Kilkenny -  2-22 Meath - 0-9 Kilkenny took it easy, yet they ended up 19-point winners of this mis-match at Nowlan Park yesterday. What a clash like this does for the promotion of hurling is hard to fathom. For the miserable attendance of a few hundred, there was little to retain the interest apart from a statistic-gathering exercise.

During the opening few minutes, the teams shared four points. But once Stephen Grehan pointed Kilkenny in front, it was all one-way scoring traffic.

A well-taken 32nd-minute goal from Eddie Brennan shot the winners into a commanding 1-12 to 0-4 interval lead. One of the striking features of that half was that all Meath's scores came from frees by Nicky Horan.

It took the losers 43 minutes to register their first score from play, a point by Jim Canty. Already the game was over as Kilkenny led by 2-13 to 0-5, Eddie Brennan having shot a second goal within minutes of the restart.

KILKENNY: J McGarry; M Kavanagh, N Hickey, P Larkin; JJ Delaney, A Cummins (0-1), P Barry; S Grehan (0-1), P Tennyson (0-2); H Shefflin (0-6), D Lyng (0-1), K Power (0-1); E Brennan (2-4), M Comerford (0-3), B Dowling (0-2). Subs: A Geoghegan (0-1) for B Dowling (half-time), S Dowling for Hickey (44 mins), E Behan for Tennyson (55 mins).

MEATH: M Gannon; R Dorran, B Perry, A O'Neill; P Roche, D Murray, P Gannon; P Donnelly, J Canty (0-1); C Sheridan, N Horan (0-7), F McMahon; I McCormack, D Dorran, N Reilly. Subs: J McGuinness (0-1) for Reilly (half-time), D Troy for Donnelly (48 mins), J Shaw for D Dorran (50 mins), P Coone for McCormack (61 mins).

Referee: D Richardson (Limerick).