Shocked holders crash to earth

We came expecting a standard eviction and found ourselves in the midst of an uprising. Three years have passed since Offaly last strode from Leinster and since then they have - like the rest of the province - been cooped under Meath's fearsome shadow. Yesterday in Croke Park, all the pent up frustrations and disappointments were hurled at the startled champions who, for the first time, encountered a will and spirit as ferocious as their own.

It was an ugly thing, this game, bereft of anything even approaching silkiness or colour. No, watching a team break Meath is like witnessing some soaring work of architecture been torn down. It was about metal being slowly and painfully sundered. They should have handed out safety visors and hard hats at the turnstiles. Yesterday was about collision, sheer and full-on hitting. And it was Offaly who walked away. And because of that, because we saw a great team buckled, there was an epic quality about the occasion.

Afterwards, the Offaly gang jigged in front of the wreck of the Hogan stand as if it were September, but once they left the field, the prospect of the route ahead tempered their passions. Pauric Nolan stood among us and offered a sobering perspective.

"It's a big one to win, we were so written off and yeah, it is big. But you've got to remember, it's only the first round. We've probably gone from rank outsiders to a team with short odds, but the pressure is on us now the next day. Kildare or Louth? Louth gave us a hammering there four weeks ago which really taught us a lot, so we have to prepare for that."

But first they will allow this to sink in, for a night or two anyway. In a game that was at times brutally poor, they made mistakes and kicked poor ball and screwed chances wide. But playing Meath is not about grooming and precision. It's about grafting and trench work.

"These lads have played against Meath this last three years. Look at Rangers and Celtic. Look at Cork and Kerry. Play teams two, three times in a row you get to know fellas, that some are good footballers, but that others aren't what they appear to be when they have All-Ireland medals. So the fellas knew in their hearts and souls that they could raise their game and play for it," said Nolan.

Meath must have known that this demon day waited them somewhere along the way. So often they have visited June defeats on neighbours without so much as a second thought. Because winning in June is what Meath do. This ending winded them harder any hit on the field.

"I've never felt anything like it," admitted a sorrowful Darren Fay. "I'm just totally dejected at this point in time."

"We don't know anything else in the summer only playing championship football in Croke Park. And I don't think I'll make a good spectator," grimaced Evan Kelly.

So Meath find themselves on the championship scrap-heap along with the hurlers of Limerick, who were well beaten by Cork in Thurles. Tyrone were scalped by Armagh in the north and across the water, Roscommon fired 4-18 against the Londoners.