IT WAS a match that left both sides disappointed but a score that leaves it all to be played for in two weeks. Mayo had their chance to take the title back to the west at the first time of asking but couldn't drive their advantage home while Meath must have wished that Pat McEneaney had added on just a bit more time at the end.

Both teams, though, will have plenty of time to talk over what might have been amongst themselves before they return to Croke Park to determine the outcome of this contest.

Overall, it will be Meath who will draw the greater encouragement from what transpired yesterday. For much of the game they were outplayed in key areas but as the second half progressed it was they who started to set the agenda and they will feel that, with another minute or two of play, they could have lifted Sam.

Before the game it was clear that Mayo needed to dominate midfield if they were to have a chance of winning the match and early on they certainly achieved that goal, with Liam McHale producing what was probably his best display at Croke Park.

His performance stood out for the way he repeatedly intervened to break up Meath passing and then set his own team on its way with fine distribution. The quick reflexes that he has developed as a basketball player were much in evidence, with the 30 year old constantly getting in an outstretched hand to grab possession. However he must have been frustrated with the way those players around him repeatedly squandered the ball that he won.

Colm McManamon also thrived early on, causing Meath considerable difficulties. However his distribution was poorer than that of his team mate and his reluctance to go for points undid his good work in other areas.

The greatest problem facing John Maughan's men at that stage, though, was the inability of their full forward line to shake off the attentions of the Meath defence. John Casey and David Nestor both struggled to make an impact and while much of the ball sent towards them was of a poorer quality than they had grown used to receiving against Kerry, the strength of Martin O'Connell and Darren Fay was a major factor.

Both defenders dominated their men by tight marking and the result was that, through the early stages, it was left to James Horan, Maurice Sheridan and the roving McManamon to attempt to capitalise on the amount of possession the team was enjoying.

They didn't do as well as they might have but with Meath looking far short of their best and the Mayo defence also predominant, it still looked at half time as though Mayo would be strong enough to win.

In the dressing room, Maughan must have been urging his side to keep playing the same game, disrupting Meath's passing at every opportunity and refusing to let them settle. I'm sure Sean Boylan made it clear to his men that, unless they changed things dramatically, they were heading for defeat.

Whatever way the managers put it to their players, it was Boylan's message which seemed to have the greater impact - from the start of the second period it was clear that Meath had come out to make a real fight of it while Mayo were already beginning to lose their way.

Sheridan's point from a free shortly after the restart looked to be an important one but when Brendan Reilly's positional switch with Tommy Dowd bore its first fruit a minute later - when he scored the first of three second half points - you could see that Meath's challenge had been revitalised.

In fact, it should have been killed off completely by Ray Dempsey's goal which was a comedy of errors but Mayo weren't able to drive their advantage home and once they sensed their opponents' weakness, it was Meath whose challenge started to gather momentum.

Certainly they were fortunate that McManamon's influence gradually diminished while Kenneth Mortimer and Kevin Cahill also faded somewhat and the contest in midfield gradually became a much closer one. It is a tribute to the sort of spirit that we have seen from so many Meath sides that they were ready and willing to take the opportunity to fight their way back into things when it came their way.

Early on they had relied almost completely on Trevor Giles to keep them in the game but as the second half progressed, Mayo's tight defensive work began to break down while their attempts to pass the ball around tended to give their opponents more opportunities to steal possession.

John McDermott's defensive midfield role firmed Meath up considerably while Giles and Reilly found more and more space into which to play with the result that the points began to clock up.

Graham Geraghty, who, like Casey, was unable to fulfill the enormous expectations created by such a tremendous semi final display, remained quiet as Pat Holmes continued to marshal him well but around him everything had changed and at the end it seemed that it was only the referee's whistle that prevented Meath from taking the lead for the first time and, with it, the title.

The fact that Meath proved the fitter, stronger side in the last 15 minutes will worry Mayo for they are not used to coming across sides who can get the better of them in the closing stages. Still, the replay will be another day and both sides will return to Croke Park with renewed determination.