Meath goals prove crucial
Offaly registered the first two points of each half, but then Barry Dardis fielded and finished a long ball after five minutes. But Offaly edged the rest of the first half and trailed by a point at half time, 0-5 to 1-3.
Two points from Joe Maher put Offaly back in front immediately after the break but two goals in three minutes from Patrick Kennelly and Dardis gave Meath a commanding lead and they looked comfortable from then on.
Scorers for Offaly: J Maher 1-4 (0-1f), P Cunningham 0-2, J Kavanagh 0-1f, R McNamee 0-1.
Scorers for Meath: B Dardis 2-1, J McEntee 0-1, F Ward 0-3 (0-2f), P Kennelly 1-0, C O’Sullivan 0-2, J Daly 0-2, R Ó’Cuilleáin 0-1, K Griffin 0-1.
OFFALY: C Clancy; S Moriarty, J Quinn, B Grehan; E Carroll, L Kelly, D Corbett; C Cahill, C McNamee; J Kavanagh, O Cusack, P Cunningham; R McNamee, J Maher, R Reynolds.
Subs: M Kirwan for Corbett, S Lawless for Reynolds
MEATH: J Hannigan; D Smyth, B Power, J O’Malley; N Kane, S McEntee, R Ó’Coilleáin; P Harnan, A Flanagan; C O’Sullivan, P Donnellan, J McEntee; B Dardis, P Kennelly, F Ward.
Subs: A Neary for Kane, J Daly for Donnellan, S Coogan for Kennelly, C O’Brien for O’Sullivan (temporary), D Toner for O’Malley, K Griffin for J McEntee
Referee: John Hickey (Carlow).
