Easy does it for Limerick and Wexford in the preliminary round of the All Ireland hurling qualifiers. Both were expected to cruise past Laois and Westmeath respectively and there wasn’t so much as a single scare at either the Gaelic Grounds or Wexford Park. Not a good day for hurling but that will bother not one of the victors across the day.

In the all-Leinster clash, Diarmuid Lyng hit a massive 15 points for Wexford as they crushed Westmeath by 3-22 to 2-9. At least it was competitive early on with only a point between the teams at 0-4 to 0-3 by the 15-minute mark but from then on the home side dominated. They extended the gap to seven and then came a crucial moment just shy of the break when Rory Jacob scored the first goal of the evening.

It was a hammer-blow from which Westmeath never recovered and Diarmuid O’Keeffe netted just after the break to make it 2-13 to 0-6. Gareth Sinnott added another goal within two minutes but it was Lyng that caught the eye as he continued to pound the scoreboard. Credit Westmeath though, as Brendan Murtagh and Cormac Boyle both hit consolation goals for the losers but they just couldn’t live with their opponents who advance and now host Carlow in phase one of the qualifiers.

If it was bad for Westmeath, it was worse for Laois as they lost 6-21 to 1-11 at the Gaelic Grounds. That result means that in their last four championship defeats across this year and last, the O’Moore County have conceded a staggering 22-75 and they’ve lost those games to Dublin, Antrim, Cork and now Limerick by an average of just under 22 points an outing. You get the feeling Teddy McCarthy won’t want to hang around after this debut season, even if the under-21s are in a Leinster final.

After racing into a six-one lead midway through the opening period, David Breen hit home his side’s first goal. Niall Moran added another as Limerick retired to the dressing room at half-time leading 2-10 to 0-3. Laois might well have retired full stop at that point as the second half was a massacre with Moran completing his hat-trick before both Graeme Mulcahy and Tommy Quaid raised green flags on and off the pitch. That result means Limerick now play Antrim in the Gaelic Grounds in their phase one match.