"All I'll say is that the GAA have got some brilliant referees. We had a brilliant referee above in Armagh who executed the refereeing brilliantly, today's referee executed the rules of the game brilliantly as well, absolutely outstanding performance from the referee."

There was more than a hint of sarcasm about Tipp manager Peter Creedon's assessment of the performance of referee Ciaran Branagan in Semple Stadium.

"It was a strange performance, there were patches of frustrating stuff and a lot of good stuff as well, particularly in the second half."

The Munster and All-Ireland champions enjoyed a winning start but manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice wasn't overly happy with their performance.

"It was all about getting the win. We didn't play particularly well in a lot of aspects of the game but in fairness to the lads, they all kept plugging away and kept working hard and we got the result in the end."

It's a results business according to Mayo joint-manager Pat Holmes.

"You can't expect to just come out here and walk out and take on and beat a team like Mayo every day. Of course it is all about winning at the end of the day but we will look back on this and we will assess where we can improve on it."

Galway are still a work in progress under Kevin Walsh.

"We felt the last day we didn't have enough variety to our game. Today, with the weather conditions, we thought we might get a bit of joy. We have good ball winners there which obviously helps as well."

The long ball tactic reaped huge dividends for Rory Gallagher and Donegal.

"We just didn't do what we were supposed to do. You expect a team to score seven or eight points against you in a half but you have to score as well."

Basic errors cost Armagh according to Kieran McGeeney.

"We came up here firmly believing we would beat Meath even though everybody wrote us off."

Johnny Magee just came up short in his bid to guide Wicklow to a first championship win over Meath since 1957.

"It was getting to a ridiculous level, the way teams were being written off in the championship. Probably that's what was happening as well with Wicklow. But everyone is preparing well now. They have a good management team. They weren't far off."

Royal boss Mick O'Dowd was a relieved man at the final whistle in Pairc Tailteann.

"We're all pretty aware of what they're going to bring to the table, it's not going to be any big surprise. Longford are a Division 3 team and we're a Division 3 team, you saw what Dublin did to Longford a few weeks ago, so we'll see what happens."

Will it be a case of damage limitation for Jason Ryan and Kildare against Dublin in two weeks' time?

"It was (incredible) yeah, they really caught us in the first five minutes or so and that gave them great momentum for the rest of the game then. That is the way it was."

Tomás Ó Flatharta and Laois has no answer to the Lilywhites' second-half burst.

"We had good subs to come on and we knew we had strong leaders out there. You were waiting for them to stand up and they did to their credit."

Westmeath's strength in depth was a telling factor in their win over Wexford according to manager Tom Cribbin.

"Overall, I can't have any complaints. Where we were we are definitely going in the right direction. I am sick, I am a positive person though. I'm sick for the players that we had that game in one hand and we just couldn't get over the line."

So near and yet so far for the Model County's David Power.

"We knew Clare would go for it, and they were unfortunate not to get a goal. But it gave us a start, and from there on I thought we were in control of the game."

It was very much a case of job done for Brian Cuthbert and his Cork players.

"I was with the stats guys in the stand, and the only area where there's a glaring difference between the two teams was shooting efficiency. You have to put your chances away against the Division 1 teams. If you don't you're in deep trouble."

Clare's inaccuracy in front of the posts cost them in the opinion of manager Colm Collins.

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