Kildare: 1-12 - P Gravin 1-4, (four frees, pen); D Earley 0-2, E McCormack 0-1, K O'Dwyer 0-1 (free), A Rainbow 0-1, K Doyle 0-1, M Lynch 0-1, W McCreery 0-1.

Louth: 0-12 - M Stanfield 0-6 (four frees, 45); D Reilly 0-2, N Malone 0-2; JP Rooney 0-1, D Kirwan 0-1.

Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).

Booked: Kildare - M Lynch. Louth - A O'Neill, M Stanfield, N Malone. Sent-off: Kildare - B Lacey (69 mins). Louth - C Kelly (69 mins).

Here they come again. They are impervious to change, this Kildare lot, with their Daz-white strips, coltish athletes and near-fatal preoccupation with stray kicking.

Pauric Gravin calmly drilled a low penalty to the right of Colm Nally after 63 minutes to leave Kildare 1-11 to 0-11 ahead after 63 minutes and from there the Lily-whites never looked back. That score was made after John Finn - faultless all afternoon - burst through Louth's last line only to be hauled down by a desperate Simon Gerard.

That their defining score came from a place kick was appropriate on a day when their famous inconsistency from open play came to haunt them yet again.

Mick O'Dwyer's side managed to kick 18 wides of every conceivable variety over the course of the game, a stunning show of wastefulness in comparison to Louth's total of two.

A beaming Mick O'Dwyer was in no mood to worry about the meandering list of wides which was presented to him. "Ah, well, sure that's no harm. We won by three points so we're quite happy."

Fair enough. We saw so little of Kildare last year that their latest hour in Croke Park seemed like something of a retrospective. In many ways, little about them has changed.

They still possess some wonderful athletes. Early on, Willie McCreery salmon-leaped from the midfield melting pot for two wonderful catches which pretty much set the tone of all battles in the sky.

Along with his partner Martin Lynch and the ever-languid Dermot Earley, McCreery left his opposite numbers earthbound on several occasions and did more than enough to ensure his team enjoyed a wealth of possession.

Glen Ryan swept up in that no-nonsense fashion of his from centre back, Ronan Quinn kept Darren Kirwan bottled and John Finn had a storming game, resolute in defence and instrumental in many of Kildare's attacks.

Earley had an up-and-down kind of day, compensating with instinctive ability for some errant kicking.

Hesitant throughout the first half, he stung Aaron Hoey late with a great steal on 35 minutes and whipped a low score which iced a fine 13 minute period for Kildare, which saw them hit five unanswered points to go in at the break with a 0-7 to 0-5 advantage.

Louth's redoubtable Stephen Melia shadowed Earley after the restart and did limit the Sarsfields man's involvement but he cropped up significantly again in the 62nd minute, dancing through before curling another low point to level matters at 0-11 apiece.

Just three minutes earlier, Louth looked to be on the threshold of an upset. With admirable fearlessness, they had taken the match to Kildare from the restart, with Peter McGinnity dashing forwards and Nicky Malone, JP Rooney and substitute David Reilly brimming with delightful mischief.

While Kildare stayed well in touch through Gravin's marksmanship, Louth's escape attempts were, at times, delightful to behold.

After 45 minutes, they were molten hot. Stanfield, on his knees, took a pass from Martin Farrelly and transferred to Malone. He lobbed forward to Reilly and although the shot was parried by Kildare goalkeeper Christy Byrne, Malone pounced to score a point which left it at 0-8 to 0-8.

Ten minutes later, Malone hoofed another peach of a score, after Farrelly, trapped near the endline, angled back a pass.

"That's just the way these lads are, they are free spirits and know only one way to play," said Louth manager Paddy Clarke. "We are often rewarded by the bravery of the decisions and while the result didn't go our way, I know they'll learn a lot from it."

What Kildare again learned about themselves is that they don't die when the heat comes on. They endured shocking conversion difficulties during this period, with Lynch, Earley and Gravin fluffing fine chances in the space of 90 seconds. But they had time and possession enough for ample surgery.

Ken Doyle came in and chipped a stabilising score and when Louth pulled two points clear. Kildare's response was razor sharp, with Lynch and Earley levelling it.

The only blemish on Kildare's closing streak was the dismissal of Brian Lacey, who was sent off with Colin Kelly after 69 minutes following a dispute between the two. However, the penalty and McCreery's quick, chipped point from the restart had left Louth at sea, and the all-white wagon was raising dust again.

"So, we'll have a cracking game with Offaly now. It'll be a tough one. Neighbouring counties," lilted Mick O'Dwyer. "But 'twill be a great one and we are looking forward to it."

How quickly things change.