Meath eye promotion after thrilling win over Tyrone
ROYAL APPOINTMENT: Seán Rafferty, left, and Aaron Lynch of Meath celebrate. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Meath are on the cusp of a return to Division 1 of the National Football League after yet another dramatic Croke Park win.
GAA HQ has been a happy hunting ground this season for Robbie Brennan's side who, after wins over Derry and Louth there, added Tyrone to their high-profile list of Division 2 victims.
And true to a rollercoaster campaign for the Royals, they achieved their fifth win of the campaign in thrilling fashion.
Trailing by five points early on, they battled back thanks in the main to Jack O'Connor, who scored 1-8 and was Man of the Match, opening up a 12-point lead at one stage in the second half before seeing it cut down to just two late on.
Meath held on for the win though to join Cork at the head of the table on 10 points, ahead of their final round trip to rock bottom Offaly.
Aaron Lynch impressed too with 2-1 while 0-9 split between RuairĂ Kinsella and captain Eoghan Frayne, all from play, went a long way towards seeing off a battling Tyrone who brought on Darragh Canavan after his planned travel break was cancelled.
Ethan Jordan was terrific again for Tyrone and struck 1-9 in all but they couldn't rescue a result despite a strong final quarter.
O'Connor's first start of the campaign for Meath was against Kildare in Round 5 and a positive showing in Newbridge, 0-4 from play, ensured he retained the number 10 jersey.
He didn't actually score this time until the 17th minute, at which stage Meath were crying out for some inspiration as Tyrone led by 1-6 to 1-1.
It was the Jordan show up to that point. The Eglish man burst onto the inter-county senior scene with 1-9 for Tyrone on his debut against Kildare in Round 1.
The former Red Hands minor star took this game by the scruff of the neck initially, knocking over no less than four 45s in the opening 12 minutes.
Two of those he also engineered himself while the former soccer player then burst onto a Mattie Donnelly pass and struck a brilliant 13th-minute goal.
Meath goalkeeper Seán Brennan pulled off excellent saves from Ronan Cassidy and Jordan in the opening 11 minutes.
But Brennan had no chance for the Jordan goal as the ball flew across him to the far top corner.
Tyrone's big lead didn't last long though and now it was time for O'Connor to grab the spotlight, racking up an astonishing 1-8 between the 17th and 31st minutes.
Four times in the second quarter the speedy Curraha man, who missed last year due to travel, booted two-pointers from almost the exact same spot on the right wing.
Then he darted through an opening in the same area and kept going until the goal came into view, allowing him to slip a low shot past OisĂn O'Kane who was deputising for Niall Morgan.
Tyrone boss Malachy O'Rourke responded by replacing Michael Rafferty and bringing on Michael McKernan to mark O'Connor.
But to be fair to the Tyrone defence, Meath created the space well for O'Connor with Donal Keogan cleverly acting as shield for one of O'Connor's two-pointers. For the goal, Jordan Morris helped drag Tyrone defender Cormac Quinn just out of position to create the opening.
Morris didn't score in the first half but set up Meath's opening goal, as early as the third minute, with a sumptuous kick-pass off his weaker right foot, feigning to shoot before playing in Lynch.
Darren McCurry made an impact from the Tyrone bench with two points before the break but Meath still led 2-12 to 1-11 at the interval.
Lynch had the ball in the net again for Meath but it came just after the buzzer so didn't count.
But there was no issues with his 41st minute goal when Meath won a Tyrone kick out and fed him with a long, early kick pass. Lynch still had plenty to do but stuck it perfectly in the far corner.
Kinsella then kicked into overdrive as the Royals turned the screw, the Dunshaughlin man blasting back-to-back two-pointers to stretch the gap to 3-19 to 1-13.
Tyrone played their Canavan card and unloaded talisman forward Darragh from the bench in the 43rd minute after cancelling his plans.
He was immediately busy and his arrival corresponded with another purple patch as Tyrone reeled off 1-7 without response.
Two-pointers from Jordan and Darragh Canavan, along with a fortunate Niall Devlin goal, when he swept up after Peter Teague's point attempt rebounded off the post, ate into Meath's lead.
Suddenly, Meath's 12-point advantage was down to just two and while the hosts got it out to four again, Jordan's second two-pointer in the 67th minute reduced it back to two at 3-21 to 2-22.
McCurry's 66th minute black card, and a Tyrone breach which allowed Meath goalkeeper Brennan to convert a last-gasp two-point free, all played into the Leinster side's hands in the closing stages as they held on.
: Jack O'Connor 1-8 (4 tp), Aaron Lynch 2-1, Ruairà Kisella 0-5 (2 tp), Eoghan Frayne 0-4 (1 tp), Seán Brennan 0-2 (tpf), Jordan Morris 0-1 (0-1f), Seán Coffey 0-1, Ciarán Caulfield 0-1, Bryan Menton 0-1.
: Ethan Jordan 1-9 (4 45, 2 tp, 1f), Niall Devlin 1-0, Darren McCurry 0-4 (0-2f), Darragh Canaavan 0-2 (1 tp), Ruairà Canavan 0-2, Ronan Cassidy 0-2, Mattie Donnelly 0-1, Seánie O'Donnell 0-1, Joey Clarke 0-1.
: Seán Brennan; Seán Rafferty, Seamus Lavin, Brian O'Halloran; Donal Keogan, Seán Coffey, Ciarán Caulfield; Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn; Jack O'Connor, Ruairà Kinsella, Adam O'Neill; Jordan Morris, Eoghan Frayne, Aaron Lynch.
Subs: Charlie O'Connor for O'Neill 51, Cathal Hickey for Jack O'Connor 54, Keith Curtis for Lynch 54, James Conlon for Frayne 58, Jason Scully for Flynn 68.
: OisĂn O'Kane; Aidan Clarke, Peter Teague, Cormac Quinn; Joey Clarke, Niall Devlin, Michael Rafferty; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Seánie O'Donnell, Ronan Cassidy, Ciarán Daly; RuairĂ Canavan, Mattie Donnelly, Ethan Jordan.
Subs: Darren McCurry for RuairĂ Canavan 28, Michael McKernan for Rafferty 32, Darragh Canavan for Daly 43, Eoin McElholm for Cassidy 59, Frank Burns for Clarke 64.
: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).
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