Bananas and energy drinks all round in the Kildare dressing room. Badly needed. It's hard to take it all in. Players don't know whether to laugh or cry. Paul McCormack can pass on the bananas - he was on the field for just two minutes. Not long, but long enough to rescue his team with the equalising point deep into injury time of extra time. It was a scrambled job in a crowded goalmouth, McCormack somehow diverting Niall Buckley's lob over the bar. "It was the only touch I got. He dropped it in and I just got my hand onto it." Was he in the square at the time? "I don't know, I have no idea," he says laughing. "It's a stupid rule anyway, it shouldn't be there!" Spoken like a true forward. Mick O'Dwyer meanwhile was preaching the gospel: "That was unbelievable football out there today. Great for the game. It's tough on the players, amateurs, that they have to come again. The players need a chance to recuperate."

Midfielder Willie McCreery's last act before substitution in yesterday's drama was to put the ball in the Meath net during the first half of extra time. In the end, lucky perhaps to have squeezed the draw?

"Ah no. Weren't they lucky enough to get the two penalties to keep bringing them back into it. I think we deserved a draw, in fairness. We didn't give up, we went down looking for the point and we got it." Nineteen wides, 11 in the second half alone, didn't help. "Yeah, well, what can you say about wides, they're self-explanatory. You have to get more accurate, that's it."

Kildare's first goal, in the 21st minute, left people wondering who got the decisive touch. Wing forward Tom Harris was in no doubt: "Definitely, yeah, I nearly broke Colm Coyle's wrist getting to it. He went to pick it up and he ushered it across and I slid in. Ball and him and all went in." By the end of extra time, he was relieved to have another chance: "I thought it was gone. It was a great comeback by Meath. To pull down a six-point lead like that - phenomenal."

Full back Davy Dalton was similarly generous: "We should have won it twice in the game but, that's Meath. You have to hand it to them, they're hard bet.

"It was a very strong breeze and they brought on fresh men. I mean, when the body gives in . . . we gave everything and just ran out of steam. It wasn't that we gave up or anything. We gave one last push for the point and we got it. "We were lucky to get it. At that stage it looked like we were beaten. But we get another day out anyway. We should be in the All-Ireland semi-final by now!"

It's an amazing adventure for Dalton, who had retired from county football 12 months ago but was recalled to alleviate an injury crisis two weeks before they met Laois in the first round. "I never played four games before in a championship so, who knows." Is he enjoying it? "Enjoying that? No, no." He laughs at the suggestion. "That's not enjoyable, it's . . . I don't know what it is. It would have been enjoyable if we had won." His thoughts are interrupted by a handshake from the Minister for Finance and long time Kildare supporter, Charlie McCreevy. "We always believed we were good enough to win," he continues, "but, we still have to beat them. We have to do it all again, simple as that."