"I felt probably that while the officials did a good job that Michael was targeted. There is no doubt about that. But look, that is the way it is. It is up to other people to deal with it. The officials had a great game but Michael comes in for a lot of attention off the ball which isn't allowed."

Justin McMahon's 'hands-on' marking of Michael Murphy drew this response from Donegal manager Rory Gallagher.

"It's easy for us who are observing the game to be well in control of our emotions but the people who are out there in the thick of it, they just might not be in control of it. So it took some of us to try and settle them down. I don't think it was going to develop into anything too rowdy."

Mickey Harte gave his version of the unsightly events that unfolded as both teams made their exit from the Ballybofey pitch at half-time.

"At one stage they had fifteen men behind their own '45'. Everyone is talking about the negativity of Ulster football but the questions have to go a lot further afield than that. Certainly the big men hit and once they hit we go down in a heap and it doesn't make for good viewing."

Leitrim's Shane Ward accused Galway of a negative approach to yesterday's Connacht SFC quarter-final.

"I think every time we touched the ball their wing-backs and their wing-forwards were falling back into that hole. You know they're quite happy just to make sure that we didn't get through it. So look we got a few points up. I didn't really care if Leitrim didn't want to come out and get back the lead."

Ward's Galway counterpart Kevin Walsh responded by pointing the finger of blame at Leitrim.

"I speak from the heart the whole time with them. I was disappointed. I was disappointed for them. Sometimes you want to have an excuse - the lads were drinking or messing or something. But they're not like that. They're as committed a bunch of players as I've ever worked with in my life."

Westmeath got their relegation to Division 3 out of their system against Louth and all is well in the camp now according to manager Tom Cribbin.

"I'm not making excuses and that's not what this is about. This is no one's fault, but the reality is where we are and it's not easy. You're talking about a lot of debutants, it's a whole new squad, we're working as hard as we can."

Wee County boss Colin Kelly has a big job on his hands as he attempts to turn their fortunes around in the qualifiers.

"We thought we were progressing after the league final performance we felt that we were on the right road. But it proved that we were mentally still that bit weak because when the pressure came on today we crumbled to be totally honest."

The promise of Offaly's Division 4 success evaporated on Saturday evening and it's back to the drawing board for Pat Flanagan and his players.

"Nobody in the country gives us a chance in hell really to beat Dublin. It's daunting, there's no two ways about it, but we'll sit down tonight and tomorrow and think about it, and see where we're at."

Having gained revenge for the league final defeat, Jack Sheedy is now turning his attention to a Croke Park date against his native Dublin.

"I'm not sure how long it is since Laois beat Kildare last, so there will be a lot of interest in the game. They beat us in the league by a point, so that's always in our mind, and we have to improve on our performance from that day."

Tomas O Flatharta learnt little from Saturday evening's facile victory over Carlow as he looks ahead to a last eight clash against Kildare.

"It's incredible to think that it's our ninth title. We'd never have dreamed that at the beginning, but it's funny how the feeling is always the same. We always just want to get better."

Cork match-winner Rena Buckley reflects on the Rebelettes' ninth league victory in 10 years.

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