OVERCAST. Dank. Drizzling. The surface of a skating rink. A slippy, all-too-elusive ball. Perfect conditions for a battle, if not a thing of beauty. And out of this regal struggle for Leinster supremacy emerged new, Royal champions.

On the awkward, winding trek down the Hogan Stand and across the pitch to the modern, all purpose New Stand changing rooms a boisterous fellow belted out a new twist on a tired phrase. "Football's coming home," he said in triumphant sarcasm.

Inside the Meath dressing room, the mood was significantly different to that after their demolition of Laois. There was real jubilation. There was deep satisfaction at a job well done. Even Colm O'Rourke was impressed. "Jesus lads, ye were Just great," he beamed. They had expected to handle Laois. Yesterday, they were underdogs, but, as it turned out, underdogs with real bite.

As always, Sean Boylan delivered a frank assessment of an epic clash. "It was typical of Dublin-Meath games. The conditions made things so uncertain, with a lot of slipping and sliding. I suppose we cancelled each other out and it was always so close. But I thought our lads showed grit and determination to get the couple of breaks."

Boylan was quick to emphasise that this has not been an overnight graduation for his inexperienced side. "Really, we started a rebuilding programme three years ago and it has taken that long to work. This is a young team, with Darren Fay, Paddy Reynolds and Mark O'Reilly all still under-21 next year."

"Boys became men today," was the verdict of midfielder John McDermott. "Last year, we crumbled with IS minutes left. So, today nobody was going to crumble."

This was certainly true in a cauldron where points were precious gems. It didn't matter how they came because each one was invaluable.

At 32, Martin O'Connell admitted that after last year's collapse he thought he'd never win another Leinster medal. "It's a great feeling. I'm just delighted. We never looked further than. today and I think we put together a team performance. Of course, it helped that,, the youngsters came up trumps.

Then again, O'Connell did his share of the work in keeping Dessie Farrell, Damien O'Brien and Shay Keogh all scoreless during the afternoon.

In a sombre Dublin camp, Croke Park must have seemed like anywhere but home. There was certainly no hiding their utter desolation. John O'Leary had a firm grasp on the outcome. "They were hungrier, more enthusiastic. This is like 1986 all over again (referring to Meath's rise in the mid-Eighties). We tried to keep our shape for as long as we could, but Meath's youth made a difference. They pounced on the breaks when they were available."

When midfielder Paul Bealin had to leave the field with a damaged elbow, Dublin were looking the stronger. "I'm devastated. It was terrible watching it from the sideline. I wish Meath all the best, but they'll have it very tough against the Ulster champions in the semi-final."

"It wasn't a day for corner forwards," said Dessie Farrell (not to mention a proven centre forward shuffled back into the corner). "They were more eager in winning the breaking balls around midfield, and with the conditions and misdirected passes the game became very tight."

So it's back to an extensive drawing board for Mickey Whelan. "We were well prepared, but we didn't get the scores we needed. Every time we went ahead we failed to put them away and you just can't afford to do that at this level."