John O'Sullivan/In Focus:A free European Cup final ticket with every pint of Heineken purchased: gallows humour but from an Irish perspective, and that of European Rugby Cup Ltd (ERC), the tournament's governing body, it encapsulates the attraction of European rugby's centrepiece.

A final to be contested at Lansdowne Road on May 24th between the Toulouse and Perpignan wouldn't even generate too many queues at the clubs of the respective combatants.

It won't matter one whit to either Toulouse or yesterday's winners, Perpignan or for that matter Leinster. As the individuals filed out behind the west stand in dribs and drabs, they acknowledged the occasional commiseration with a half-hearted smile that faded to a grimace.

The funereal atmosphere was not just limited to the Leinster supporters. Paradise lost, as John Milton might have said, but there was little precious little poetry to the Irish province's performance. Anaesthetised by the disappointment of defeat, that numbing feeling of a spurned opportunity, a few players tried to rake through the ashes of defeat. Keith Gleeson, Leinster and Ireland's openside, articulated his feelings about where the match had been lost.

"The one thing that has been very good for us in the Heineken Cup up until today and something that we pride ourselves on is our set pieces. It's what given us our platform for game to operate off. Perpignan obviously did their homework and we struggled particularly in that area. We didn't get the usual quality ball that we normally do and then simply, whether it was the occasion, we were too careless with the ball.

"We must have made double the amount of turnovers that we'd normally have in a game. That type of thing kills you in a big game. We were careless with the ball in hand, pushed things trying to make something special happen.

"Maybe it was partly because we were making a lot of half-breaks and as a result guys were trying to force the issue rather than just hold onto the ball, recycle it and go again. The thing that caused the damage against Biarritz was that we held onto the ball and even though we didn't score we took a lot of steam out of them.

"Unfortunately today we were only playing two or three phases and then turning the ball over; suddenly it's Perpignan ball and we have to start trying to get it back."

Perpignan played on the edge, occasionally suffering, manifest in two sin binnings but still sufficiently street wise to deny Leinster the high tempo, fast-paced game they craved. Gleeson admitted: "It's something they've done in all their previous games, slow the ball down; infringe, play the law to the extent of the law.

"On the ground we did seem to get the ball back but not as quick as we would have liked. I think the big problem was that we just didn't take it to the floor and hold on often enough and then try and recycle it. We're normally good at playing simple rugby, one pass plays and then recycle it again. It was like we were trying to score off every phase."

Given the torpor of their first half performance it was staggering to consider that Leinster led 3-0 at the break and perhaps just as heartening Perpignan were equally inept in that first 44 minutes. There were no dressing downs in the dressing-rooms, focussing instead on positives.

Gleeson explained: "Basically we looked at the games in which we hadn't played well in the first half, like both Montferrand matches and some others where we haven't played well. We believed we could pick the tempo up in the second half.

"We didn't have the best start when they scored a quick three (points) but then for the next 15 minutes we held onto the ball a lot better and started to create phases, started to put them under pressure. Maybe the most irritating factor during the match was that they were consistently going down with injuries because it's part of that slowing the game down. There are not many teams that can keep pace with us I believe in Europe when the tempo of the game is high. Part of the game is to play the game within the game. They did that very well today."

As Leinster's error rate spiralled and their desperation became more acute, a semblance of perspective and resolution was retained. "We'd been in that situation before, needing two scores. Our priority was to kick a penalty or a field goal because we knew we could score from anywhere on the pitch.

"That final knock-on - the referee had already told us that the next break in play would be the last - was absolutely numbing. If you looked around the pitch all you would have seen was Leinster heads in hands."

It summed up the afternoon.