"I think Waterford people will take great confidence out of how the lads just went for it when they had to. That's the most heartening thing from my point of view. We've had a group that has never confessed to anything but hard work and effort. But we're disappointed that we didn't close it out. It's not good enough really to not close it out."

It was very much a case of so near and yet so far for Derek McGrath and the Deise.

"What you always look for is a genuineness, a work-rate and a 'keep-it-going-until-the-very-end' attitude. That can't be faulted because Waterford were simply flying and were picking off terrific scores. You could buckle, but it is a great sign of the lads that didn't happen. We just drive it forward and we live to fight another day."

Brian Cody and the Cats used up one of their nine lives in Croke Park yesterday.

"It's hard to take but look, at least we didn't lose, that's one consolation that we've another go next week and we'll see what happens next Saturday night."

Waterford hero Austin Gleeson and his team-mates will be hoping to go one step further in Thurles.

"Absolutely, yeah. He plays within the rules as best he can and if he doesn't he gets punished, like the last game when he got a yellow card for rough play. . . absolutely no complaints but the rules have to be equally applied."

Is Diarmuid Connolly singled out for special attention by opposing teams? Jim Gavin has no doubts.

"It's not something I have spoken about - the reality is that it's inevitable a few lads will call it a day. There's no doubt that we have a lot of players with a lot of mileage. One thing that stands out from this game is the phenomenal athleticism of Dublin."

Rory Gallagher expects more of his Donegal players to follow Colm McFadden into inter-county retirement.

"I know this for sure that Sean Cavanagh doesn't go looking for cards, he never did in his whole career. It was a shame that he'd be a victim of someone else enticing him into that. He doesn't go looking for anything and I can say that 100 per cent and I have no fear of contradiction."

Lee Keegan's role in Sean Cavanagh's first yellow card was highlighted by Red Hands boss Mickey Harte.

"I can categorically tell you that there was no Tyrone player targeted in the Mayo dressing room. Was Diarmuid O'Connor targeted in the first two or three minutes if anyone wants to go down that line? Certainly Lee Keegan or any Mayo player was not under instruction to target any player."

Victorious Mayo manager Stephen Rochford was having none of Harte's claims.

"We knew if we started well that we would gain a bit of confidence and once you have that start, the Croke Park factor becomes irrelevant."

Limerick minor manager Pat Donnelly and his troops have an All-Ireland final to look forward to following their six point victory over Dublin.

"I haven't seen it back but it looked to me like he was parked in the square. At the end of the day, we had an extra man there and we should have been able to deal with those balls, simple as that."

The concession of a 13th minute goal contributed to Dublin's downfall and their manager Johnny McGuirk questioned the legitimacy of the Limerick score.

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