Meath were hit by a late scoring burst from Wicklow which left them hanging on for victory at Dr Cullen Park, Carlow, on Saturday.
For the first 55 minutes of this match, Meath were dominant, but with the game apparently dying on its feet, and Meath leading 1-11 to 0-4, Wicklow suddenly came to life.
Substitute Paddy Moynihan scored a close-range goal and two minutes later full forward Trevor O'Donnell added a second. In injury time Wicklow's right full back Leighton Glynn pointed from play to trim the Meath lead to three points. But sadly for Wicklow, the rally came too late. Meath had been totally untroubled in the opening half and moved into a 1-6 to 0-2 half-time lead. Christopher Reynolds scored their goal in the 18th minute following a superb pass from corner forward Thomas Loughran.
Although Meath chased the wind in the second half, the trend of the game continued as one of domination by them until the final minutes.
Meath: D Gallagher; D Clarke, H Gribbin, R Kelly; J Donoghue, N Kennedy, S Kenny; S Bray (0-1), G Loughran; C Reynolds (1-0), N Kelly (0-3), B Lynch (0-1), C McCarthy (0- 1), D Crimmins (0-2), T Loughran (0-3). Subs: A Fox for Reynolds; M Doran for T Loughran.
Wicklow: B Behan; L Glynn (0-1), L Mooney, B Daly; D O hAnnaigh, C Toomey, J Mulryan; D Dillon, G Doran; K Burke, B Sheehan, B Lennon (0-2); C Flannery (0-1), T O'Donnell (1- 0), T Hannon (0-1). Subs: P Moynihan (1-0) for Burke; D Jackman for Dillon; K Foster for Mooney; K Manning for Mulryan.
Referee: B Duff (Kildare).
