"They had computers. They had robots out there."

Tommy Lyons rests his bones on a wooden bench and delivers a line straight out of Star Trek which makes for a fitting synopsis.

"If it was as simple as pressing a button, sure it would be a great old game."

This is what it comes down to for Lyons, half an hour after the last whistle. Padding around the concrete corridors of the New Stand in socks and it's so quiet his footfalls almost echo. His last moments as Offaly manager.

"It's no secret that I'm not staying on. No point in hiding it," he says. "You know, I didn't have control of my life for the past five months and I didn't like it. This is becoming a job for teachers or people with summers free. You just can't do it otherwise. In one week, I clocked up 1,220 miles. In all, we had some fantastic times - one bad day in three years - and these are a brilliant bunch of lads, I'll always look forward to meeting them. But the amount of time needed now, you can't do it."

Above him in the sunlight, Sean Boylan leans against an advertising board at pitchside and spins a happier tale for the radio lads.

Seasons have flittered past like seconds for him and still he bounds about with the freshness of a rookie. Tanned features light up and he beguiles us with his take on the game.

"Glad to be where we are, yes. I was fairly pleased with the football and delighted in particular for Ollie Murphy. His grandmother died above in Fermanagh last night, his father's mother. He lost his mother only a couple of years ago so they've had a lot of trauma. His father wanted him to play today. He played and he gave a sparkling performance," he said.

Asked about Meath's defeats in Leinster finals of recent years, Boylan nods solemnly.

"Yeah, we were just saying, it's grand to get there, but you've got to go on and do the business. We have no preference as to who we play - they'll be in blue anyway, so . . . "

Around the room, the talk is in a similar vein. The Meath boys are just glad to be back on the road and, in truth, not that surprised to be there.

Next door, Cathal Daly looks at a ruined summer through a swollen, yellow eye and cradles his arm against a broken collar bone. Rough afternoon.

"At half-time, we felt we were okay. The wind wasn't that significant. Our objective was not to let them get a goal and once they did they took over. I suppose we all have a bit of thinking to do now," he sighed.

Meanwhile, Lyons continued to deliver his final thoughts in Offaly colours.

"I always thought that whoever won today had the potential to win the All-Ireland. We are bitterly disappointed, but they looked faster out there. I always felt the winners of Kildare and Offaly would struggle because it's hard to get up for two big games in a row."

But it's all under the bridge now. Lyons is drifting back towards normal life. For good?

"Never say never, but unless it changes I'd struggle to see it. It's too hard on the system. I'll go back to Kilmacud Crokes, my spiritual home, and I'll sure they'll give me some sort of job with the U-12Bs or something."

Hellish miles clocked up in the under-age racket, they say.