“I am getting a little bit of credit and I don’t want it. The players are the ones that crossed the line, that drove it on.”

Eddie Brennan deflected all the praise on to his Laois players following their thoroughly deserved two-point success over Dublin.

“There’s an element of responsibility between the players and the management today. And that was an unacceptable performance from our group. And we know that. The problem is it’s too f*****g late now!”

Mattie Kenny and the Dubs were dumped out of the Liam MacCarthy Cup race.

“Games are coming hot and heavy and the game-to-training ratio is the way you want it.”

Mayo enter the Super 8s in a confident frame of mind and James Horan will bring his troops to Killarney this Sunday.

“Look I'm not going to get into that. I want to make sure that this group go out with their heads held high and not listen to crap outside.”

Kevin Walsh refused to be drawn on his future as Galway manager following their exit on Saturday.

“We will be appealing all three as any of the three he got in the last few games were not even close to a black card. That is how ridiculous this whole thing is. It is so ridiculous that you can’t appeal one until you get three.”

Tyrone and Mickey Harte will leave no stone unturned in their bid to overturn Peter Harte’s one-match suspension.

“Shocking disappointed for the lads today because that was not the real Cavan out there today.”

Mickey Graham was at a loss to explain his Cavan team’s below-par performance in Clones.

“That’s so big for this group of players an I think they will actually revel in the setting, the national scene, the top grade, you are talking elite level here. Let’s bring our A game and see where it takes us.”

The Super 8s hold no fears for Ronan McCarthy and Cork.

“The blame lies with ourselves. We made progress in the league, we made no progress in the championship. We worked hard but there’s a lot more to work on.”

McCarthy’s Laois counterpart John Sugrue is left to reflect on a year of mixed fortunes.

“Yes, they've been difficult for everybody, a lot of things said. Some of it warranted, some of it unfair. I couldn't praise this bunch of players half enough. They've been absolutely fantastic.”

Andy McEntee and Meath became the first defeated Leinster finalist to bounce back in round 4 of the qualifiers since 2009.

“Whilst you’d be devastated with the result, in the sense that we really felt getting to the Super 8s was so important to us, it just wasn’t to be.”

 Banner County boss Colm Collins was proud of the performance produced by his team.

“We’ve a few wrongs to rectify.”

Croke Park beckons for John Meyler and his Rebel County hurlers.

“It’s paying lip service to the McDonagh team to send them out seven days after a final. Basically, if they want to improve hurling with the second-tier counties, they need to get a Leinster Championship with two groups of four in it.”

Westmeath’s Joe Quaid wasn't happy that his team were fixed to face Cork a week after losing the Joe McDonagh Cup decider.

“I can’t emphasise enough what a team performance it was – from the players to the backroom team, everyone carries their weight.”

Colin Ward guided Kildare to a Leinster MFC final success over Dublin at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday.

“In fairness to Kildare, they were fantastic and fully deserved their victory.”

Dublin manager Jim Lehane was magnanimous in defeat.

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