Rampant Royal minors run riot in Aughrim

Meath comfortably booked their Leinster MFC quarter-final spot on Tuesday when they dispatched Wicklow with ease.

Meath 6-3-17 (41)

Wicklow 0-0-5

In the second quarter of this Leinster MFC preliminary quarter-final, Meath scored 4-4 on the spin as they comfortably dispatched Wicklow in Aughrim. From a competitive perspective, this contest was over at half-time as Trevor Giles’ impressive young Royals cruised to the finish line.

On their way to victory, Meath scored six goals and some of the finishes for those green flags were absolutely remarkable. The two goals scored at the end of the first-half courtesy of Conn Brennan and Milo Stafford, who finished with 3-3, were particularly eye-catching.

Off the back of his outstanding performance against Laois, Captain Harry McGuirk was prolific once again and knocked over three two-pointers in the second-half which kept Meath well on top of their opponents.

Wicklow started the clash well and arguably fared better than Meath in the first quarter. After 13 minutes, the sides were level with three points apiece. In the 14th minute, Cormac Walsh curled over a free and from that moment it was plain sailing for the Royals.

McGuirk was the first Meath man to really threaten the Wicklow net but his effort on goal in the 19th minute rattled off the post. Niall Smyth gave a fantastic ball across the field in an advanced position to Liam O’Donoghue who set up Cormac McKenna for the first of Meath’s majors.

O’Donoghue did well to turn over possession for a move which finished with Tomas Dillon being dragged down in the Wicklow large rectangle. Stafford dispatched the penalty expertly.

Two minutes later, Brennan burst through the heart of the Wicklow defence. It appeared that the ball had gotten away from the St Ultan’s man but with a strike from the ground better than anything seen at the Emirates in recent weeks, Brennan rattled the Wicklow net.

Points from Tomas Proudfoot and Alex Keane followed before Keane floored a Wicklow attacker with a fair shoulder and played a lovely ball to Stafford. Having received possession around the half-way line, Stafford made a remarkable, powerful run past two or three defenders before he produced an excellent finish for Meath’s fourth goal on the cusp of half-time. At the interval, Meath led 4-7 to 0-3.

After the restart, Meath picked up where they left off and scored 1-4 in a row which included a fantastic strike from McGuirk for a two-pointer as well as Meath’s fifth and Stafford's third goal.

Wicklow finally registered their fourth point in the 41st minute before Walsh capitalised and pointed after a two-point effort from Stafford came back in to play off the post. Odhran Cullen brought the home side’s tally to five points in the 47th minute but the response from Meath was equally as ruthless as their overall performance as substitute Dara O’Loughran scrambled the ball into the net for Meath’s sixth green flag.

Two further two-pointers from McGuirk came either side of a well-struck Stafford free. Leo Kavanagh and Oisin Farrelly added contributions to Meath’s large tally late on as the Royals comfortably booked their quarter-final spot in the Leinster MFC. Next up for Giles’ side is a clash with Offaly on Tuesday.

Meath - Cormac Fitzsimons; Ben Browne, Tomas Clarke, Niall Rogan; Liam O’Donoghue, Harry McGuirk (0-8 three two-pointers), Niall Smyth; John Killoran, Tomas Proudfoot (0-1); Cormac McKenna (1-0), Conn Brennan (1-2), Alex Keane (0-1); Cormac Walsh (0-4 two frees), Milo Stafford (3-3 1-0 penalty, one free, one ‘45’), Tomas Dillon (0-1). Subs - Carl Cummins for Fitzsimons, Dillon Glynn for Browne both 38m, Leo Kavanagh (0-1) for Proudfoot 42m, Dara Loughran (1-1 one free) for Walsh 44m, Oisin Farrelly (0-1) for Smyth 48m.

Wicklow - Jack Peter Nolan; Chris Kehoe, Sean Byrne, Oscar Kelly; Enda Lacey, Oscar Nolan, Conor Fitzgerald; Sam Goodbody, Sean Corrigan (0-1 one ‘45’); Harry Butler (0-1), Sean O’Brien, James McCarney; Josh Furlong (0-1), Joe Keeshan (0-1), Odhran Cullen (0-1 one free). Subs - Conal Devereaux for McCarney, Lucas Reid for Kelly both half-time, Rhys Behan for Fitzgerald, Nicky Sinnott for Furlong both 42m, Ethan Hutton for Lacey 50m.

Referee - Ryan Moran (Kildare).