Meath topple Tyrone in thriller

Promotion bid moves one step closer

Meath 3-8-8 (33)

Tyrone 2-3-16 (28)

Breathless. Heart-stopping. Meath went from six points down, to 12 points up before holding on to win by five and move to within touching distance of promotion from NFL Div 2 following a thrilling victory over Tyrone at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

Scoring 3-21 from play with Jack O'Connor stealing the show in a scintillating first-half that yielded a personal tally of 1-8, Meath were sensational at times, but allowed Tyrone stay in the game with a number of malfunctions at kickout time giving the Ulster men oxygen.

Victory moves Meath to within a point of certain promotion, and off the back of their exceptional attacking performance they will take plenty of confidence to Tullamore next Sunday for the final round game against Offaly.

However, while there was plenty to be pleased about from Meath there is also a word of caution to be heeded as they shipped 2-16 from play and were fortunate to get away without conceding a goal on a couple of other occasions.

When Meath were good they were awesome, but when they were exposed on breaking ball around the middle and from kickouts, and also from some poor shot selection in the final quarter, they showed their flaws.

The opening quarter threatened to get away from Meath as time and again Tyrone exploited errors and were it not for Aaron Lynch's excellent third minute goal the Red Hand might well have been out of sight by the end of the third quarter.

As it was, the Royals and in particular the mesmerising O'Connor clawed Meath back into contention with his two-point shooting immaculate.

Once O'Connor found his range, Meath turned that early six-point deficit into a six-point lead with O'Connor's slaloming run creating a second goal in the 32nd minute.

When Lynch brilliantly bagged his second goal in between two-pointers from Eoghan Frayne and a brace from Ruairi Kinsella it put Meath in a seemingly unassailable 3-19 to 1-13 lead just nine minutes into the second-half.

However, Tyrone refused to lie down. Meath started to make mistakes and Malachy O'Rourke's side capitalised and with a little bit of luck too as Peter Teague's point attempt came back off the upright and into the waiting arms of Niall Devlin for a goal that closed the gap to 2-17 to 3-19.

The gap was narrowed to two points on a couple of occasions in the final quarter, but each time Meath found the perfect response - a sign of a polished, composed side.

The loss of Darren McCurry to a black card for the closing stages blunted Tyrone's attack and in their panic to find a match saving goal they failed to keep four players in defence and that allowed Sean Brennan nail the final two-point free just after the hooter to keep Meath's promotion bid on track.

Such an outcome looked unlikely after 16 minutes as Meath struggled in every sector - it was like a total systems failure.

A mix up between Brennan and Adam O'Neill inside 90 seconds gifted Tyrone a '45' which the brilliant Ethan Jordan converted.

Lynch played a brilliant one-two with Jordan Morris to respond with a goal, but Tyrone caused consternation in the Meath rearguard with Jordan landing three more '45's and Ruairi Canavan also on target before Jordan fired a superb goal to make it 1-5 to 1-0.

Ciaran Caulfield ended Meath's 11 minute spell without a score with a point, but Ronan Cassidy quickly restored Tyrone's five point advantage - then it was time for the Jack O'Connor show.

The Curraha man kicked two subline two-pointers from also most the exact same blade of grass and even though Ruairi Canavan replied with a point, O'Connor nailed his third two-pointer to restore parity, 1-7 each.

Kinsella, after a Caulfield turnover and Frayne with an outstanding score following magnificent play by Kinsella and Donal Keogan made it 1-9 to 1-7 before Mattie Donne;;y fisted over for Tyrone.

O'Connor's remarkable fourth two-pointer was followed by his even better goal as Meath made it a six-point game, but Tyrone responded with two points from Darren McCurry (one free). Lynch thought he had hit hat-trick goal when he pulled on Kinsella's long ball just as the hooter sounded and so it wasn't allowed and Meath had to be content with a 2-12 to 1-11 interval lead.

Points from Seanie O'Donnell and McCurry (free) sandwiched a Frayne score in the opening three minutes of the second-half, but then Meath made a burst for home with Frayne landing a superb two-pointer before Lynch executed an outstanding goal.

Kinsella then proved he is a capable two-point shooter with two brilliant long range scores to make it 3-19 to 1-13.

Meath looked home and hosed, but like a horse a Cheltenham who wanders when in front they allowed Tyrone back into the game with Joey Clarke pointing before Jordan kicked a two-pointer to close the gap to nine.

With their tails up Jordan landed a free before Devlin bagged the lucky goal and when McCurry pointed and Darragh Canavan, who didn't go travelling to Australia after all, kicked a two-pointer Meath's lead was down to two with 15 minutes left.

Sean Coffey ended another 17 minute barren spell for Meath, but Tyrone went close with Bryan Menton clearing an effort from O'Donnell off the line before a brilliant interception by Morris set up Menton for a fisted point to make it 3-21 to 2-20.

Morris blasted a goal chance at Oisin O'Kane when a point would have done and Jordan got the gap back to two with a fine score.

Morris's free after McCurry's black card left Tyrone needing a goal with a minute left, but in their panic to press forward they lost their shape and the referee spotted the breach which Brennan punished to ensure a flattering five-point win from a pulsating contest.

Meath - Sean Brennan (0-2 one two-point free); Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O’Halloran; Donal Keogan, Sean Coffey (0-1), Ciaran Caulfield (0-1); Bryan Menton (0-1), Jack Flynn; Jack O'Connor (1-8 four two-pointers), Ruairi Kinsella (0-5 two two-pointers), Adam O'Neill; Jordan Morris (0-1 free), Eoghan Frayne (0-4 one two-pointer), Aaron Lynch (2-1). Subs - Charlie O'Connor for O'Neill 52m, Cathal Hickey for O'Connor, Keith Curtis for Lynch both 56m, James Conlon for Frayne 62m, Jason Scully for Flynn 73m.

Tyrone - Oisin O'Kane; Aidan Clarke, Peter Teague, Cormac Quinn; Joey Clarke (0-1), Niall Devlin (1-0), Michael Rafferty; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Seanie O'Donnell (0-1), Ronan Cassidy (0-2), Ciaran Daly; Ruairi Canavan (0-2), Ethan Jordan (1-9 two two-pointers, one free, four '45s'), Mattie Donnelly (0-1). Subs - Darren McCurry (0-4 two frees) for R Canavan 28m, Michael McKernan for Rafferty 32m, Darragh Canavan (0-2 one two-pointer) for Daly 43m, Eoin McElholm for Cassidy 64m, Frank Burns for Clarke 68m,

Referee - Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)