Leinster SFC quarter-final: Louth 1-25 (1-3-19) Wexford 0-11 (0-1-9)
As Louth marched towards their fourth Leinster semi-final in succession, the loudest cheer of the day came 10 minutes from the finish, as their fancied neighbours Meath exited the championship.
The rumblings were soon confirmed over the tannoy at Cullen Park: last season’s provincial finalists had been defeated by Westmeath in Tullamore.
Louth’s spread of scorers and level of performance was too much for Wexford to handle. The championship feel was there in the opening 20 minutes but once the reigning champions got up the gears, there was no going back.
With a steady stream of possession harvested from the absence of Darragh Brooks, the Wexford goalkeeper ruled out through injury and replaced by William Gaul before throw-in.
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Gaul did make two stops in either half but midway through the opening period Louth duly punished a creaky kickout to dominate a bright start for John Hegarty’s side.
The promoted Slaneysiders relied on Mark Rossiter to give an early scare, but it was a timid flutter as Louth were soon level after 20 minutes. Conall McCaul stepped up in a lacklustre opening for Gavin Devlin’s side with a hat trick of scores.
With very few Wexford supporters in attendance, Louth took over. Ciaran Keenan and Sam Mulroy showed their ruthless streak to steal the round with two orange flags to hush any chance of a comeback.
With nine points between the sides at the break and a steady stream of possession, Louth could do what they liked.
Replacement Tadhg McDonnell came in at half-time and landed four scores either side of a Sam Mulroy penalty. The captain then put the game to bed, but Rossiter did provide a thin layer of gloss.
Emptying their bench with the ilk of Ciaran Downey and Ryan Burns, Louth were winding up the gears for another title run. With the passive nature on the pitch, the phones hopped and the large Louth following found another way to entertain themselves at the expense of the Royals.
LOUTH: N McDonnell; E Carolan, D Campbell, D Nally; C McKeever, D McDonnell (0-0-3), D McKenny; C Early (0-1-1), T Durnin; P Mathews (0-0-1), S Mulroy (1-1-2; 1-0 pen, 2f); K McArdle, C McCaul (0-0-3), K Keenan (0-1-2). Subs: R Burns (0-0-1) for Grimes, T McDonnell (0-0-4) for Campbell (both h-t), S Callaghan for Durnin (42 mins), C Downey (0-0-1) for McArdle (47), S Reynolds (0-0-1) for Keenan (61).
WEXFORD: W Gaul; L O’Connor, G Sheehan, E Porter; S Doyle, E Nolan, D Furlong; L Coleman, N Hughes; P Hughes, C Kehoe (0-0-1), G Malone; S Ryan, M Rossiter (0-1-5; 1f, 1tpf), T Byrne (0-0-1). Subs: M Kinsella (0-0-2) for Ryan, S Barden for Sheenan (both h-t), R Brooks for Byrne (50 mins), B Brosnan for Doyle (58), D Lyons for Coleman (69).
Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).
