Silver lining secured as Meath rattle Rebels

Promotion capped out with title win

Meath ...............................1-3-16 (25)

Cork .................................2-1-15 (23)

It wasn't the be all, end all, but it was certainly a sweet victory for Meath as they concluded their NFL Div 2 campaign with silverware following Sunday's thrilling final victory over Cork at Croke Park.

The stated goal at the start of the season was promotion and with that already in the bag, both Meath and Cork cut loose in an entertaining contest that ebbed one way and flowed the other.

Ultimately it was eight successive points without interruption for Meath between the 41st and 68th minutes that proved decisive as the Royals turned a 1-13 to 1-16 deficit into a 1-21 to 1-16 lead that proved unassailable.

Even when Brian Hurley gave Cork hope with a goal two minutes into injury time, and with five minutes still left on the clock, Meath still managed the game superbly and closed out the win to seal a first NFL title since the 2007 Div 2 final win over Roscommon.

Those closing stages epitomised the professionalism of Meath's performance and how they kept cool heads in turbulent waters to maintain a steady ship and sail to victory.

Calmness under pressure has been a virtue of this Meath team throughout the league, and Sunday was another prime example of their maturity, composure and ability to see out the win.

There were a number of times when Cork threatened to knock Meath onto the ropes and deliver the knockout blows, but every time Meath came out counter punching, swinging like their lives depended on it and landed enough jabs to push their opponents back into a corner.

Even in the early stages Cork looked on the front foot, but Ruairi Kinsella settled Royal nerves with a brace of two-pointers.

When Cork hit seven out of eight points in the lead into half-time, Meath steadied before the break and pulled one back through Jordan Morris and then Jack O'Connor clipped over a two-pointer within a minute of the restart to restore calm.

Chris Og Jones by now obligatory goal and Colm O'Callaghan's point put Cork back in the box seat with a four point lead by the 38th minute, but again Meath took a deep breath and settled with O'Connor's magnificent goal drawing them level again.

Cork turned the screw again late in the third quarter with three successive scores, but Meath soaked up the pressure and hit that decisive purple patch to ensure victory.

It was far from a polished performance from the Royals. They have certainly played better this term, but their confidence in their own ability, their impact off the bench, their coolness under pressure and calmness in the face adversity ensured they remained in contention.

Kinsella's pair of two-pointers cancelled out Paul Walsh's opener for Cork and ensured Meath were still ahead despite replies from Jones and O'Callaghan.

A short kickout by Patrick Doyle was gathered by Sean Meehan inside the arc and Jordan Morris punished the Rebels, but Cork remained a threat with the outstanding Steven Sherlock and the equally impressive Jones on target, after Morris had hit the upright and Jones had dragged a goal chance wide, to make it 0-5 each.

Morris restored Meath's lead in the 18th minute before Sean Brennan nailed a two-point free after Dara Sheedy had fouled Jack Flynn outside the arc on the right hand side into the Canal End.

A Cork burst yielded four points from Sherlock, including one two-pointer and one from a free, as well as fisted score from Jones as the Munster men edged 0-10 to 0-8 ahead.

Aaron Lynch settled Meath with a fine score from a tight angle, but Cork continued to fine score easy to come by with Walsh claiming his second before Morris closed the gap to 0-10 to 0-12 at the break.

O'Connor's two-pointer gave Meath the dream start to the second period, but Jones skipped past the challenge of Seamus Lavin for Cork's first goal 40 seconds later and when O'Callaghan tagged on a point the Rebel's lead was 1-13 to 0-12.

Meath almost responded with a goal three minutes later when Eoghan Frayne's two-point attempt dropped short and Ciaran Caulfield reacted to punch goalwards, but was denied by Doyle's save at the expense of a '45' which Brennan converted.

That crucial goal did finally arrive in the 43rd when O'Connor took off after Flynn's great win from a kickout and rifled the ball to the net to make it 1-13 each.

Cork hit points from Sherlock (two) and Mark Cronin in the next six minutes to restore their three-point cushion, but then Meath hit their purple match.

Kinsella got the ball rolling before a bizarre moment when Meath turned down a James Conlon point to go for a two-point free which Brennan fired wide.

Conlon did get off the mark to make it 1-15 to 1-16 and either side of two Frayne frees Conlon landed two more points to make it 1-19 to 1-16.

Brennan did well to prevent a two-point attempt from Hurley from going over the bar and Meath took advantage with Frayne converting another free before Caulfield lofted over a fine score to make it 1-21 to 1-16.

Sherlock ended Cork's 20 minute barren spell and as the 70 minutes elapsed Meath were still four points to good, but there was still seven and a half minutes of time left on the clock.

Conlon closed Meath's account a minute later and 50 seconds after that Hurley fired a brilliantly worked goal, but Meath settled well and never looked threatened as the clinched the silverware their campaign deserved.

Meath - Sean Brennan (0-3 two-point free, one '45'); Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O’Halloran; Donal Keogan, Sean Coffey, Ciaran Caulfield (0-1); Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn; Jack O'Connor (1-2 one two-pointer), Ruairi Kinsella (0-5 two two-pointers), Cian McBride; Jordan Morris (0-3 one free), Eoghan Frayne (0-3 frees), Aaron Lynch (0-1). Subs - James Conlon (0-4) for Lynch 42m, Ronan Ryan for Lavin 47m, Cathal Hickey for McBride 53m, Killian Smyth for O'Halloran 57m, Oisin Martin for O'Connor 67m.

Cork - Patrick Doyle; Maurice Shanley, Daniel O'Mahony, Sean Meehan; Brian O'Driscoll, Tommy Walsh, Luke Fahy; Colm O'Callaghan (0-2), Ian Maguire; Paul Walsh (0-2), Mark Cronin (0-1), Sean McDonnell; Chris Og Jones (1-3), Dara Sheedy, Steven Sherlock (0-9 one two-pointer, one free). Subs - Brian Hurley (1-0) for Sheedy 44m, Kevin O'Donovan for Shanley 53m, Ruairi Deane for McDonnell 57m, Sean Walsh for Cronin 61m, Rory Maguire for Fahy 64m.

Referee - Brendan Griffin (Kerry).