For all that his Laois team is now unbackable to retain their Leinster title, Mick O'Dwyer betrays no unease. His attitude to media is fashioned by long-absorbed experiences that tell him it's not really a factor.

It would never occur to him not to be relaxed. His side has routed the last of the province's ailing aristocracy but he chats to a few reporters and they respond to the mood by not even recording his patter.

When the tapes switch on, he bubbles with enthusiasm.

"I thought we played good combined, attractive football. Short and long - we mixed it well and kicked some good scores after we'd some easy ones before half-time.

"In a tight game we wouldn't want to be missing them. We didn't play well in the first half. Meath were dogged and stuck at it. But you don't win a match over one half."

But in a way Laois did. The changes they made at half-time revitalised their play for the second 35 minutes.

"Kevin (Fitzpatrick) came off because although we were told he would be fit, psychologically he wasn't okay. I'd say he was thinking about the hamstring. I had a chat with him and we agreed that it would be better to change.

"It made the difference because (Padraig) Clancy did well in the second half, Chris (Conway) played well when he came out and Beano (McDonald) when he went in. The switches worked well. One day they work and another they don't."

Colm Parkinson was another change that worked well. Listed at full forward, the former underage star and senior utility player came into his own, giving Darren Fay a hard time and Mark O'Reilly after him.

O'Dwyer chuckles knowingly at the plaudits being strewn at one of his more wayward charges.

"You have to bring him along slowly, rest him every now and again. He's a marvellous footballer but you must keep his head right - that's the most important thing. That goal of his was a cracker."

Ross Munnelly has come from virtually nowhere in the past 12 months, from replacement to first choice to All Star nomination to one of the best forwards in the game on current form.

Yesterday's display registered six points, two from play, and marked him out for what might be euphemistically described as "robust" marking from Hank Traynor.

"That's part and parcel," he diplomatically counters.

"You might get extra attention the odd time and there's nothing you can do except maybe skip over them the next time."

There's more cheer in the average morgue than was to be found in the Meath dressing-room.

The younger players may be getting accustomed to the atmosphere but for the older troupers who have known what it is to let the acclaim of the crowd crash over them and who have ruled the known world, the new realities must be crushing.

"We were in it for 40 minutes," says manager Seán Boylan, "had chances and weren't able to take them. I suppose the fact that we didn't score from play in the second half didn't help.

"A lot of lads out there tried shocking hard and I still think that we played better than the last day.

"But when you play champions you have to be six or seven points better than them to beat them and we weren't.

"They picked it up in the second half and got all the breaks. All the breaks. That's it.

The best team won, though."