A shellshocked Meath became one of the big early championship casualties when a fired up Offaly dispatched them into the Tailteann Cup after their loss at O'Connor Park in Tullamore on Sunday afternoon.
A brave second-half display by Meath in no way compensated for an atrocious first half one and Offaly fully deserved their win.
It sets up a semi-final against Louth in Croke Park next Sunday, a game that provides a tremendous window of opportunity for both counties.
While no one expected Meath to win a championship this year, Offaly's win was still a significant surprise but their work ethic and sheer desire got them across the line – they built up a powerful foundation in the first half and held on for dear life in the second.
Meath's worse nightmare unfolded in a shocking first-half display as Offaly took the game to them.
The home side were full value for their 1-08 to 0-02 half-time lead and it is indicative of how well they played, how poor Meath were, that the gap could have been even bigger.
From the start, Offaly seemed more up for it. They attacked with greater pace and intensity, held on to the ball much better.
They stormed into a remarkable 1-04 to no score lead after 21 minutes.
The goal came from wing back Rory Egan when he got onto a Cian Farrell ball and drove a lot shot into the net.
Meath finally got off the mark with a 22nd-minute point from Matthew Costello and Donal Lenihan's 29th-minute kick made it 1-05 to 0-02.
Offaly, however, were still playing with impressive intent and they hit another purple patch coming up to half-time, with points from Rory Egan, Anton Sullivan and Dylan Hyland giving them that nine-point half-time lead.
As expected, Meath did improve in the second half. They introduced three half-time subs and had their full quota on by the 57th minute.
The subs did make a difference, contributing five of their points but the goal they had to get eluded them.
Their best chance fell to Cillian O'Sullivan in the 53rd minute but he fired over the bar to reduce arrears to 1-10 to 0-07.
A six-point gap was still a huge one at that game and apart from hopeful balls in, Meath didn't truly threaten to break through a magnificent Offaly defence in the closing quarter.
Offaly were not as good in the second half as their first half tour de force took its toll. Several players went into the red, but their tackling and work rate remained at a very high level.
Meath did get four of the first five second-half points to make it 1-09 to 0-06 after 48 minutes but a lovely Bernard Allen point just seconds after coming on kept Offaly ticking along.
Allen was making his 100th competitive appearance for Offaly and his afternoon ended just 10 minutes after being introduced when he was assisted to the line with an injury that could rule him out for next Sunday.
It was 1-10 to 0-08 when Ruari McNamee got Offaly's final point with a beauty in the 63rd minute.
Ronan Jones got two points to make it a four-point game as it went into injury time – Jones absence from the start was a big blow to Meath and he made a big difference when he came on.
Seven minutes of injury time was played and it was predictably frantic but there wasn't to be any more scoring as Offaly reached their first semi-final since 2007.
Offaly: Ian Duffy; Lee Pearson, Declan Hogan, David Dempsey; Rory Egan (1-01), Peter Cunningham, Ciaran Donnelly; Jack McEvoy, Conor McNamee; Cian Farrell, Ruari McNamee (0-02), Anton Sullivan (0-01); Dylan Hyland (0-02, 1f), Nigel Dunne (0-04, 1 '45' and 1f), Jamie Evans. Subs – Cian Donohue for Egan (HT), Bernard Allen (0-01) for Farrell (49m), Joe Maher for Evan (56m), Bill Carroll for Conor McNamee (59m), Shane Tierney for Allen, (59m),
Meath: Harry Hogan; Adam O'Neill, Ronan Ryan, Michael Flood; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Sean Coffey; Daithi McGowan, Jack Flynn; Keith Curtis, Matthew Costello (0-03, 2f), Cathal Hickey; Jordan Morris, Cillian O'Sullivan (0-01), Donal Lenihan (0-01). Subs – Jack O'Connor (0-01) for Hickey (HT), Harry O'Higgins for Flood (HT), Jason Scully (0-02) for McGowan (HT), Ronan Jones (0-02) for Lenihan (54m), Diarmuid Moriarty for Curtis (57m).
Referee: Seamus Mulhare (Laois).
