"They have been something of a monkey on our back the last few times we played them so it's great to come to Castlebar and beat them. We dug in when we went a point down in the second half and we upped our game again in extra-time."

Experienced defender Kieran Fitzgerald outlined what their extra-time victory over Castlebar Mitchels meant to Corofin.

"I won't be using it as an excuse. We all said we wouldn't. But against a top side like Corofin, it was difficult. Six weeks in a row - it had to have some impact. We tried to freshen it up by bringing on as many as we could but bodies were tired and sore out there."

Castlebar's hectic schedule caught up with them according to joint manager Declan O'Reilly.

"You have to do the business. Nobody will remember us in 10 years if we lose this final. We've been through some big battles and we'll give it one more big push in the final and see where it takes us, but we have some challenges in front of us now. Slaughtneil are going for an amazing bit of history themselves so there is a burning desire with them as well."

Kilcoo manager Paul McIver is well aware of the threat posed by their Ulster Club SFC final opposition.

"The last thing I want is to end up that Aidan Forker gets the blame for this. The game was already heading for a very tough game with 15 players. Whatever you write, make sure Aidan Forker does not get any blame here. Yes, he was foolish, and it is something he will have to live with, that's fine, but don't make it any worse than what he needs."

Maghery manager Shane McConville jumped to Aidan Forker's defence following his red card against the Down champions.

"We've done a lot of homework on Simonstown. They are very unlike Colm O'Rourke team - they play very defensive you know. Pat Spillane mightn't be overly happy so he might have a bit of a cut off him over that!"

Pascal Kellaghan gave Pat Spillane some ammunition for his fellow RTE pundit.

"I suppose we all pick at referees' decisions when they're over but I don't know exactly what he did. It was an Arsene Wenger moment for me, I didn't see exactly what went on."

Meath legend Colm O'Rourke couldn't understand why his son Shane was sent for an early shower.

"Maybe it takes a bad game to bring out a good game, and that Derrygonnelly game made training a bit more feisty. Maybe that was the kick up the backside that we needed to get over a game like today."

Slaughtneil and Brendan Rogers learned a lot from their performance against Fermanagh's Derrygonnelly last time out.

"We'd kicked three or four balls into the keeper's hands and you can't do that. A team like Carbery Rangers, any Cork champions, they'll murder you when they have possession and we were gifting it back to them, so it was mental stuff. Once we cooled down, realised the options we were taking weren't the right ones, we got an awful lot better. Then the goal came and we tacked a few points on."

The Nire manager Benji Whelan hailed his players following their shock victory over Carbery Rangers.

"We were very disappointed going in at half-time at how we had played. We were sloppy in our delivery of passes, sloppy in our attempts at goal."

Dr Crokes selector Harry O'Neill believes they have plenty of room for improvement.

"The disappointment is that we felt we had a real shot today. If you don't get your 50-50 breaks, you're not going to come out of their home patch with a victory."

Some calls didn't go the way of Loughmore-Castleiney and their manager Declan Laffan.

"Well, I don't know if it's buttons being pushed - he's going to be marked very tightly because of who he is and the talented player that he is. That's to be expected. I'm sure when the opposition sit down they're saying, 'how are we going to stop this guy?' That's part and parcel of the game and I think he understands it as well."

St Vincent's boss Tommy Conroy gave his take on Diarmuid Connolly's black card.

"I'm sorry actually that Connolly was sent off, because I think he's an easy target at times. The punters came here today, they wanted to see Connolly as well, and I just think he's a bit unfortunate."

Palatine joint-boss Mick Lillis had sympathy for the Dublin star.

"Last September, if you said this team would be in a Connacht final, they'd have laughed at you, especially in Kiltoom. So I'm delighted for them."

Frankie Dolan's St Brigid's advanced to a Connacht final showdown with Corofin.

"We have shown in the past the team has great resilience and belief and courage. And I don't mean just physical courage, but in that they are not afraid to take the game to teams when it's in the melting pot."

Sean O'Mahonys manager Alan Craven couldn't have been more prouder of his players.

"We had systems failure in the first half. I can't recall us producing two points against any opposition in a half of football. Our skill execution even though the conditions were a bit slippy was just shocking."

John Crofton struggled to explain Sarsfields' below par display.

"It was from one to 15 I couldn't fault any of them, even the lads that came on. When games look to be going away from us they seem to be able to grind it out."

Former Cavan star Mickey Graham and Mullinalaghta celebrated a famous win over St Loman's.

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