All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round Three: Cavan manager Mark McElkennon was delighted that his players had answered their severest critics. "They have been looked upon as soft, mentally and physically, with an inability to put wins back-to-back," said McElkennon.

"This cruel and unjustified criticism from our own supporters has been going on for 20 years. I believe in this team. The so-called fans, who stayed away from the Donegal match, were obviously back to swell the support. I hope they can now see this side in a more favourable light. Claiming that they are a soft touch without leadership is a lot of nonsense. They are as hard as nails and are fully committed to attaining their goal. We have a terrific pool of players and selectors, all I do is stand on the line and shout out."

Speaking of his opposite number McElkennon said: "I would love to win a 20th of what Seán Boylan has won. We knew this Meath team were going to come at us during the first 10 and last 10. We talked about it during the week and planned accordingly.

"There was nothing mentally weak or physically weak in Dermot McCabe's second-half solo run to score that great point, and there was nothing weak about Finbar O'Reilly's pressure point from way out near the end."

When Boylan was asked if he was shell shocked by the result, he simply replied: "No, I am watching football too long for that."

Boylan was non-committal when asked if he would be considering his position as manager of the Meath team: "That's something for another day," was his diplomatic reaction.

Boylan summed up his take on what was a very disappointing day for his side: "We never played. Cavan took their chances. They were the better team. We were guilty of silly fouls. It was one of those days."