The secret is that there is no secret. This is what Meath do. Hard, fair men who softly talk down their great days. Mark O'Reilly sits gingerly on the edge of his bench and reflects on the great mystery. Meath. Meath winning.

"Ah, I suppose we said we wanted a good start and we got that - there was no shocks like against Westmeath. And the two fellas were flyin' up front so I suppose we had to keep on giving them the ball. I didn't see the incident with Paddy (Reynolds). I suppose there was so much happening, it was hard and lads had to fill different roles - Richie Kealy came back there at the end and played a stormer. Lads just had to slip into whatever position and keep on doing the simple things right."

It is a beautiful theory and for Meath, it always seems to work. Yet again they have pulled perfection out of alleged chaos. Nigel Crawford soared implausibly in Croke Park yesterday, the same player that during the week was thought to be doubtful.

With John McDermott gone and the crisis deepening, Sean Boylan's men, went the word, had rarely been so fragile.

"Yeah we had a scare with both Nigels (Nestor and Crawford) and Hank (Traynor) during the week and I am delighted for them," agreed Boylan.

"I thought both Nigels were fantastic. Nigel Crawford had an incredible game, it was just one of those things. And that's the beauty of football. "But, you know, a lot of people think that Nigel just came along - Nigel Crawford missed 21 training sessions with exams and studying. To miss 21 sessions is an awful lot. So naturally he was disappointed that he wasn't picked the last day. But he didn't let it get to him. He just said `I'm ready. If you need me'. And that's it."

That's it. Messrs Ollie Murphy and Graham Geraghty gave an hour that was redolent of 1999, Meath's last All-Ireland triumph. But forget the plaudits. They are forwards, see. Forwards score.

"Ah, I was goin' all right," conceded Murphy. "Made a few mistakes and probably could have worked harder. But sure I got a few scores and the team won and that's all that matters."

The message never changes. Even when Kildare tested their nerve with Killian Brennan's fisted goal from out of the blue, Meath just shrugged and finished the game out with a few points just for fun.

"It was never that comfortable," sighs Murphy. "They were coming at us all guns blazing at the end and you just have to keep on playing through the 70 minutes. Thankfully we got the ball upfield and got a few scores, so we are happy enough."

In the corridor, Mick O'Dwyer has his hands on hips. He knows.

"We had some chances and when you don't take them, early on especially, you are going nowhere. We gave a reasonable performance but look, we couldn't afford to be without Glen Ryan, Rainbow and Willie McCreery - those (players) were the engine room of our team for the last three years. I have no complaints. Meath were the better team and they will be hard to beat in the championship, I can tell you."

So for Meath, the Dubs come next. A slow smile spreads across O'Reilly's face as he ponders that task.

"A Dublin team," he declares, "is as hard a team in the country you could come up against. It'll be another ding-dong battle. Always was, always will be."

Trevor Giles is nearby, also assessing the city team. "We played them in a challenge, a big, physical side. In a way, they are going into this in a perfect situation in that they mightn't have played all that well against Offaly. But we know what they are about."

Boylan's features melt when pressed for a word on Dublin. "People say they didn't play well or whatever. But they still won lads. That's what matters. We just want to savour this. Days like this don't come round very often."

No. Just in summer. Just when Meath are on the town.