Dublin 0-14 Laois 0-13: No-one with a working knowledge of Dublin football over the past couple of years would have mistaken the way the climax to yesterday's Bank of Ireland Leinster football final was heading. Laois, fitful and stuttering for much of the match, had found enough rhythm to move past Dublin's shoulder with less than 10 minutes of normal time left.

They extended the lead to two and the finishing line beckoned. But Laois came second after an exhilarating second half. Leinster mightn't be home to the Sam Maguire anytime soon but this was the most entertaining of the provincial finals.

It was also a victory straight out of the wish factory for Dublin because it depended on the one quality Paul Caffrey and his team have worked so hard to cultivate this year: resolve in the finish.

Gritty enough to stay in contention while the sky was collapsing in the third quarter, smart enough to stall their rampant opponents and finally clinical enough to take the crucial chances that popped up in the dying minutes.

If, as Mick O'Dwyer said afterwards, losing by a point was like crucifixion then the two late wides from Ross Munnelly and Tom Kelly must have felt like the final nails.

In fairness to Munnelly, who had a sensational role in his team's second-half comeback, the free was a little outside his usual range. His fate could be contrasted with Tomás Quinn's. Dublin's fragile free taker had a couple of bad misses under his belt by the time he addressed a 46-metre free in the 70th minute.

Dublin trailed by a point and didn't at that stage know that five minutes of injury-time were yet to come. Quinn, however, had impressed during the league with his acumen from distance, and under extreme pressure he kicked the equaliser.

Three minutes later, facing a 45 in a similarly central position, and with 81,025 spectators in thrall to the drama, he pulled down the jackpot to earn Dublin a 45th Leinster title, the first in three years.

The team's outstanding forwards, however, were Jason Sherlock and Bryan Cullen. Sherlock and Alan Brogan kept Laois's influential corner back Joe Higgins under pressure; Cullen worked tirelessly and added his now customary bundle of points - each of the three sharply and decisively taken. In the end the consensus that Laois's performance would fall somewhere between their lacklustre first-round win over Offaly and the too-easily conceded romp against Kildare proved accurate.

The trouble for Mick O'Dwyer's team was that they replicated the lethargy of the first half against Offaly but were unable to relocate the killer finish.

Instead it was a Dublin team who have steadily rediscovered their own confidence who had the nerve to force a perilous-looking situation to the wire and get their heads in front on the line.

Dublin's first-half domination built the platform for victory but it should have been more imposing. For the first 35 minutes Laois were nowhere near the pace of the game. Their forwards, who had sliced Kildare into ribbons, found no space and were strangely lethargic with Dublin's backs buzzing all around them.

Dublin captain Paddy Christie was gone after 17 minutes with a recurrence of his groin injury. Peadar Andrews came in but it was Laois who made the switch, placing Barry Brennan inside and bringing Barry Cahill with him.

Cahill showed the same composure that has marked his season at centre back and both Paul Griffin and Stephen O'Shaughnessy - who got up for a point in the first half - also maintained their excellent form in the corners.

Expected pressure on the wings manifested itself in yellow cards for Paul Casey and Coman Goggins but all Laois could manage was a brace of points from Chris Conway.

There wasn't a decisive winner at centrefield by this stage, as possession was largely going with kick-out, but up front, Dublin were lively, exploiting the indecision in the Laois defence, where players were delaying on the ball and distributing poorly.

Brogan was switched into full forward almost immediately and his runs out the field presented a good target but as the match wore on the impact of this tactic faded; Brogan was blocked twice in this half and in general he looked more effective running at rather than out from the defensive cover.

His replacement at centre forward, Cullen, posted another fine display. His ability to win ball and graft has been complemented by an eye for scoring and he was the team's top scorer from play yesterday.

But Dublin's grip was most pronounced in the first quarter. They had five points up by the 12th minute and added only two more before the break. Gradually the defence tightened and Dublin's attacking became sloppy and ill-directed.

Laois might even have had two goals, as in the 29th minute Noel Garvan found a deadly running angle to lose Ciarán Whelan and set up Conway for a one-on-one but his shot was straight at the well-positioned Stephen Cluxton.

Munnelly got a fist to a ball under pressure from Cluxton and it rolled wide.

Maybe in retrospect Dublin were lucky that Laois's best phase came early in the second half. Garvan and Pádraig Clancy were dominating the middle and Munnelly was running riot, a constant threat. His points were well taken and he covered a ferocious amount of ground to haul his side back into contention.

Like their opponents at the start, Laois rattled off five points in 12 minutes and the near-capacity crowd now had the match they expected.

Somehow Dublin stemmed the tide and twice edged in front before pushing three in front by the 56th minute, 0-11 to 0-8. But this was merely setting the scene for a helter-skelter conclusion.

Laois pulled another five-point run out of the hat - Munnelly centrally involved in four of them - and the match was running away from Dublin. Conway's jubilant reaction to the 63rd-minute point that pushed his team 0-13 to 0-11 ahead indicated that was the way Laois saw it as well.

Whelan's wide shortly afterwards apparently confirmed the drift but the same player was obstructed for a quick free that saw Colin Moran cut the gap to its slightest.

Maybe Laois saw the ghosts of a year ago when they couldn't close the deal against Westmeath. Dublin, on the other hand, exorcised theirs and Caffrey will have his work cut out to defuse the explosion of hype that will rock the city in the weeks ahead.

DUBLIN: 1. S Cluxton; 2. P Griffin, 3. P Christie (capt), 4. S O'Shaughnessy (0-1); 7. C Goggins, 6. B Cahill, 5. P Casey; 8. C Whelan (0-1), 9. S Ryan; 10. C Moran (0-1), 11. A Brogan (0-1), 12. B Cullen (0-3); 13. J Sherlock (0-2), 14. C Keaney (0-1), 15. T Quinn (0-4, three frees, one 45). Subs: 17. P Andrews for Christie (18 mins), 19. S Connell for Goggins (half-time), 18. D Homan for Ryan (60 mins). Booked: P Casey (10 mins), C Goggins (18 mins), C Keaney (45 mins), B Cullen (66 mins), P Griffin (74 mins).

LAOIS: 1. F Byron; 2. A Fennelly, 3. D Rooney, 4. J Higgins; 5. C Begley, 6. T Kelly, 7. P McMahon; 8. P Clancy, 9. N Garvan (0-2); 10. R Munnelly (0-5, two frees), 11. B Brennan, 12. B B Sheehan; 13. C Conway (0-4, two frees), 14. K Fitzpatrick (capt), 15. B McDonald. Subs: 26. D Brennan (0-2) for B Brennan (27 mins), 22. M Dunne for McDonald (51 mins), 18. D Conroy for Rooney (51 mins). Booked: D Brennan (30 mins), A Fennelly (36 mins first half).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).