Cian Ward hit four goals as Meath earned a convincing 5-8 to 2-8 win over Louth in Saturday evening's All-Ireland SFC qualifier.
With last year's Leinster final - which was won by Joe Sheridan's wrongly awarded illegal goal - fresh in the memory, there were plenty of jeers for the Meath full forward and his team-mates from the fans who had travelled from Louth.
However, it did not stop the Royals from going goal crazy as Ward's contribution made the difference at Cavan's Kingspan Breffni Park. There can be no complaints from Louth this time around.
The afore-mentioned supporters were moaning when Darren Clarke sent a very early free wide, but the man with the number 22 on his back then kicked the Wee County into a three-point lead with some better set pieces.
Aaron Hoey also struck the woodwork in that time after a powerful run
upfield, while Louth's own crossbar was needed to save them when Paddy O'Rourke skinned Dessie Finngan before hammering an effort off the underside.
Graeme Reilly split the posts to get Meath off the mark before the first of Ward's goals put them into the lead for the first time. Paddy Gilsenan picked the burly front man out and he smashed the ball in as Sean Connor was beaten at his near post.
A fourth score from Clarke tied things up again before Shane O'Rourke got his first point for Meath. Loud cheers then echoed from the Louth supporters when Sheridan was booked but he responded by scoring a point to make it 1-3 to 0-4.
Peter Fitzpatrick's men bit back though, with Shane Lennon beating Caoimhin King to a high ball and Clarke running in to tuck the ball home soccer style under Brendan Murphy.
Their lead was a short-lived one, however, as Sheridan knocked the ball down for Ward. He turned Louth sub Eamonn McAuley inside out before ramming another fine finish to the net.
Shane O'Rourke then took a reverse pass to kick over another point as his side went in at half-time 2-4 to 1-4 up, and nobody other than Clarke had registered for Louth.
Ward added to his two goals with the first point of the second half, a score cancelled out by anther Clarke free nine minutes into the half.
The Meath corner forward was having much more of a say than Louth's only scorer to date though. Ward added to his tally with two pointed frees, the first from a very narrow angle out on the left, before putting the game beyond Louth midway through the half. He received another Sheridan pass, sent defender Declan Byrne sprawling in the wrong direction and beat Connor at his near post again.
And three Ward goals became four just minutes later ,when he received a super ball forward from Shane O'Rourke and ruthlessly drove to the net once again.
That had 11 points between the teams, reduced to ten by Clarke's sixth point before Chris O'Connor was penalised for fouling Derek Maguire and Louth had a penalty. Midfielder Paddy Keenan coolly slotted home to Murphy's right as a Wee County player other than Clarke scored at last - with just six minutes left.
Clarke added two more points, but the match finished with another Meath goal - though not from Ward this time.
Gilsenan was the man to tuck the ball away, following up Shane O'Rourke's point with a simple finish after being set up by Nigel Crawford.