Commanding Meath showed the gulf between the top and bottom as they cruised to a comfortable victory over a disappointing Wexford in their O'Byrne Cup semi-final at Castletown yesterday.
Meath having cleared the first hurdle at the expense of Laois did not make the same mistake as Offaly, who were shocked by Wexford the previous week.
The fact that Meath came with such a strong team demonstrated their intentions and when Graham Geraghty converted a penalty after six minutes following a foul on Charles McCarthy, they had moved into a 1-11 to 0-1 lead by the 29th minute with full-forward Geraghty in dazzling form.
Wexford's solitary first-half score was a Mattie Forde pointed free after seven minutes, but six minutes before the break Geraghty struck for his second goal following good approach play by Ronan Farrelly to lead 2-13 to 0-1 at the break.
The homesides young guns were completely outclassed but to their credit they improved considerably in the second half. With both sides having made numerous changes in personnel and the result a foregone conclusion it was just a matter of saving credibility for the homeside.
Mattie Forde scored a consolation goal for Wexford from a penalty in the 51st minute.
MEATH: C Sullivan; M O'Reilly, D Fay, N McKeigue; A Moyle, R Rennicks, P Shanley; N Crawford, J Cullinane; E Kelly (0-1), C McCarthy (0-2), R Magee (0-4); R Kealy, G Geraghty (2-6), R Farrelly (0-2). Subs: O Murphy (0-1) for Farrelly; C Murphy for Rennicks; J Devine (0-1) for E Kelly; S Bray for Magee.
WEXFORD: O Murphy; C Morris, P Wallace, F Wallace; D Redmond, P Forde, J Galavan; T Howlin, I Wickham; E Doyle, M Mahon (0-2), E Newport, C Sunderland, J Berry, M Forde (1-4, 1-0 pen, 0-4 frees). Subs: J Hegarty (0-1) for Newport; J Whelan for Doyle; M Carley for F Wallace.
Referee: M Monaghan (Kildare).
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