Dublin can take more from this game

After such an enjoyable game it's always disappointing to see it end in a draw and to be totally honest I thought Dublin may have just about deserved to win. They performed that little bit better, scored a lot more from play and, on the day, probably had the stronger players.

Still, Kildare were out of the traps very well and for the first 10 minutes Dublin seemed to be under an awful lot of pressure. But they weathered the storm and I feel that every player was giving it their absolute best. Every ball was fought for and you had players throwing themselves at the ball such was the enthusiasm.

Dublin seemed to have more commanding players in key positions. Paddy Christie was very good at full back and both Paul Curran and Jonathon McGee chased an awful lot of ball as well. Brian Stynes was definitely the pick of the midfielders on display and more or less ran himself into the ground.

Tactically, the move of Jason Sherlock to centre forward worked a treat. He picked off three crucial points and Colin Moran also played one of his best games. Of course he clinched the equalising point which was probably the most important score on the day.

I don't think any of the Kildare team was outstanding but it is still a very encouraging performance for them. In the past they would have to be better than Dublin by seven or eight points to win by one or two but here they matched them score for score. All their forwards chipped away impressively and some of their handpassing movements were very effective.

Dermot Earley certainly tried very hard and the two corner forwards - Padraig Brennan and Tadgh Fennin - were certainly on form but I don't think they got as much ball as they would have liked. Overall, I don't think all the Kildare team played as well as they could.

In terms of experience, Dublin will take a lot from this. It was their first big game of the championship and they were certainly able to go the pace. The absence of a natural free-taker probably cost them the win in the end. In that regard, Declan Darcy will be a big addition if he is back for the replay.

Kildare had two goal chances - the only two of the game - and if one of them had gone in then I suspect Kildare might have gone on to win by a couple of points. Glen Ryan's superb ball to Brennan in the first half was probably the best chance while in contrast Dublin never once caused a real threat to Christy Byrne. Of course, the likes of Ronan Quinn and Ken Doyle had a lot to do with that.

Neither side allowed the other to build up a substantial lead and the last five minutes were particularly tight. There was only 30 seconds or so of injury time but I think everyone expected the referee to blow up at that stage. It's what we're used to now and everyone looked so knackered that it was probably the fair thing to do.

Still, I know from a player's point of view that you always want to get the result on the first day. Kildare have played four hard matches now and still haven't got out of Leinster. That can take its toll. They may have shot a lot less wides than recent games but they still dropped an awful lot of ball into the goalkeeper's hands and that's nearly worse.

Dublin will have learnt a lot from this and I suspect that they will be the happier team when they wake up this morning. Ciaran Whelan came through the game very well despite missing so much time with injury. But it certainly was a great sporting occasion. Considering the warm day that was in it, you had to admire the tireless work of all the players. There was great spirit and heart in both sides throughout the 70 minutes.

Of course, games like this take a lot out of players and it will be hard to lift themselves to the same level for the replay. The entertainment level was quite superb and there wasn't a minute of boring football. The first half was tense enough but it really lifted another notch in the second half. The game surpassed expectations. It certainly makes for an interesting replay. Both teams will have learnt a few valuable lessons, although in my experience, replays rarely turn out quite like you expect. Personally, I felt sorry for Ian Robertson because he really is an excellent player but has just been wrecked with injury this year and not able to get near the form he would like. But I feel that if Dublin can rectify their free-taking problems for the next day then they'll probably carry an edge over Kildare.

In an interview with Ian O'Riordan