"I am proud of them. They worked extremely hard. There is no point getting carried away, there is a long way to go yet. But there is way more to go in this Wexford team."

The Davy Fitz effect is reaping instant rewards in the Model County.

"From our perspective we were disappointed with the fight. We let them come back in. We were in a strong position and we could have fought more. W have got to take it on the chin and move on."

A lack of fight was the root of the Tribesmen's problems, according to Micheal Donoghue.

"It's just a point in time in February so I wouldn't get too excited. We're happy to take away the points, they're valuable to us. But the year is but a pup. We're only two games in. There are three more rounds to go and everyone is going to take points off everybody else."

Tipp made it two wins from as many outings in Division 1A but Michael Ryan was eager to put their 1-18 to 0-15 victory over Waterford into perspective.

"They were bringing on lads like 'Bubbles', Noel McGrath, Seamie (Callanan) and Michael Breen. I don't think we will be the only team beaten by six points by Tipperary this year."

The Premier County will take some stopping this year warns Derek McGrath.

"I don't know why. There are no excuses. We didn't play well in the first-half but we didn't play well in the second-half either. You are always concerned if you are not playing well. We are just going to keep going and move on."

The Cats suffered a second defeat on the trot but Brian Cody isn't pressing the panic button just yet.

"We were really up for it and Kilkenny were flat. Their touch was off and they made mistakes and they lost Walter Walsh through injury and probably Richie Hogan and when all those things happen and you are playing away, it can be difficult as we well know."

Clare joint-manager Donal Moloney was a happy man after they bounced back from their opening round defeat to Cork.

"When you have a 16-point defeat, you have to look at it in the cold light of day. We played the All-Ireland champions last week and showed them too much respect. We had a week to show that the performance wasn't what we're about. Our attitude was right and our work rate was spot-on."

Dublin boss Ger Cunningham put one over his native county on Saturday evening.

"There was too much written about us after Clare and there may be the same after this. We are somewhere in between and we know we have a huge amount of work to do."

Kieran Kingston won't let what's written about his Cork team distract from the job at hand.

"There are three more games to be played, you'd never know what's going to happen in this game. But you'd have to say it's most likely at this stage (Wexford getting promoted), we'll wait and see. We'll take it one game a time - we're focusing now on the Offaly game in two weeks' time."

It's advantage Wexford in Division 1B but Limerick's John Kiely isn't throwing in the towel just yet.

"It's a wonderful thing this competition. It's unique that you would play two big championship matches two days running. Really it comes down to whoever has the bigger heart for it, the bigger desire and the greater resilience."

St Mary's are Sigerson Cup champions for 2017 and Paddy Tally revealed the secrets of their success.

"No one likes to lose any game, particularly finals but Mary's came with a fantastic game-plan and they executed it perfectly. They deserved their win. We had lots and lots of chances there in the second-half to draw level or go ahead and, ultimately, we did not take them."

UCD manager John Divilly was magnanimous in defeat.

"It's a rare occasion when you come up and win an All-Ireland. It's a hard road, it's a long road and believe you me, just to finally get my hands on that trophy and medal, it means so much to me right now."

'Footballer of the Year' Lee Keegan finally has an All-Ireland medal in his back pocket.

"It's a dream come true. It outweighs anything that I've ever done before, winning an All-Ireland with these lads. It's something I'll always remember."

It says a lot when Carrickshock's All-Ireland Club IHC victory was a career high for nine-time Kilkenny All-Ireland winner Richie Power.

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