THE mood in the Offaly dressingroom suggested one thing, a bawling off for the players at training tomorrow night.

Manager Eamonn Cregan was not prepared to conceal his feelings and gave the press a preview of what it will be like at training in Birr.

"We played poorly as a team and if we are going to adopt that approach in our next match, although I don't think we will, we would find ourselves in serious trouble.

"Our attitude was careless," said selector Andy Gallagher. "Our defence came under great pressure in the second half. The applecart could easily have been upset only for Liam Coughlan's save on the double," he added.

Cregan continued: "The big lesson to be learned today is that you can't go out against anybody - I don't care who they are - and play the type of hurling that we played today. There were too many of our players standing back and lacking in positive action. I am very disappointed with a poor performance. Liam Coughlan's saves were crucial in the end."

Gallagher interjected: "Meath's belief in themselves was something else. They never gave up. They fought and fought, the way we should have been fighting. If we play like that against Laois we will be beaten by 10 points."

John Troy insisted: "Meath are not being given the credit they deserve. On the evidence of their display today, they are a force to be reckoned with. You could not feel comfortable out there, they were on to you like a flash."

Meath manager John Davis said: "Maybe we just lacked the final touch here and there. We did well, though, considering that pitch out there is virtually home to Offaly. If the dual players in the team opted out of football for a year and concentrated on hurling we would really be going places. The problem for us is that football gets priority with a great number of excellent hurlers in the county."