Meath and London have booked their places in the semi-finals of the Nicky Rackard Cup, while Fingal and Armagh are through to the quarter-finals after yesterday's second round action. At Pairc Tailteann, Stephen Clynch hit 1-9 as Meath chalked up their second landslide win in as many weeks at Louth's expense. But it was by no means a one-man show with no fewer than 11 Meath players getting on the scoresheet. The Royals led by 0-12 to 0-5 at half-time and they maintained their superiority after the restart to run out emphatic 1-26 to 0-10 winners. Cork native Martin Finn was once again the star of the show for London as they clinched a hat-trick of victories over Roscommon in 2009 thanks to a powerful second half showing at Ruislip. Brendan Hanley's 24th minute goal had the visitors ahead at half-time, but the Exiles ran riot in the second half, outscoring their opponents by 1-11 to 0-2, with the impressive Finn finishing with a personal haul of 0-13. The final score was 1-22 to 1-11 in London's favour. North Dublin outfit Fingal needed extra-time to see off Monaghan by 1-18 to 2-13 in a thrilling encounter at Clones. Stephen Lambe's 33rd minute goal helped Monaghan to a 1-5 to 0-4 interval lead, but Fingal battled back to force extra-time. The home side looked set to prevail when Raymond Lee scored their second goal in the first period of extra-time, but Fingal came good in the second period and never looked back after substitute Emmet McCabe's major put them in front. Sligo's reign as Rackard Cup holders came to an embarrassing end when they crashed to a 0-5 to 3-19 defeat to Armagh at Markievicz Park. Paul Breen hit 0-10 in a game the Orchard County dominated from start to finish. The home side's cause wasn't helped by the dismissal of centre forward Damien Burke on a second yellow card six minutes after the restart. Tweet

Most Read Stories