Leading by a point with 54 minutes played, underdogs Meath had hauled themselves into a winning position against a county they hadn't lost to since 1951.

They were clinging on by their fingertips at the finish in Portlaoise but Meath are through to the Super 8s for the first time after edging an epic Round 4 qualifier.

Two goals in as many first-half minutes laid the platform for favourites Meath to cruise past Carlow in Portlaoise and through to the Leinster SFC quarter-finals.

Bryan McMahon saved Meath's blushes with a late goal to turn a potential disaster into a battling Leinster SFC win for the hosts in Navan.

Meath snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to take a major step in their quest for a return to top-tier football with this victory in driving snow at Páirc Tailteann yesterday.

There was a sensational ending to this fully-blooded Division 2 NFL encounter as a penalty goal from Barry Dardis in added time strengthened Meath’s promotion push at Pairc Tailteann.

All-Ireland winner Patrick McBrearty showed all his big game experience with a dramatic 73rd minute winning point at Pairc Tailteann to send Donegal through to Round 4A of the qualifiers.

The Dubs will be a different story altogether in the decider.

Meath 2-15 DIT 0-10: Two third-quarter goals paved the way for a Meath victory in this O’Byrne Cup tie at Ashbourne last night. 

Derry 2-12 Meath 2-12: Meath manager Mick O’Dowd admitted next week’s crunch Division Two clash away to Laois will be “do or die” for both teams after the Royal County were denied victory in Derry by an injury-time Ryan Bell free.

Galway 0-15 Meath 1-12: You can only imagine the scale of the inquests in Meath this morning had Mick O’Dowd’s men not rescued a draw with a scramble of points in the closing stages of this bizarre game at a cold, wet Salthill.

Meanwhile substitute Cian O’Brien was the hero for Meath as his late equaliser rescued a draw.

Meath 1-13 Cavan 1-20: The coalition Government weren’t the only ones facing meltdown over the weekend.

Sigerson Cup - UCD 0-11 NUIG 1-6: UCD may have a string of Dublin All-Ireland winners in their ranks but it was the accuracy of Westmeath’s John Heslin that saw them over the line in a good contest in Dangan yesterday.

Meath 1-10 Armagh 0-8: On goes Meath’s winter of content.

Meath 0-11 Louth 0-10

UCD 2-18 DCU 0-12: UCD finished strongly to claim the Ryan Cup, following victory over rivals DCU in last night’s HE SFL Division 1 Final at Parnell Park.

Andrew Tormey scored 1-9 for Meath as they worked hard to secure a Leinster SFC semi-final against Westmeath on June 28 at Croke Park.

Meath 0-14 Cavn 0-12: Meath took the honours against neighbours Cavan at Pairc Tailteann but the spoils were shared out elsewhere as victories for Down and Roscommon ensured top tier football for both in 2016.

Roscommon 2-10 Meath 0-14

Kildare 2-15 Meath 0-13: This game hinged on a two-minute period straight after the break, when Kildare found the net almost immediately after Meath had had a gilt-edged opportunity to blow this Eirgrid Leinster U21FC semi-final wide open.

Meath 0-13, Laois 0-13:

Meath 4-10, Westmeath 0-11: Meath started a busy month of football with a goal rush that pleased manager Mick O’Dowd at Páirc Tailteann on Saturday night.

Meath u21s 1-10 Westmeath u21s 1-08: Meath had keeper Jack Hannigan to thank for a brilliant block to deny Dylan McDermott a match-winning goal in added time in this Leinster U-21 FC tie at Páirc Tailteann.

Sigerson Cup Quarter-Final: UCD 1-19 GMIT 1-9: Jim Gavin wasn’t at Belfield yesterday but if the Dublin manager gets a chance to view the tape of this game, he will be suitably intrigued.

Allianz FL Division 2 Round 2: Meath 0-13 Kilare 0-11: It was payback time for Meath footballers following a dismal performance in their opening round defeat to Galway and they delivered in front of their supporters at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday night.

UCD 0-15 Athlone IT 0-7

Galway 2-13 Meath 1-12: Allianz Footbal League Division 2: Galway’s exile from the top flight in the league is now in its fourth year but with four of their games at home this season and derby away ties to Roscommon and Westmeath also on the agenda, there is growing optimism that they are in a good position for promotion.

Kerry 5-9 Meath 0-8

Kildare 0-21 UCD 1-05: Jason Ryan has raised the issue of college teams competing in the inter-county pre-season tournaments again after his side trounced UCD at St Conleth’s Park to set up a Bord na Móna O’Byrne Cup semi-final against DIT on Sunday.

Kildare made it interesting in the final quarter and had they been more clinical, might have completed a remarkable fightback, but in the end, Meath had done enough in their period of dominance to claim a place in the Leinster final.

Meath 7-13 Carlow 0-6

LEINSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL:

Meath 0-17 Galway 0-13

Louth 1-12 Meath 2-10

Dublin 0-15 Meath 0-10

Meath 1-13 Louth 0-10

Donegal 1-12 Meath 1-12

Eamonn Fitzmaurice has dismissed suggestions last Sunday’s defeat to Mayo was another example of a Kerry second-half fadeout.

Kerry make two changes from the team that lost to Dublin for tomorrow’s Division 1 round two clash with Derry in Killarney.

Mayo GAA officials are “100% sure” Elverys will honour their sponsorship deal with the county despite the retail chain announcing it was going into receivership yesterday.

UCD 0-17 Athlone IT 2-7

The pre-season just keeps getting better for Kildare manager Jason Ryan.