Meath on cusp of promotion after edging Tyrone thriller
Meath survived a Tyrone comeback led by a surprise appearance by Darragh Canavan, running out five points winners in the end in a helter-skelter encounter at Croke Park.
Eight two-pointers made all the difference for the Royals, who also hit the net three times to get the better of their Ulster opponents and keep themselves at the head of the Division Two promotion hunt.
Jack O'Connor was the man who inspired a long distance shooting exhibition, raising four orange flags in the first half, and also firing home a goal.
Canavan, his plans for a month in Australia wrecked by the Middle-East confict, came off the bench in the second half and helped his side come from 12 points behind to narrow the gap to two.
Meath stunned their opponents with a third minute goal, Jack Flynn delivering from deep for Jordan Morris to provide the pinpoint pass for Aaron Lynch to rifle his shot past Oisin O’Kane.
Ethan Jordan was Tyrone’s brightest attacking light in those early stages, bringing a save from 'keeper Sean Rafferty and drilling four ‘45s between the posts to keep his side’s noses ahead.
Jack Flynn pursued by Brian Kennedy
Brennan came to the rescue again, saving from Cormac Quinn, and it seemed only a matter of time begfore the Red Hands would hit the net, and they did so in spectacular style, that man Jordan finishing with power and accuracy in the 13th minute to open up a five points gap.
Jack O’Connor brought the Royals back level as he lobbed over three two-pointers in the space of five minutes, and feeding off turnovers and Brennan’s kick-out accuracy, they hit the front as Ruairi Kinsella and Eoghan Frayne swept over points, as they out-scored the Ulster men by eight to one in the a seven-minute spell.
Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn and Donal Keogan gained a foothold in the middle third as Robbie Brennan’s men drove forward, and it was O’Connor who danced through to slot home their second goal just after the half-hour, pushing them six clear, an eleven points swing in 16 minutes.
Darren McCurry came off the bench to nail a couple of late Tyrone scores, but it was Meath who led by 2-12 to 1-11 at the interval.
Frayne arrowed over his side’s fifth two-pointer, with Tyrone yet to raise an orange flag, and it got worse for Malachy O’Rourke’s struggling side on 40 minutes as Lynch slid home his second goal of the afternoon from Ruairi Kinsella’s searching delivery from deep.
There was to be further two-point agony for the northerners as Kinsella twice hit the target from far out, and now they led by twelve.
Tyrone finally hit their first two-pointer of the game through Jordan in 45 minutes, and the surprise introduction of Darragh Canavan, grounded by travel difficulties which scuppered his planned four-week break in Australia, due to the middle East conflict, helped to spark a revival.
Niall Devlin was in the right place to collect a rebound off a post from Peter Teague’s shot to slot the ball to the net, and Malachy O’Rourke’s men began to believe.
CanAvan and Jordan both hit the target from distance to raise orange flags, and Meath were reeling from their earlier dominance, their lead sliced back to a flimsy two point margin.
Jordan Morris, their stand-out attacker in the current campaign, had been held scoreless until he converted a 67th minute free, but Tyrone were still in this, hunting the goal that would have given them a draw.
However, they were penalised for a breach, and goalkeeper Brennan converted the free from outside the 40 metre arc for his side’s eighth two-pointer.
Meath: S Brennan (0-02, tpf); S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O’Halloran; D Keogan, S Coffey (0-01), C Caulfield (0-01); B Menton (0-01), J Flynn; J O’Connor (1-08, 4tp), R Kinsella (0-05, 2tp), A O’Neill; J Morris (0-01, f), E Frayne (0-04, 1tp), A Lynch (2-01).
Subs: C O’Connor for O’Neill (50), C Hickey for O’Connor (54), K Curtis for Lynch (54), J Conlon for Frayne (57), J Scully for Flynn (67)
Tyrone: O O’Kane; A Clarke, P Teague, C Quinn; J Clarke (0-01), N Devlin (1-00), M Rafferty; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; S O’Donnell (0-01), R Cassidy (0-02), C Daly; R Canavan (0-1), M Donnelly (0-01), E Jordan (1-09, 1f, 2tp, 4 ’45).
Subs: D McCurry (0-04, 2f) for Canavan (27), M McKernan for Rafferty (31), D Canavan (0-02, tpf) for Daly (42), E McElholm for Cassidy (59), F Burns for Clarke (63)
Referee: N Cullen (Fermanagh)
