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.

It was the result most expected but Donegal's journey to the Allianz League Division 2 title was anything but straightforward at Croke Park.

Graham Reilly has said that Meath have the physical conditioning of a Division 1 team, but that their footballing ability needs to go ‘up through the roof’ to survive there.

As Meath stand on the brink of promotion to Division 1 for the first time in 13 years, former star Graham Geraghty has commended manager Andy McEntee for handing over a lot of responsibility to coach Colm Nally.

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.

Bruce Springsteen’s Glory Days blared out over the tannoy prior to the start of this Allianz League Division 2 tie at breezy Páirc Tailteann yesterday and while that may have been a bit premature for the Royals there were some positive signs in this hard-fought victory.

The fare on offer from both side was well short of what will be needed to win promotion but it was Meath who were happiest at the end of this dour Division 2 tie at Páirc Tailteann yesterday.

Former Meath captain Kevin Reilly rejects the resigned attitude of some players who left the panel this year and believes their decisions have cost the county.

Magnificent Longford’s long wait for a Leinster championship win finally ended when they created a massive shock with a thoroughly deserved victory over 14-man Meath before an attendance of 5,591 at Pearse Park yesterday.

Meath boss Andy McEntee expressed a mixture of delight and relief after his team boosted their prospects of avoiding the drop to division three following this polished display against fellow strugglers Down at Pairc Tailteann yesterday.

Tipperary 2-15 - Meath 1-10 

Cavan are sitting pretty on the summit of Division Two of the Allianz Football League thanks to a jet-propelled first-half display at Kingspan Breffni yesterday..

Meath are eyeing up their first piece of silverware under Andy McEntee after cruising comfortably through to the last four of the Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup.

Graham Reilly crowned his first Championship game as Meath captain with a thrilling display to help secure a Leinster SFC semi-final clash with Kildare.

When Gerry McEntee first arrived on the Meath scene as a player in the mid-1970s, he stepped straight into the slipstream of Dublin.

Kildare football manager Cian O’Neill has urged supporters to cut Paddy Brophy some slack and give him the necessary time to readjust to life as a Gaelic footballer again.

Laois 1-16 Meath 2-13: A controversial late penalty saw Meath advance on Saturday night in Stradbally to the O’Byrne Cup semi-finals at the expense of hosts Laois.

Meath 2-22 Wicklow 0-9: There was a honeymoon start for new Meath boss Andy McEntee in this O’Byrne Cup tie at Páirc Tailteann yesterday.

Dublin 0-21 Meath 0-11: Paddy Cullen tells a story of a thunderous hit that put Colm O’Rourke to the turf in the last of the four-in-a-row games in 1991.

Jim Gavin has challenged his Dublin defenders to put some “resilience” into their game after being opened up for two goals by Laois.

Former Louth star JP Rooney insists he doesn’t harbour any bitterness towards ex-Meath forward Joe Sheridan following the controversial 2010 Leinster SFC final between the counties.

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.

With the Allianz NFL in its second week, our GAA writers watched some of the tactical patterns unfurl.

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