The last time Meath played Laois in the O'Byrne Cup was on January 4th 2020. The two sides meet tomorrow night in Stadbally. Hoganstand.com carried this report.

Despite being out of contention Meath ended Laois interest in the O'Byrne Cup with a decisive win at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday afternoon.

Meath 4-16

Laois 1-15

Andy McEntee's men laid the foundations in the opening half in the last competitive outing before their NFL Division 1 campaign begins in three weeks time. 

Meath were especially impressive in the second quarter when they hit three goals. 

Laois rallied from the resumption and got the gap down to four points by the 50th minute.

The Royals outscored Mike Quirke's men by 1-7 to 0-4 in the final quarter during which numerous subs were introduced. 

Points from Barry Dardis and Ben Brennan arrested the Laois rally with Sean Tobin's 54th minute leaving it 4-11 to 1-11.

Laois bossed possession in the opening minutes without an end product. Meath lost Donal Lenihan to injury with Simonstown's Sean Tobin deputising.

Gary Comerford was Laois' sole scorer in the opening 27 minutes by which time Meath had opened up a 0-7 to 0-1 lead with midfielder Bryan Menton posting two from play. 

Evan O'Carroll might have pulled a goal back for Laois midway through the half but Meath 'keeper Dominic Yorke turned his looping effort out for a 45. Laois netminder was wide with the subsequent kick. 

Sean Tobin's point from play was the highlight of the next five minutes. He assisted Mathew Costello for Meath's seventh score of the half. 

Four goals followed over the remainder of the half. Jack O'Connor got the sequence going with help from Thomas O'Reilly. Poor Laois restarts contributed to the Meath surge with Ronan Ryan and Shane Walsh also netting to leave it 3-8 to 1-3 at the break.

In between Meath's second and third goals, Laois top scorer Evan O'Carroll pulled one back for the visitors. 

Ben Brennan extended Meath's lead within two minutes of the restart before Laois took control for the remainder of the third quarter posting seven scores on the spin to trim the gap to four points, 3-9 to 1-11, by the 50th minute.  

Meath open their NFL Div 1 campaign against Tyrone at Omagh on January 26. Laois begin their Div 2 campaign away to Roscommon on the same day. 

Meath - D Yorke; R Clarke, C McGill, D Toner; J McEntee, R Ryan (1-0), D Keogan; B Menton (0-2), B Conlon; J O'Connor (1-0), B Brennan (0-2), M Costello (0-2); T O'Reilly (0-2), S Walsh (1-2, 0-1f, 0-1'45), D Lenihan. Subs: S Tobin (1-1) for D Lenihan, R Jones (0-1) for B Conlon, E Wallace for R Jones, B Dardis (0-2f) for S Walsh, G McCoy for D Toner, O O'Brien (0-1) for T O'Reilly, P Kennelly (0-1) for B Brennan, E Lynch for J McEntee.

Laois - N Corbett; S Bolger, R C Fennell, B Byrne; E Buggie (0-1), R Pigott, P O'Sullivan; J O'Loughlin, R Tyrrell; Eoin Lowry, M Barry (0-3), M Keogh (0-1); G Comerford (0-3, 2f), E O'Carroll (1-6 0-4f), D Whelan. Subs: D Connolly for R Tyrrell, R Munnelly (0-1) for D Whelan, S Lacey for R Pigott, M Timmons for R C Fennell, G Walsh for G Comerford, A Kinsella for M Keogh, A Campion for Eoin Lowry, B Daly for S Bolger, C O'Hora for J O'Loughlin, Evan Lowry for B Byrne.

Referee - P Maguire.

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