"It's a miracle for the lads there. At the start of the year, I saw something special in that group of lads. We knew they have fierce character and getting them to gel as a unit was the whole secret to making it happen."

Westmeath's Lazarus-like act didn't come as a surprise to manager Tom Cribbin.

"We were a point down and we had a chance to tap it over the bar and equalise and reset for the kick-out and we didn't do that. So we can't have any complaints. I'm not making any excuses."

Meath boss Mick O'Dowd was at a loss to explain his side's second-half collapse.

"I won't say thank God we got in only ten points down but we knew once we got in at half-time that we were not out of the game. We got 1-9 in ten minutes against Wexford. Once we clicked we knew there would be no stopping us."

Kieran Martin and his Lake County team-mates never allowed their their heads to drop.

"I learned a long time ago when Kerry talk about other counties, I take it with a pinch of salt."

Jim Gavin refused to react to Darragh O Se's controversial comments about getting under Diarmuid Connolly's skin.

"We had 20 attacks in their 45 in the second-half and they had 20. And in the first-half, we had more attacks in their 45 than they did in ours."

The stats painted a different picture for Kildare's Jason Ryan.

"That was one that got away from us, we left this game behind us. We fully believed we were going to win this game and had prepared really well and we created the chances."

Brian McIver and Derry let a an opportunity slip in Clones on Saturday evening.

"It's not a bad way to go in with a lot of work to do. We played well in the spell after half-time and kicked a couple of massive scores from Colm (McFadden) and Martin (McElhinney) and Michael (Murphy) and then the goal was a great goal."

Rory Gallagher conceded that Donegal have plenty of room for improvement in advance of their Ulster SFC final against Monaghan.

"To score 2-16 against a Division 1 side, it's really amazing and it's fabulous, but it's all down to hard work, it's all down to giving young fellas a chance."

David Power deflected the praise on to the Wexford players following their surprise qualifier win over Down.

"We had quite a few missing today but that wasn't the reason, we have a big squad and players that come in should be able to do the business for us."

The Mourne County's Jim McCorry didn't hide behind excuses.

"First touch: goal. Second touch: turnover. Next touch: point with a left foot. So he will be pleased with his night's work and he is a great outlet."

Colin Kelly was full of praise for Wee County substitute Conor Grimes.

"Louth definitely got a grip in the second half, I thought we were a bit stop-start in the first half too."

The curtains came down on the 2015 championship season for Shane Ward and Leitrim.

"We were meeting a team from a lower division who if they'd won this game, their season was brilliant and if we lost it, our season was a disaster. All those things come into players' heads. I was pleased with how we pushed on in the second half on a day when things weren't going for us."

Mickey Harte was relieved after Tyrone negotiated their first qualifier hurdle.

"Ian is an ace marksman, he usually nails all those kicks for us. Those kicks would have kept things tight going into the last 10 or 15 minutes, but when the gap spread to five or six, then it became a hard scoreline to claw back."

Limerick's John Brudair rued the fact that Ian Ryan had an off day on the frees.

"We have to realise where we are and where we're trying to get to."

Kieran McGeeney and Armagh are playing catch up on the top teams.

"You can't give away silly ball and expect at this level not to get punished for it. We got within a point and the next couple of balls we got, we kicked in aimlessly."

A lack of composure came back to haunt Wicklow at the final whistle according to Johnny Magee.

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