Meath took on neighbours Louth in last years Leinster SFC quarter final at Parnell Park
Meath 0-27 Louth 3-9
Meath came from behind to blitz neighbours Louth in the second half of a game that produced a remarkable 39 scores at Parnell Park.
Andy McEntee's men looked to be in a spot of bother when a misplaced Paddy O'Rourke kick-out gifted substitute Ronan Holcroft a goal and Louth the lead shortly after the restart. But the Royals responded in devastating fashion, reeling off seven points without reply, including three from inspirational captain Graham Reilly in the space of four minutes, to kill off any hopes of an upset. Meath, who can now look forward to a provincial semi-final against Kildare in a fortnight's time, took a slender 0-10 to 1-6 lead into the interval after spurning four goal-scoring opportunities.
Reilly scored seven points from play in a man of the match display, and was ably assisted by Donal Lenihan and last year's Christy Ring Cup winning captain James Toher in attack. However, the Royals weren't so impressive at the other end of the field and O'Rourke will have nightmares about his howler which led to Holcroft's weak attempt for a point ending up in the net in the 38th minute and giving Louth a 2-6 to 0-11 lead.
Another substitute, Conor McKeever, added a third Louth goal soon after and James Califf also scored three points following his introduction, but Colin Kelly's men were eventually overpowered by Meath's superior power and fitness, with the Royals outscoring them by 0-14 to 1-0 in the last 20 minutes.
The first of Meath's four first half goal chances went abegging in the second minute when Craig Lynch produced a great block to deny the raiding Donal Keogan. Cillian O'Sullivan blazed wide in the 12th minute and Bryan McMahon was also unlucky to see his shot come back off the crossbar. Donal Lenihan also failed to find the net after Reilly had made a trademark solo run.
Louth had chances too, with O'Rourke saving from Paraic Smith in the 21st minute and Anthony Williams firing wide with only the 'keeper to beat.
The winners had the better of the early exchanges and were leading by 0-8 to 0-5 when Conor McGill conceded a 30-minute penalty which earned him a black card for his troubles. Jim McEneaney dispatched it to level proceedings before the Royals grabbed the last score of the half to lead by the minimum at the short whistle.
Meath - P O'Rourke; D Tobin, C McGill, M Burke; P Harnan, D Keogan, S McEntee; B Menton, R Jones (0-1); J Toher (0-5, 3f), C O'Sullivan (0-1), E Wallace; G Reilly (0-7), B McMahon (0-2), D Lenihan (0-6, 3f, 1'45). Subs: D McQuillan for C McGill (BC), R O Coileain (0-2) for S McEntee, C O'Brien for B Menton, T O'Reilly (0-2) for B McMahon, S Tobin (0-1) for C O'Sullivan.
Louth - C Lynch; P Reilly, K Carr, P Rath; J Bingham, L Dullaghan, A Williams (0-1); T Durnin, J Stewart; D Byrne, J McEneaney (1-2, 1-0pen), B Duffy (0-1); P Smith, E O'Connor, R Burns (0-2f). Subs: K Murphy for P Rath, A McDonnell for D Byrne, R Holcroft (1-0) for K Carr (BC), C McKeever (1-0) for L Dullaghan, J Califf (0-3, 1f) for T Durnin, R Moore for P Smith.
Referee - B Cassidy.
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