In front of a large crowd in Páirc Tailteann, Meath booked their place in the semi-finals of the Tailteann Cup this afternoon (Saturday) when defeating Wexford by 2-23 to 0-12. A quick start to proceedings was key with Meath firmly in the driving seat with a quarter of an hour on the clock, leading 0-08 to 0-00 and from there on Colm O’Rourke’s side never looked back as they ran out seventeen point winners.
Central to that blistering start was the brilliant form up front of James McEntee and Jordan Morris with both players having four points from play apiece to their names after just twenty minutes. McEntee was orchestrating much of the play from his centre forward berth and Morris was in electric form at top of the right. Aaron Lynch was another forward to show well and he registered an important first half goal into the hospital end of the ground.
A twelve point lead was what Meath had to show for their efforts at the half time interval and as the second half wore on, Meath kept the scoreboard ticking over with substitute Daithí McGowan making a big impact as he helped himself to three points while Eoghan Frayne also nabbed a point. A further gloss was put on the scoreline late on when Cathal Hickey got on the end of a flowing move to finish the ball to the Wexford net.
With Down having defeated Cavan in another of today’s quarter finals, the semi-final picture is beginning to get a bit clearer. Having met in the group stage of the competition, Meath and Down cannot meet again so our semi-final opponents will be either Laois or the winners of Antrim and Carlow who meet on Sunday.
Meath Scorers: Jordan Morris (0-06, 0-01 AM), James McEntee (0-06), Aaron Lynch (1-02), Mathew Costello (0-04, 0-02F), Cathal Hickey (1-00), Daithí McGowan (0-03), Jack Flynn (0-01), Eoghan Frayne (0-01).
Meath: Sean Brennan; Adam O’Neill; Ronan Ryan; Harry O’Higgins; Donal Keogan; Padraic Harnan; Sean Coffey; Jack Flynn; Conor Gray; Cathal Hickey; James McEntee; Jack O’Connor; Jordan Morris; Mathew Costello, Aaron Lynch.
Meath Substitutions: Donal Lenihan for A. Lynch (h-t), Daithí McGowan for J. McEntee (47), Ciaran Caulfield for D. Keogan (49), Cillian O’Sullivan for J. Flynn (51), Eoghan Frayne for J. O’Connor (58).
Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry)
By Meath GAA Sat 17th Jun
