Tailteann Cup Quarter-Final

Meath 2-23 Wexford 0-12

By Paul Keane at Páirc Tailteann

James McEntee and Jordan Morris dovetailed superbly as Tailteann Cup hopefuls Meath hit Wexford hard and early to wrap up their semi-final place at their ease.

Colm O'Rourke's side burst out of the traps and ran up a 13-point lead with just 23 minutes on the clock, allowing them to cruise home to an eventual 17-point win.

McEntee and Morris led the early blitz and finished with six points apiece while Aaron Lynch netted in the 20th minute and substitute Cathal Hickey added a second major for the Royals in second-half stoppage time.

It's Meath's biggest win of the O'Rourke era and clears them to advance to Monday morning's draw for the last four. They will return to action next Sunday at Croke Park.

O'Rourke took the opportunity to rest Man of the Match McEntee with over 20 minutes to go and was enthused by the three-point haul of substitute Daithi McGowan who made a pressing case for inclusion next weekend.

It's the end of the line for Wexford who improved after the break but still came up well short after last weekend's impressive preliminary quarter-final win over Offaly.

Meath were without midfielder Ronan Jones, a key figure in their previous win over Down, who was replaced by Ratoath's Jack Flynn while Hickey came in for Ciaran Caulfield.

If Jones' absence weakened the team it wasn't apparent as they immediately opened up with some of their best football yet under O'Rourke.

Morris evaded his man with a sumptuous solo dummy just seconds into the contest before darting through on goal and settling for a point.

Barely a minute later, Meath worked the ball out to Mathew Costello on the right wing and the Dunshaughlin man cleverly switched the play to the far wing with a diagonal kick to McEntee who struck his opener.

Wexford were under real pressure and struggled to contain the ferocity of Meath's attacking movements which were a combination of long, direct balls to the full-forward line and quick passing medleys.

Morris and McEntee filled their boots with scores in the opening quarter and the Royals led 0-8 to 0-0 with 15 minutes played.

Eoghan Nolan struck Wexford's opening point in the 18th minute but it was a brief respite from the onslaught and Lynch's 20th minute goal for Meath, leaving them 1-9 to 0-1 up, went a long way to putting the game to rest at that early stage.

Again, Meath got joy from an early, long delivery for the goal with Flynn picking out Lynch in the left corner. The rookie forward still had plenty to do but cut inside his man close to the endline and slid a low shot to the Wexford net.

The only surprise was that Meath only added another two points before half-time but their 1-12 to 0-3 interval lead didn't flatter them.

Lynch was taken off at half-time in an apparent precautionary move after a punishing opening half running the hard yards with Brian Cushe for company.

Wexford made an intriguing change too, moving midfielder Niall Hughes to the full-forward position to lend some punch and aerial presence to the attack.

Things got a little better for the 2008 All-Ireland semi-finalists who tagged on nine points in the second-half with veteran substitute Ben Brosnan among the scorers.

They needed goals and had opportunities but subs Brosnan and Richard Waters were both denied as Meath strode to a win that underlines their title credentials.

Scorers for Meath: Jordan Morris 0-6 (1m), James McEntee 0-6, Aaron Lynch 1-2, Mathew Costello 0-4 (2fs), Cathal Hickey 1-0, Daithi McGowan 0-3, Jack Flynn 0-1, Eoghan Frayne 0-1.

Scorers for Wexford: Eoghan Nolan 0-2, Mark Rossiter 0-2 (2fs), Ben Brosnan 0-2 (2fs), Glen Malone 0-1, Liam Coleman 0-1, Paraic Hughes 0-1, Jonathan Bealin 0-1, Richard Waters 0-1, Eoin Porter 0-1.

Meath: Sean Brennan; Harry O'Higgins, Ronan Ryan, Adam O'Neill; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Sean Coffey; Jack Flynn, Conor Gray; Jack O'Connor, James McEntee, Cathal Hickey; Jordan Morris, Mathew Costello, Aaron Lynch.

Subs: Donal Lenihan for Lynch h/t, Dathi McGowan for McEntee 48, Ciaran Caulfield for Keogan 49, Cillian O'Sullivan for Flynn 51, Eoghan Frayne for O'Connor 59.

Wexford: Darragh Brooks; Brian Cushe, Eoin Porter, Conor Carty; Glen Malone, Dylan Furlong, Brian Molloy; Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes; Paraic Hughes, Alan Tobin, Kevin O'Grady; Robbie Brooks, Mark Rossiter, Eoghan Nolan.

Subs: Richard Waters for O'Grady 49, Ben Brosnan for R Brooks 49, Cian Hughes for Tobin 55, Cathal Walsh for D Furlong 59, Jonathan Bealin for Nolan 65.

Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).