There were times in this match when Meath made heavy weather of their task against a Wicklow team which lacked any identifiable plan. Certainly when their centre half back, Hank Traynor, was sent off just before half-time for a second yellow card offence, they seemed to be in trouble.

However, Wicklow could not take advantage of the extra man and by the end they were a very dispirited side and could manage only two points in the second half.

On a fine dry day with the pitch in perfect condition neither side managed to produce anything like championship form and the match was riddled with errors of all sorts, from handling and passing mistakes to some lamentable scoring efforts. Meath were dealt a severe blow before the match when John McDermott was withdrawn because of flu.

Jimmy McGuinness came in to partner Nigel Crawford in the middle of the field but the further disruption caused by Traynor's sending-off forced a multiplicity of switches subsequently as they sought to get the right balance. Wicklow seemed not to know how to use their extra man for the duration of the second half. Brian Whelan was left unmarked but even so Meath seemed to be the team with the extra man and their forwards ran themselves into the ground to make up for the loss of Traynor.

Wicklow never really managed to cope with the full forward line of Tommy Dowd, Graham Geraghty and Ollie Murphy. Dowd and Murphy switched back and forth from the start and Geraghty gave Hugh Kenny a torrid time throughout.

Darren Coffey and Fergus Daly did a lot of hard work at midfield for Wicklow and Barry O'Donovan played a major part in trying to curb the Meath attack. But he had his hands full with Trevor Giles and, with Meath making good use of the long ball to the wings, Wicklow's problems continued.

As the game wore on they were forced to concentrate in creating goal chances but their passing movements were over-elaborate and invariably broke down either through poor passing or dogged Meath defence.

Wicklow had started on a bright note with a point from a free by Darren Coffey. Geraghty levelled shortly afterwards but Ronan Coffey restored Wicklow's lead and the exchanges at this stage were pretty even.

In the ninth minute with the sides still level Ollie Murphy popped up in the centre forward position and made some ground before going for a goal only to put the ball narrowly wide of Tommy Murphy's left-hand post.

Wicklow seemed to lack the usual inspirational play of Kevin O'Brien who seemed out of place at centre forward. O'Brien failed to score during the game - a rare event indeed. Even so Wicklow were still on level terms up to the 20th minute when Giles edged Meath ahead with a neat score and then Meath struck a blow which was to cost Wicklow dearly.

Ray Magee, Geraghty and Paddy Reynolds combined beautifully and when the ball was pumped across the goal-mouth by Reynolds, Dowd beat Tommy Murphy to the jump to slap the ball into the net. That was the last score of the first half and left Meath 1-5 to 0-4 ahead at the break.

When Traynor was sent off just before half-time, Meath may have felt it wasn't their day.

In the enforced reshuffle, McGuinness was taken off and Enda McManus came in to play at centre half back and Giles moved to midfield with Dowd at centre forward. Wicklow's hopes of a comeback were dashed 15 minutes into the second half when Trevor Doyle and Conan Daye managed to break down the Meath defence and Daye rammed the ball gleefully into the net only for the score to be disallowed and a free out awarded. Earlier Daye's protests about another decision of the referee, Paddy Russell, had earned him a yellow card.

This was Wicklow's last realistic effort and when Cormac Murphy, Ollie Murphy and Graham Geraghty combined to force home Meath's second goal their cause was well and truly lost. It would be difficult to judge Meath's form on this performance. The disruption of their line-up before the start by McDermott's withdrawal and later by the sending-off of Traynor must postpone judgment to another day but they will be happy enough to have got this one of the way.