After all the drama, and almost two weeks late, the Bank of Ireland Leinster final - the last of the provincial football championships - takes to the stage at Croke Park this afternoon.

Meath versus Offaly was a fairly predictable pairing, but whereas Offaly's progress has been quietly efficient, Meath's defence of their title has been a roller coaster affair.

Sporadically even better than when they won the All-Ireland but more frequently sluggish and less cohesive than last year, Meath have lived dangerously, but in keeping with their nature, survived what has been a far more daunting campaign than 12 months ago.

For a start, the team has had to suffer disruption in personnel, whereas a year ago the starting line-up didn't change until the All-Ireland final replay. Injuries, loss of form and, today, suspensions have combined to deprive the team of last year's benefits of a settled team.

Furthermore, the team's best players haven't occupied the same high plane. Footballer of the Year Trevor Giles has enjoyed flashes of brilliance but isn't as integral to the game-plan as last year. He has still cropped up to save the first two semi-final matches with Kildare but hasn't the ubiquity of last season.

Part of the explanation is that Meath's centrefield hasn't been as dominant and without a solid centre, Giles's roving style is more difficult to practise, although that isn't the entire explanation, as last year's All-Ireland final saw John McDermott and Jimmy McGuinness under great pressure for the two matches.

There have been compensations in the discovery of some new talent. Nigel Nestor and Ollie Murphy have made considerable impact in their first season as championship regulars. Murphy's display against Kildare in the third and decisive match of the semi-final was the peak performance of his campaign to date, but already he had shown useful enough form on the inside line and will be a significant test for Offaly's highly-rated corner back Cathal Daly.

The suspensions picked up over the last couple of matches have weakened the team to an extent, but there's more than pre-match psyching in Offaly's claim that the unavailability of Graham Geraghty, Mark O'Reilly and Darren Fay complicates their task.

It concentrates Meath's mind on a match that they are likely to have had great difficulty seeing themselves lose. There has already been talk in Meath about the players doing it for their suspended colleagues and taking care not to let the interest in the championship go in their absence.

There has been considerable surprise at the identity of the players drafted in. Kevin Cahill is named at centre back, with Enda McManus dropping back to the edge of the square - a position in which he was tried before with no more than moderate success.

Cahill is more associated with the midfield area, although he has played full back with the Meath minors. One theory is that his height is being deployed to counter Offaly's centre forward Sean Grennan, who was his team's best player in the semi-final.

Ned Kearney, who comes in on the left wing of the attack, is a more curious choice as his underage representative career was as a corner back and wing back. He does, however, play in the forwards for his club, Simonstown Gaels.

There were more obvious choices available. In the opinion of some, Trevor Giles's best position is centre back and whereas the balance of the team hasn't allowed his deployment there in the past, in the current special circumstances the switch might have been considered.

Despite his four points against Kildare after coming on in the first replay, the message for Jody Devine is obviously that his place is on the bench. Evan Kelly is another who will be disappointed not to have received a call-up in such straitened circumstances.

By contrast, Offaly have had no selection problems and start the team that beat Louth in the semi-final. Unlike in previous matches, it was full forward Roy Malone rather than his illustrious companions in the corners, Peter Brady and Vinnie Claffey who impressed most in the full forward line, and Offaly will draw some encouragement from the makeshift nature of their opponents' full-back line.

The presence of a reliable place-kicker in David Reynolds completes a positive picture of Offaly's attack, but it is from centre-field back that they are likely to feel the pressure. Ciaran McManus and Ronan Mooney are talented footballers, but will be up against it physically when facing McDermott and an improved McGuinness.

At the back, Finbarr Cullen is an accomplished centre back but, behind him, Larry Carroll was in difficulties against both Cathal O'Hanlon and Kevin O'Brien in the last two matches.

The continuing presence of Colm Coyle in the corner forward role for Meath is a vote of confidence after his shrewd display there the last day and it will be interesting to see how Offaly cope with him.

Fitness will play a role and, despite a long campaign, there are some worries in Offaly that the early start to their campaign, which commenced over three months ago, prevented them putting in as much heavy work as they would have wished.

Meath might have had match fitness concerns but the three matches against Kildare will have gone a long way to remedying that.

At the end of the day the evidence stacks up too high against Offaly. They have come from Division Four, and even if they're not a Division Four team, they still played there all winter.