Offaly legend Daithí Regan couldn't hide his disappointment after the Faithful County dropped into the Joe McDonagh Cup for the 2019 season.
They were hammered by Dublin 2-24 to 0-13 at Parnell Park on Sunday and speaking to Off the Ball's Dave McIntyre after the match, he said: "It's a really bitter and sad day for Offaly hurling. We're now down in the Joe McDonagh Cup - we will not be competing at the higher echelons of Leinster Championship going forward and I can't tell you how sad that is.
"I see a lot of people here today that are involved with our county for a long time: Aidan Fogarty, Liam Hogan Martin Hanamy, Brian Whelahan, Joe Heraty, fellas like that and I couldn't tell you how sad today is because we no longer dine anymore with the big boys. We're now in the lower grade and as a hurling county - it's very, very sad.
"We were comprehensively beaten. We were eight points down at half time and when it finished 2-24 to 0-13, and literally the last 25-30 minutes, to be honest with you, was like training ground stuff.
"Dublin just went through the motions and opened us up at will and you talk about first touch - we were taking a third and a fourth touch on the ball!
"We brought five subs on in the second half but you can review this game by forensically going through it score after score but that's not really what it's about today. Dublin's year finished today and for us it's the end of an era.
"It's the end of an era for Offaly hurling and I couldn't begin to tell you just how bad this is and how hurtful it is to people in our county to know now that God knows when we'll have days like today; travelling in numbers and it's a nostalgic day...it's a really sad day for Offaly hurling.
"It's not so long ago that you had people in their thousands travelling to Croke Park to watch Offaly in Leinster finals and All-Ireland finals and for a small county and in such a sectionalised and marginalised area in Offaly and particularly just the south - to be able to do what our county did for the years that we did it and the joy and entertainment and value and what it meant to a people - lifting them out of doldrums and recessions and things like that and that's not overstating it.
"1985 was a terrible year for farmers - we had a horrible winter and Offaly winning the All-Ireland - I remember Pat Fleury saying 'It saved lives!'
"And now, we're at the lowest ebb - the lowest ebb that can ever, ever, ever be remembered," he added.
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