Nine different players got on the scoresheet as holders Meath proved too good for neighbours Westmeath in this ESB Leinster MFC quarter-final at Pairc Tailteann, Navan on Saturday afternoon. Meath 0-18 Westmeath 0-9 Midfielder Damien Carroll capped a fine display by posting four points (two frees) and by the end seven of his team mates had also registered as Pat Coyle's charged cruised to a provincial 'semi' spot with home advantage on the last Saturday in June. Even though playing against a strong wind in the opening period, Meath always appeared to have the upper hand and despite trailing by three points early on responded to lead by 0-8 to 0-6 at the interval. Team captain Ciaran Lenehan and centre-half-back Bryan Menton formed a strong central spine in defence while Ailbhe Mahon offered strong support to Carroll in midfield. All six starting forwards and substitute David Larkin got off the mark for Meath with Conor Deveraux and Padraig McKeever sharing six points between them. Westmeath weren't helped by the harsh dismissal of John Heslin on a second yellow card moments after the restart. His midfield partner Ger Egan was probably the losing side's most consistent performer on the day. Meath kicked some fine points into the town end with five scores on the spin from play leaving it 0-14 to 0-7 after 42 minutes. Then Jason Cully was denied a goal when Conor McHugh saved smartly while in the closing stages wing-back Emmet Boyle pushed up to pop over his second score. Despite making a sound contribution from general play Harrison Silke - who scored six points in the previous round against Offaly - managed just one score on this occasion. With the wind in their sails Westmeath hit the front inside a minute through Eoin Gorman with support from Calum McCormack. Meath countered quickly through Carroll but the lads in maroon regained the lead through Wayne Fox. After Carroll's second score, Westmeath kicked on with points from Heslin (free), Gorman (free) and Fox to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 after 15 minutes. Westmeath were the more wasteful in the early stages but Meath might have got in for a goal but Sean Tobin fisted Mark O'Sullivan's centre narrowly wide. Meath took control in the second quarter to post six consecutive scores through Carroll (free), Conor Deveraux, Padraig McKeever, O'Sullivan, Sean Tobin (free) and Emmet Boyle to open up a three-point gap. A Kelvin Reilly pointed free ended an 18-minute scoring drought for Ger Heavin's charges in first-half stoppage time and Westmeath were 0-6 to 0-8 in arrears at the change of ends. An unpromising situation took a turn for the worse with Heslin's harsh dismissal and the holders capitalised by outscoring Westmeath by 0-10 to 0-3 thereafter. Meath - C. McHugh; G. Kennedy, C. Lenehan, D. Coyle; M. McCormack, B. Menton, E. Boyle; D. Carroll (0-4, 2fs),, A. Mahon; C. Deveraux (0-3), P. McKeever (0-3), M. O'Sullivan (0-1); S. Tobin (0-1, free), H. Silke (0-1), L. Tolan (0-2, 1 free). Subs - D. Larkin (0-1) for O'Sullivan (43), A. Doyle for D. Coyle (49), B. Davis for Tobin (57), T. Rahill for McCormack, S. Gillespie for Boyle (both 60). Westmeath - S. Gaynor; C. Sheridan, K. Maguire, B. Moran; B. Hogan, A. Fitzpatrick, T, Farrell; G. Egan (0-1, free), J. Heslin (0-1, free); R. Kenny (0-1), C. McCormack, W. Fox (0-2); K. Reilly (0-1, free), E. Gorman (0-3, 2 frees), J. Cully. Subs - C. Boyle for Hogan (42), S. Gilmore for Fox (45), J. Geoghegan for McCormack (51). Referee - F. Barry (Kildare) Tweet

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