No controversy or acrimony, and absolutely no mistake for Meath as they handed out a sound beating to Louth in this eagerly-awaited repeat of last summer’s dramatic Leinster Final.
The Royals moved through to the second round of the All-Ireland football qualifiers, and there were no question marks over the four goals drilled decisively to the Louth net by deadly corner-forward Cian Ward
In front of a crowd of 18,243 at Kingspan Breffni Park, Ward stole the show with those super strikes, and in truth, he could have had six.
For Louth, it’s the end of another season, and they will be bitterly disappointed at their failure to fully test a Meath defence that was less than convincing.
Darren Clarke, with a 1-08 tally, accounted for all but one of his side’s scores, while Shane O’Rourke, revelling in his new midfield role for Meath, floated over three excellent points from play.
Clarke, a late replacement for Derek Maguire, had three scores on the board in the opening six minutes, and it could have been five had he not failed to convert a couple of scoreable frees.
Meath struggled for momentum, but almost had a goal when Cian Ward cut inside but sent his angled shot smashing against the crossbar.
Ward did hit the jackpot in the 15th minute when he collected Paddy Gilsenan’s pass to blast home a superb goal.
Clarke added to his tally with a third converted free, but no other Louth attacker had managed to hit the target, while O’Rourke landed a gem at the other end for Meath.
The Royal threat was beginning to simmer, and Ward could have been celebrating a hat-trick but his latest effort was well saved by Sean Connor.
But no sooner had Joe Sheridan edged them back in front than Clarke plundered a Louth goal, finishing from close range in the 27th minute after Shane Lennon had deflected Ray Finnegan’s searching delivery into his path.
Two minutes later Ward did get his second goal, finishing with power and precision after Paddy O’Rourke had palmed Brian Meade’s long punt perfectly in his direction.
Meath led by 2-04 to 1-04 at the break, and when Ward stroked over three frees, they had a five-point cushion.
They could have been out of sight by the end of the third quarter but for some poor finishing, but any lingering doubt about the outcome was dispelled on 53 minutes when Joe Sheridan set up Ward for his third goal - a low, angled finish off his left boot.
Three minutes later, Ward finished off a move involving Seamus Kenny and Shane O’Rourke with another bullet-like finish.
Louth pulled a goal back when Paddy Keenan netted a 65th-minute penalty, awarded for a foul on Derek Maguire, to deprive Clarke of the dubious distinction of finishing as his side’s only scorer.
Louth trimmed back the deficit to five points, but there was another blow to be taken, with Paddy Gilsenan collecting Sheridan’s pass to fire home Meath’s fifth goal in stoppage time.
Meath: B Murphy, G O’Brien, C King, C O’Connor, J Queeny, S McAnarney, C Lenehan, S O’Rourke (0-03), B Meade, G Reilly (0-01), J Sheridan (0-01), S Kenny, P Gilsenan (1-00), P O’Rourke, C Ward (4-03, 0-03f).
Subs: P Byrne for Queeny, E Reilly for G Reilly, A Moyles for Kenny, M Ward for Meade, N Crawford for Ward
Louth: S Connor, J O’Brien, A Hoey, D Finnegan, R Finnegan, M Fanning, A McDonnell, P Keenan (1-00, pen), B Donnelly, D Crilly, R Carroll, A Reid, D Clarke (1-08, 0-07f), S Lennon, JP Rooney.
Subs: E McAuley for O’Brien, D Byrne for McAuley, D Maguire for Rooney, S Fitzpatrick for Carroll, D Reid for Lennon
Referee: M Deegan (Laois)
