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Rising star Jordan Morris helped himself to 3-04 in a dream championship debut for the goal-hungry Meath, who edged out Wicklow and reached the Leinster SFC semi-finals.
Fresh off his 0-07 loot against Monaghan in the Allianz League final round, Morris, 20, oozed quality in Aughrim, while Mathew Costello, another rookie, also scored and there were also majors from Bryan Menton and substitutes. Joey Wallace and Cathal Hickey.
Meath’s reward is a clash with Kildare or Offaly at Croke Park next Sunday, while Davy Burke’s Wicklow are out of the Championship.
Meath had not won a League or Championship game in 10 outings dating back 16 months until Clare’s defeat in Round 4 in July 2019.
They were also relegated from League Division 1 this season, while Wicklow secured promotion to Division 4, indicating this may be a banana peel match for last season’s Leinster finalists.
But they sidestepped Wicklow with ease and showed their ruthless streak by scoring four goals in the final 15 minutes or so.
Aside from Wallace’s goal, the county title winner with Ratoath also won two penalties that Morris dispatched while fellow scorers Hickey, Jason Scully and David Toner also made their Championship debuts.
The chasm in class between the two teams was evident early on with Meath bringing his greatest power and physicality right away and forcing a series of turnovers on the field.
Meath’s first two goals came from turnovers with Wicklow goalkeeper Mark Jackson spilling possession after a heavy hit from Thomas O’Reilly, allowing Morris to touch the fumble.
That score left Meath 1-02 at 0-00 clear and Morris accounted for 1-01 of that.
Wicklow finally opened his account in the 22nd minute through Dean Healy, but it was to be his only point from the half from the open game, Jackson scoring the other two from free play.
Bryan McMahon put up back-to-back points for Meath before Meath lunged for a second goal in the 30th minute.
This time, Costello forced a fumble around the midline and brought possession to the field before playing a one-two single off O’Reilly and shooting his weaker right foot into the top corner.
Two minutes later, Menton grabbed his goal and it already looked like the game was ready for the Wicklow fighter.
It was another clever one-two that left Menton clear and circled Jackson before sliding a low shot to the net.
Menton seized possession of the resulting kickoff and shot over a high, wavy spot that would have drawn a standing ovation from Meath fans, if there were any there.
Walsh and Cillian O’Sullivan buzzed with attack intent for Meath and Walsh performed a neat solo mannequin before scoring a point with his left foot to close the score for the first half, leaving the visitors 3-06 to 0-03. in front.
Wicklow improved in the third quarter and edged Meath 0-02 to 0-01 in the first 13 minutes of the second half.
But McEntee’s men quickly got back on the gas and his substitutes made a big impact with Wallace winning two penalties that Morris converted, while Hickey also hit the net and James Conlon contributed 0-02 after his intro.
Meath: Marcus Brennan; Seamus Lavin, Conor McGill, David Toner; Donal Keogan, Ronan Ryan, Mathew Costello (1-00); Bryan Menton (January 1), Ronan Jones; Cillian O’Sullivan (0-01), Bryan McMahon (0-02), Shane McEntee (0-01); Jordan Morris (3-04, 0-01f), Shane Walsh (0-03, 0-01f), Thomas O’Reilly.
Subs: Joey Wallace (1-00) by O’Reilly 41, Ethan Devine by Menton 43-46 blood, Jason Scully by McMahon 56, James Conlon (0-02) by O’Sullivan 58, Cathal Hickey (1-00) by Keogan 59, Eoin Harkin for Toner 61.
Wicklow: Mark Jackson (0-02, 0-02f); Eoin Murtagh, Jamie Snell, Patrick O’Kane; David Devereaux, Niall Donnelly, Darren Hayden; Padraig O’Toole, Dean Healy (0-01); Rory Finn, Mark Kenny, Andy Maher (0-01); Conor Byrne, Seanie Furlong (0-02, 0-02f), Eoin Darcy (0-01).
Subs: Saoirse Kearon for Devereaux 22, Ross O’Brien for Snell 52, Conor Healy for Byrne 59.
Referee: Ciaran Branagan (Below).
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