match which it is very difficult to forecast. We played some good football at times but there were moments too when we relaxed and we gave the ball away too often"

Sheedy concurred: "We cannot expect to beat Meath unless we give it the full 70 minutes and manage to retain possession of the ball and take all our chances. Meath will never let anybody off lightly," he said.

Outside the Laois dressing-room a disappointed but sporting Tom Cribbin confessed that his team was deeply upset. "We felt that after the first day that we had the measure of them but the fact is that we gave the ball away far too often and the sending-off also upset us. We lost our shape completely after that.

"In a match like that you have to make the most of your possession. We should have carried the ball more, particularly when Damien Delaney was sent off. Instead we were inclined to try long clearances out of defence but with them having an extra man it often led to us losing possession. "I'm not sure about the sending off incident. It seems that Damien was accused of kicking an opponent after a clash which left both of them on the ground. Damien is not a dirty player and he is very upset but I have to accept that no player should be allowed to kick an opponent - I will have to see it again later." Tommy Carr expressed his delight that Dublin were back in the Leinster final. "I am satisfied that we were eight points ahead at one stage in the second half but not all that happy that there were only two points in it at the end. Laois are a quality team and I am happy to have put that behind us "I was never afraid that we would let it slip. I'm not sure about the penalty award but it seemed bizarre to me. The sending off was unfortunate but it seems that Damien Delaney kicked Paul Croft and that is a sending off offence however unfortunate.

"Allowing for all of that we were the better team on the day . . . It took a big effort and it was not completely to my liking but we are in the final and we are ready for any team," he said.

Dublin's best players were clearly Brian Stynes and Declan Darcy. Stynes admitted that he was forced to drop back in the first half when Dublin were under pressure in order to help out behind the midfield. That was the way the game went and it was important that we got the ball forward. "It was great to get another crack at it and now to be in the final against Meath is a bonus. It has taken a lot of hard work but it was worth it," he said.