Meath storm past Wexford to make Tailteann semi-finals

An early blitz of scoring at Pairc Tailteann propelled Meath to their biggest win of the Colm O'Rourke era, securing their place in Monday morning's draw for the Tailteann Cup semi-finals.

Aaron Lynch and substitute Cathal Hickey struck the goals while man of the match James McEntee and Jordan Morris shared 12 points equally among them.

Mathew Costello and Padraic Harnan impressed for the hosts too as they strode 1-11 to 0-01 clear midway through the first-half and eased to an eventual 17-point win over John Hegarty's outclassed Division 4 side.

Wexford scored an impressive preliminary quarter-final win over Offaly, the same team that knocked Meath out of the Leinster championship, but they looked fatigued on their travels and were easily brushed aside by a young Meath team in front of around 3,000 home fans.

Manager O'Rourke took the opportunity to run in all five of his substitutes by the hour mark with Daithi McGowan coming on and stroking over three points.

It's the end of the line for Wexford in 2023, however, with their season now over.

Meath were without midfielder Ronan Jones, a key figure in their previous win over Down, who was replaced by Ratoath's Jack Flynn while Hickey came in for Ciaran Caulfield.

If Jones' absence weakened the team it wasn't apparent as they immediately opened up with some of their best football yet under O'Rourke.

Corner-forward Morris evaded his man with a sumptuous solo dummy just seconds into the contest before darting through on goal and settling for a point.

Barely a minute later, Meath worked the ball out to Costello on the right wing and the Dunshaughlin man cleverly switched the play to the far wing with a diagonal kick to McEntee who struck his opener.

Wexford were under real pressure and