The week's festivities at Punchestown would have paled in comparison had Kildare managed to hold on at Croke Park yesterday.
But it was a case of close but no celebratory cigar for the Lilywhites as Dublin's second half comeback kept their 12-year winning streak in Leinster running and their sights set on a 13th provincial title on the spin.
This was game 38 of the historic, remarkable run that stretches all the way back to the provincial quarter-final defeat of Laois in 2011.
