A sunny evening at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney. The Kerry forwards are in target practice. One in particular cannot miss, each shot easily and precisely finding its intended target. Johnny Crowley can do no wrong.

Crowley is sitting on top of his game, stuck in the moment, trapped in the heart of the championship. No Kerry player has left more damage in his path, and no player in Dublin or Cork will forget him.

He steps aside for a word about his game, about stealing goals and the prospect of playing Meath. He talks freely with a sort of shy smile, but every couple of minutes you get a glint from his assassin's eyes.

"Yeah, there's been some good scores alright but, you know, it's going to get progressively more difficult from here on. Of course I'm looking forward to every game now, but every game is a bigger challenge at this stage and they don't come much tougher than Meath.

"Everyone has respect for them after what they've done the last few years. They've won hard All-Irelands and I don't think we've beaten them in the league for a good few years. People say the league is different and it's winter and summer and that but you still go out to win every game you play. So they'll know how to beat us."

Dublin also felt they knew how to beat Kerry. It was said the blue defence was at its best after it held Crowley to three points in the first meeting in Thurles, but then he tore it apart in the replay, scoring 2-2 and setting up other vital scores as well. There is nothing more dangerous than a confident forward.

"Well we were definitely under fierce pressure both those days against Dublin. I suppose the game was gone from us the first day only for Maurice, which was kind of a miracle kick, really. And the second day we were under pressure when the man went, but then showed good character in ourselves.

"But then wins like that help give a bit of confidence to players, which is always what's needed. Players have to be confident these days, right from the beginning of games. And it's no good talking about the good character we showed the last day until we go do it again, and carry it through the next day. And we'll need every bit of it against Meath."

A championship meeting with Meath, though, has been a long time coming. Crowley sat in stands of Croke Park as a 12-year-old the last time they collided, but he doesn't need to be told anything about Meath. More lives than a cat, the team that doesn't carry any dead weight.

"I've only seen them in one or two games on television this year but you know who they are. They've got All Stars and they've all been there before, so we're going to be up against it

"But there's not much history there, which is unusual in that Meath have been so successful in the last few years, and we've got a good run at it as well. Sure, we're looking forward to playing them as much as Meath are looking forward to playing us. When we came through last year, they probably felt they had been caught in the first round. So I'd say they're happy now to have a crack at us."

But the man they will now fear more than any other is Johnny Crowley. He broke onto the scene in 1995, scoring two goals in the game against Tipperary, and has only missed one championship game for the county since coming on a substitute in the successful 1997 final. This summer he has collected 3-14, all from play.

With football running in the blood (his father Derry was an All-Ireland medal winner with Kerry in 1969 and 1970) his rise to the top has been surprisingly measured. Few medals were left unclaimed at underage levels, from vocational schools to All-Ireland junior, from under-21 to Sigerson Cup.

By the end of last summer, though, he was shining. Why the All Stars left him out of the corner forward position remains a mystery to many, but he kept his head down and helped Glenflesk come out of Kerry and into the Munster club final.

He knows now that happiness can come suddenly, and can leave just as quickly. A back injury had threatened his form earlier in the year, but he shot 1-2 in the first game against Tipperary and hasn't been rocked since.

"There's a different feel about semi-finals. You just want to get over them and the quality of the match just doesn't matter. You just want to get into the final because that's the game people will remember.

"And this can be the difficult stage as well because you are just trying to keep fresh. You don't want to go over the top at this stage. We had two hard games in seven days and that took its toll. Thurles was a good open field but Dublin were very fit as well, and they really put it up to us."

Though the word is that Kerry and Meath represent the tougher half of the draw, Crowley hasn't forgotten about the men out west: "Galway certainly could have won the All-Ireland last year and some people say they should have. If that was the case then people would be looking at us in a totally different way. Whoever comes through this game is guaranteed nothing against Galway the next day, and that's for sure.

"Still it's hard to say if, man for man, Meath will be the toughest side we have met so far, but no matter what kind of game it is, it's going to be a struggle. We know our fault is that we've gone patchy in games, and gone in and out of games, and Meath would be more consistent the whole game. I mean I wouldn't rule out a draw, because I think it's going to be that kind of game."

A goal then may make the difference, just don't ask Johnny Crowley if he expects to get it.

"Look, room will be at a premium, and I don't think there will be too many goals. It's more likely to be a game to take your points or lay it back for someone else to take the point.

"And the Meath forwards will tell you the same but it does depend on the ball that you get in. If we're out of it and living off scraps, they will punish you just as badly if they get good supply.

"You saw with Ger Heavin, that he was able to get on the ball but just wasn't getting the space. Meath will always harass you and keep you under pressure, and although Westmeath did get a few goals, it's so rare for Meath to concede them.

"Up front you have Geraghty, Murphy and Evan Kelly. They're all scoring freely this year and have been the last few years as well. And then you have Giles, who is a huge play-maker, and a lot of ball goes through him, left and right, and not many players can kick 60 yard passes like him."

But right now, no man is scoring better goals than John Crowley. With his centre of gravity so perfectly positioned, the recoil from even his most powerful shots is negligible. To say he has big calf muscles just doesn't sound right. It's more like bull muscle.

John O'Keeffe has put him through the same training as last year, and, physically, there is nothing more to do. From here on it's a question of football, and if they fail now it's because they just weren't good enough.

And if they win, there will be talk again of an All Star: "Maybe if you were a younger player you might take notice of that talk but you can be fairly sure that maybe 14 of them will be decided on the last game in September, and you have to be there. A lot of players are quickly forgotten if they are beaten in a semi-final."