A nervy and exciting conclusion to this Leinster football final saw both sides lucky to escape in one piece. Although Dublin's lack of a reliable free-taker cost them the match, ultimately Kildare will feel most anguish, as Tadhg Fennin had a great injury-time chance to settle the issue. Instead the teams will re-assemble next Saturday week to do it all again.

Neither team really deserved to get nailed in the closing seconds and although that's not the way these things operate, noone will be too unhappy with the draw and referee Paddy Russell's fast-forward through stoppage time at the end of the 70 minutes.

Times have changed in Dublin and to that extent, surviving a Leinster final will benefit morale, whereas Kildare know that they gave a below-par performance and yet didn't pay the maximum penalty.

Injury subverted the efforts of both teams, with Kildare's Martin Lynch not looking match-fit although he played for the full game. Dublin's full forward Ian Robertson was not so lucky, and sustained what is feared to be a broken ankle in an early collision with Brian Lacey. He is almost certain it's it is impossible to imagine that Dublin wouldn't have won. His replacement Vinnie Murphy won some good ball, but his use of the possession was slow and easily read.

The match was a claustrophobic affair with both teams establishing a grip on the scoreboard at different times, but the margin never moved beyond three points. There were opportunities for goals for both sides, with the best falling to Kildare's Padraig Brennan, who cracked a 21st-minute shot off the post when his side led by 0-5 to 0-3.

In the early exchanges, Kildare's fluid style caused major problems for Dublin and by the seventh minute, they led by 0-4 to 01. Brennan was giving Coman Goggins a hard time of it and in the 16th minute, Dublin - experience having made them perhaps mindful of the consequences of not doing something about distressed corner backs - switched Shane Ryan over to the left corner. This still didn't work out to the management's satisfaction and Paddy Christie moved left at half-time.

Christie started at full back and had an immense match. Five years ago he would have been on the All-Ireland winning team but for the untimely mishap of breaking his thumb in May. Yesterday his catching and covering in the first half and marking in the second stood as testament to his defensive command.

Dublin's questionable defence survived the test encouragingly well. With Christie leading the full-back line, the half backs were solid. Both Jon McGee and Peadar Andrews gave their best championship performances to date - a welcome contribution from Andrews whose travails at the hands of Ollie Murphy in last year's Leinster final threatened to blight his career before it had got properly started.

Centrefield was particularly satisfactory from Dublin's perspective. Brian Stynes gave a powerful display in the biggest match of what has been his best season since 1995. Ciaran Whelan was predictably ring-rusty on his return from injury but the partnership was too strong and aggressive for Dermot Earley and Ronan Sweeney, who manned the sector for most of the match after the named pair of Lynch and Willie McCreery had been moved into the forwards.

Kildare's celebrated half backs all but obliterated their opponents for long periods. It took Dessie Farrell nearly a quarter of an hour to touch the ball, and it wasn't until his switch to the inside line that he began to exert the influence of which he's capable. Neither Jim Gavin nor Senan Connell made much impact on John Finn and Anthony Rainbow, and Connell was replaced in the second half.

Kildare's inside line gave a fairly good account of themselves in the first half. Although Ronan Quinn was troubled by substitute Vinnie Murphy's ball-winning prowess, nothing constructive came of it and in the corners Ken Doyle was frustrating Jason Sherlock in a niggly encounter which saw both booked. Brian Lacey kept Colin Moran at bay until the Dubliner moved out the field and began to create havoc.

Dublin manager Tom Carr's second-half switches had a marked effect on these developments. Farrell went inside and began to cause problems for Doyle and Sherlock came out to the 40 and gave Glen Ryan unexpected problems. The Dubliner's enhanced point-kicking capacity has been a feature of the campaign and yesterday he slotted three really well-taken points - the third kicked over his shoulder from the right wing.

The teams started the second half on level terms, 0-6 to 0-6, after Dublin had reeled in Kildare's early lead - helped by their opponent's failure to add to their five points between the 16th and 34th minutes. Although they completed the unusual achievement of getting to the interval with no wides, Kildare did fluff a number of chances, dropping the ball short when scores were on.

At the start of the second half, Dublin made what looked like a decisive break. Moran - who made a very impressive provincial final debut, ranging deep for possession, using the ball intelligently and taking three points - Murphy and Sherlock opened up a three-point lead and could have added points, but for hastily kicking a free back to the opposition and a terrible wide by Gavin in the 45th minute.

By the final quarter, Kildare had drawn level, although the equaliser from Sweeney was a gilt-edged goal opportunity; Ryan and Lynch played the Moorefield player in but his shot shaved the bar for a point. Dublin twice re-established a two-point lead but conceded frees - one admittedly dubious when Paul Curran looked to have deftly dispossessed Earley - and Kildare kept within range.

The free-taking differential cost Dublin dearly. Brennan and Doyle managed six frees between them and one wide whereas Dublin scored only one free and kicked four wides. The most dramatic was Stynes's 67th minute miss from an acute angle 13 metres out. In the absence of Declan Darcy, Stynes was the designated left-side kicker and it would have been unfortunate if his overall display had been overshadowed by having to deputise as a place kicker.

From the wide, Kildare got back up the field with a fine ball delivered by substitute David Hughes into Fennin, who kicked what briefly looked a winning point. With a minute to go, Moran equalised after another incisive break, set up by substitute Darren Homan.

Both sides endured palpitations before the end. Moran threatened once more and was denied a clear chance by a marvellous interception from the excellent Rainbow. Then came Fennin's final chance for Kildare before Paddy Russell decided to blow the whistle 20 seconds into injury-time.