Meath set up Limerick clash after easing past Roscommon

Meath 2-12 Roscommon 0-11

Meath will meet Limerick next weekend for a place in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, following their confident dismissal of Roscommon at Pairc Tailteann.

Goals from David Bray and Peadar Byrne delighted the big Navan crowd and gave rise to renewed hope that the Royals can do something big this summer.

Meath stretched the Roscommon defence with their lines of running and support play in the opening 10 minutes, moving into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead, with two Cian Ward frees and points from play from Peadar Byrne and Brian Farrell.

Roscommon got their first score through Senan Kilbride, and Donie Shine landed a couple of long-range frees.

Joe Sheridan could have had a goal when he collected Peadar Byrne’s probing delivery, but Peter Domican executed a perfect tackle to avert the danger.

Meath did get in for a goal in the 25th minute, Byrne exchanging passes with Stephen Bray before beating Geoffrey Claffey from close range.

Shine and David O’Gara responded with Roscommon points, but Meath hit three of the final four scores of the half, through David Bray, Farrell and Brian Meade to go in at the break with a 1-8 to 0-6 advantage, after Shine had converted a ‘45’ at the other end.

Meath pressed strongly in the early stages of the second half, but the excellent Domican restricted the damage with some superb defending.

David O’Gara led the charge as the stubborn Rossies got their game going again, and Kilbride and shine showed an eye for the posts with well struck scores.

But the Royals had the wind in their backs, and Ward made it count by thumping a 55 metre free between the posts.

And they struck for a second goal when Sheridan broke Ward’s dropping ball into the path of David Bray, and the Navan O’Mahony’s man smashed it to the roof of the net.

Meath moved eight points ahead through Brian Farrell with 10 minutes to play, and Roscommon’s brave challenge had been cracked.

But the youthful Rossies, hit by a flu bug in midweek, battled right to the end, with O’Gara always a willing outlet and an energetic force.

However, they just didn’t have the finishing power up front, with Shine and Kilbride forced to shoulder virtually all of the burden.

Meath: P O’Rourke, C O’Connor, A Moyles, E Harrington, S Kenny, C McGuinness, C King, N Crawford (0-1), B Meade (0-1), P Byrne (1-1), J Sheridan, S Bray, D Bray (1-2), B Farrell (0-3), C Ward (0-4, 4f).

Subs: J Queeny for Farrell (63), M Ward for Crawford (67), B Regan for McGuinness (67), S McKeigue for Byrne (67)

Roscommon: C Claffey, R Brady, P Domican, S McDermott, S Purcell, G Cox, J McKeague, M Finneran (0-1), B Higgins, K Higgins, D O’Gara (0-1), D Shine (0-6, 3f, 1 ’45), G Cregg, S Kilbride (0-3, 1f), C Cregg.

Subs: C Garvey for McKeague (h-t), C Devaney for Higgins (42), E Kenny for F Cregg (57), D Flynn for Purcell (60), C McHugh for Cox (68)

Referee: J McKee (Armagh).