RAILWAY CUP Player David Martin powered Meath to victory over Wicklow in the Kehoe Cup hurling final at Arklow yesterday with a fine individual total of 1-5, all but a point scored in the opening 30 minutes when his team were really on top.

Trailing 1-12 to 0-7 at the break, Wicklow looked as if they were going to stage a dramatic recovery in the second half when they started off with unanswered points from Don Hyland, John Keogh and substitute Paul Byrne to narrow the gap to five, but then disaster struck once again.

Wicklow manager Jack Murray replaced his goalkeeper Mick Neary at the end of the third quarter after two bad defensive lapses which allowed Meath corner forward Benny Murray to crash home two goals in a five-minute spell.

Full forward William Donnelly, a great distributor of the ball, and Pat Potterton were others to shine in a Meath attack which showed a sharpness in its play that was sadly lacking from the Wicklow performance. Wicklow's goal, scored by wing back Stephen Kennedy, came just before the final whistle.

Derry powered their way to an easy 1-13 to 1-7 victory over Antrim in the Dr McKenna Cup preliminary-round tie at Ballinasereen yesterday.

In a mediocre game, Antrim failed to cope with the physical presence of Derry's Geoffrey MeGonigle. After Derry had led 0-6 to 0-5 at half-time, McGonigle's fisted goal during the early stages of the second half basically ended the game as a contest.

The goal, plus two quick points gave Derry a six points cushion and alter over-elaborating with their passing game, they allowed Antrim back in during the latter stages to reduce the deficit and put respectability on the scoreboard.