Meath finish O'Byrne Cup in style

Apart from a brief spell in the third quarter when they were pinned back Meath ended their O'Byrne Cup campaign with a comfortable 4-16 to 1-15 victory over Laois at Pairc Tailteann today.
With 12 different scores and 4-12 from play Meath were impressive throughout, but there were still some cause for concern by the third quarter fade out that threatened to allow Laois back into the game after they trailed by 1-3 to 3-8 at the break and closed the deficit to 1-11 to 3-9 by the 51st minute.
However once Meath settled again they were by far the superior side and repeated their Leinster SFC semi-final win over the midlanders.
With a team more resembling the side likely to start against Tyrone in the opening round of NFL Div 1, Meath blew Laois away in the opening half with a fast-paced, intense brand of football that the visitors couldn't cope with.
An early indication of Meath's fluency saw James McEntee pick out Bryan Menton with a superb ball to open the scoring in the sixth minute and by the ninth the hosts were 0-3 to 0-0 ahead with Thomas O'Reilly capitalising twice on mistakes made by under pressure Laois defenders.
Evan O'Carroll eventually got Laois off the mark in the 13th minute, but that was their only score in the opening 28 minutes as Meath dominated in every sector, defending superbly when the need called for it and breaking with impressive pace and power.
Menton added his second point after he brilliantly fielded Dominic Yorke's excellent kickout and by the end of the opening quarter Shane Walsh kicked a 45-metre free to stretch Meath'slead to 0-5 to 0-1.
Yorke's produced a stunning save moments later to deny Evan O'Carroll a certain goal and Meath pushed on from that let-off.
Sean Tobin and Mat Costello stretched the lead to six points before Jack O'Connor brilliantly finished the first goal after O'Reilly claimed a poor kickout from Niall Corbett.
Four minutes later Corbett was picking the ball out of the net again, this time after a sweeping move involving Costello, Robin Clarke and Donal Keogan ended with Ronan Ryan rising high to palm the ball to the net – three defenders combining inside the 13-metre line was a measure of Meath's total domination.
Comerford ended Laois's barren spell with a converted free and after Menton saw a dipping effort come back off the post Laois countered with a goal from O'Carroll to make it 1-2 to 2-7 in the 33rd minute.
Menton missed a glorious goal chance 30 seconds later when Tobin picked him out after O'Connor had hit the upright, but Corbett made a good save before Walsh kicked the '45' to put eight between the sides.
Within two minutes Walsh added a third goal to Meath's tally and even though O'Carroll converted a free with the last kick of the half, Meath's lead was a comfortable 3-8 to 1-3 at the break.
Ben Brennan stretched Meath's lead to 12 points within 90 seconds of the restart, but they failed to score again for the next 15 minutes as Laois ran riot.
Two points from O'Carroll, three from Mark Barry and one each for Michael Keogh, Comerford and Eoin Buggie dragged the visitors back into the game, 1-11 to 3-9, but the returning Ronan Jones settled Meath again with a fine point.
Another point from Brennan was followed by a goal for Tobin and that ended the game as a contest as both sides emptied their benches and reduced the final quarter to little more than a kick around.
Two frees from Barry Daris and points from Paddy Kennelly, Oisin O'Brien and Costello completed Meath's account while Laois's closing salvo of scores from O'Carroll (two frees and one from play) and veteran Ross Munnelly couldn't get them any closer.

SCORERS
Meath – Shane Walsh 1-2 one free, one '45'; Jack O'Connor 1-0; Sean Tobin 1-1; Ronan Ryan 1-0; Bryan Menton 0-2; Thomas O'Reilly 0-2; Mat Costello 0-2; Ben Brennan 0-2; Barry Dardis 0-2 frees; Paddy Kennelly 0-1; Oisin O'Brien 0-1; Ronan Jones 0-1.
Laois – Evan O'Carroll 1-6 four frees; Gary Comerford 0-3 two frees; Mark Barry 0-3; Michael Keogh 0-1; Eoin Buggie 0-1; Ross Munnelly 0-1.