Before Duleek/Bellewstown could even blink an eyelid they found themselves 2-1 in arrears in this senior quarter-final against Wolfe Tones played in magnificent conditions in Park Tailteann on Sunday. Despite the Tones missing a penalty after two minutes of play they still managed to find them selves in a comfortable position 15 minutes into this encounter as the men in green and gold trailed by seven points midway through the opening interval. Duleek/Bellewstown opened their scoring account through a fine free from Meath minor Mark Collins. Daire Ferguson then fired over a well work effort from close range. It was Mark Collins who stepped up again to point from another placed ball before Podge Howard fired over an excellent before the break. The hero of the first half was Wolfe Tones Cian Ward who accounted for 2-01 of their scores, as they led by 2-3 to 0-4 at the break. Duleek/Bellewstown had it all to do in the second half but things went from bad to worse as they lost their midfielder Karl Mc Donnell through a hamstring injury. Duleek/Bellewstown had just come to grips with the Tones midfield and where beginning to win vital possession before Mc Donnell had to depart. Daire Ferguson was unlucky not to have netted a vital goal minutes into the second half which may have changed the game. Again Cian Ward was on fire as he netted two early goals through sloppy defence errors from the East Meath outfit. Even though the Duleek/Bell men seemed to claim the majority of the possession it was the Tones who proved more clinical in their finishing which was the main difference between the two sides at the end of the game. Points from Podge Howard (2), Mark Collins, and an excellent penalty from Peter Curran were not enough to claw the East Meath men back into this competition. The Tones came out convincing winners in the end by a margin of five points. Ricky Nolan was excellent in goal saving a penalty while Joey Martin, Gordon Hynes and Tony Cunningham never gave up. Duleek/Bellewstown - Ricky Nolan, D. Crosby, K. Smith, J. Martin, S. McArdle, P. Martin, G. Hynes, K. McDonnell, Tony Cunningham, Donard Ferguson, P. Howard (0-03), P. Curran (1-01), M. Collins(0-03), C. McGinley (0-01), D. Ferguson (0-01). Subs - C. Carney for K. McDonnell, M. Dowling (0-01) for C. McGinley, J. Deveraux for D. Crosby, D. Mills (0-01) for D. Ferguson. Wolfe Tones - David Nolan; Richie Brady, Ciaran McLoughlin, Aodhan McKeown; Niall McLoughlin, Eoghan Harrington, Stephen Sheppard; Stephen Corrigan, Gordon Beggy; A. Fox (0-01), D. Mc Grath (0-01), David O'Neill; Paul Byrne (0-01), John Tiernan, Cian Ward (4-04). Subs - Darragh Browne for O'Neill Tweet

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