"Once he gets a sniff, there's no better player in the country to take a goal."

High praise for Cork's 2-6 hero Colm O'Neill from his manager Brian Cuthbert.

"There was a lot of other incidents where we felt there was men pulled down and there were no black cards. So there is an awful lot of inconsistency which is a bit frustrating."

Referee Fergal Kelly didn't endear himself to Monaghan boss Malachy O'Rourke.

"It is good from the point of view we've Dublin coming in three weeks' time. If we were beaten today, you'd just be digging a small bit, whereas after winning today everyone is in good form going down the road."

The win over Derry is a confidence booster for Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Kerry ahead of the visit of the Dubs.

"There is probably never a good time to get Kerry, despite what people say, and they were in full flow today. With Mark missing, unless we can overturn it on appeal, going to Tyrone will be difficult."

Captain Mark Lynch's sending-off rubbed salt into the wounds of Brian McIver and Derry.

"I allow people to wallow in their own ignorance if they decide to do that."

Mickey Harte isn't going to lose any sleep over what his critics think.

"In the second half we had a lot of wides but a bit of that comes down to frustration, losing a bit of concentration at the end and just taking snap shots. You'll have days like that."

Mayo captain Keith Higgins rued their wayward shooting up front.

"When one team plays defensive football and one team plays attacking football, the two collide sometimes and that's the fall-out."

Jim Gavin wasn't surprised at the physical nature of the exchanges in Croke Park on Saturday evening.

"Them things go on, I don't think there was too much out of order. There was a lot of competitiveness and a lot of physicality out there and to be fair to Maurice Deegan, I thought he let it flow as best possible."

Gavin's Donegal counterpart Rory Gallagher was singing from same hymn sheet.

"What does a night like tonight do to a young bunch of players? It will be a date marked in their career calendar and hopefully we'll move on from it. At the end of the day it is two league points in February. We are aware of that."

After the opening round defeat to Galway, Mick O'Dowd was relieved to get two points on the Division 2 table.

"It is very easy when people say, 'Oh Jesus you have lost again' when the reality is we have lost a game by two points. The last day we were winning with a few seconds left and we lost it so we're not being outclassed."

Jason Ryan isn't pressing the panic button just yet.

"We are not ready for Division 1, we don't have the pool of players. But staying in Division 2 is so important and we will be no pushovers this year."

Roscommon have three points out of a possible four under their belt but manager John Evans isn't looking to far ahead.

"There was some good, hard football out there. Westmeath will probably feel they should got a point but at this stage for both camps it is to get guys wanting to win, wanting to be there and performing well."

Life under Kevin Walsh has got off to a promising start for Galway with two Division 2 wins from as many outings.

"We created the opportunities and that ball just didn't go over for us. You need a little bit of luck in these things too."

Westmeath boss Tom Cribbin felt his team could have got something out of the Mullingar clash.

"Look, it's a stepping stone. It's a game at Croke Park, it's a game against Dublin. It was our first real test for the year in getting preparation time for the match against Clare next Sunday."

The Walsh Cup is safely deposited away in the Galway hurling trophy cabinet as Anthony Cunningham and his players turn their attention to the Banner County.

"Any time you lose in Croke Park, you're disappointed. It was a final and like any match, you want to win."

Ger Cunningham will take on board the lessons learned in their two point defeat as they prepare for the visit of Tipperary to Parnell Park.

"I can't emphasise enough that today's performance would not be good enough to win an All-Ireland club."

Kilmallock and Ger O'Loughlin have work to do ahead of their All-Ireland Club showdown with Ballyhale Shamrocks on St Patrick's Day.

"Kilmallock are a few years ahead of us. Our players probably haven't reached anywhere near their peak yet; it'll be a couple of years down the line before we reach that point."

There is more to come from Portaferry according to manager Sean Young.

"Since we came back in the New Year, he seems to have got another step and he played all five challenges while the Kilkenny lads were away on holidays. We were saying, 'no, we'll play you in one or two' but he wanted to play in them all."

Ballyhale manager Colm Bonnar highlighed Henry Shefflin's commitment to the cause.

"I'm thrilled that I have another five-and-a-half weeks, doing my own thing and concentrating on the club and getting myself ready for another All-Ireland final. And then I'll be able to go off into the sunset and decide whether I'm going to stay or not."

Thoughts of retirement are on hold for Henry Shefflin as he bids to collect All-Ireland club medal number three.

"Very disappointed. I thought our lads stayed at it well and kept going to the end, never gave up. From that point of view, great quality but there was probably a little bit more confidence and composure in the score-taking of Ballyhale."

Gort manager Gerry Spellman couldn't fault his players for effort.

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