Royals open with a win

Eamonn O'Brien's reign as Meath senior football manager got off to a winning start on Sunday as Meath comfortably defeated Westmeath at Pairc Tailteann. Despite a slow start when they trailed by 0-0 to 0-5 after 14 minutes, Meath never really looked under pressure against a weakened Westmeath outfit who were missing most of their big name players. Cian Ward got Meath's opening score when he netted after a Stephen Bray pass and from then on it was one-way traffic as the Royals tagged on a further 17 points to run out convincing winners. SCORERS Meath - C Ward 1-5, five frees; G Reilly 0-3; J Sheridan 0-2, one penalty; E Reilly 0-2; S Bray 0-2; J Queeney 0-2; D Bray 0-1 free. Westmeath - P Tormey 0-2, two free; D McGuinness 0-1; D Bannon 0-1; E Leonard 0-1; P Kelly 0-1 free; P Bannon 0-1. TEAMS Meath - P O"Rourke; S McAnarney, A Collins, E Harrington; S Kenny, B Regan, T Skelly; M WArd, D Sheridan; D Bray, E Reillty, G Reilly; S Bray, J Sheridan, C Ward. Subs - S McKenna for McAnarney (yellow card) 34 mins, J Queeney for E Reilly 61m, M Kennedy for D Sheridan 63m, D Flood for Collins 63m, T Johnson for S Bray 65m. Westmeath - C Mullen; A Claffey, B Murphy, F Boyle; K Scally, J Clarke; D McGuinness; A Browne, P Bannon; P Kelly, E Leonard, D Harte; P Tormey, D Bannon, K Martin. Subs - D O"Donoghue for Clarke 40 mins, M Dalton for Boyle 44m, T McDaniel for Bannon 51m, D Kilmartin for McGuinness 52m, E Farrell for Scally 56m, F Spollen for Martin 65m. REFEREE Tom Quigley (Wexford).