Allianz FL D2 Final: Meath triumph over Cork

​Allianz National Football League, Division 2 final

Meath 1-22 Cork 2-17

By Paul Keane at Croke Park

Purple patches and bursts of scoring have been Meath's calling card this season and the Royal County reeled off another blitz at Croke Park to cap promotion from Division 2 with the title outright.

Robbie Brennan's Royals trailed a Steven Sherlock inspired Cork by three points with just over 20 minutes to go.

But that's when they conjured their very best form, scoring those eight points without response from a shell shocked Cork to set the seal on their first piece of League silverware since capturing the Division 2 title in 2007.

Jack O'Connor supplied the Meath goal during the third quarter and finished with 1-2 though James Conlon's impact from the bench was significant with the inside forward registering 0-4, inspiring that second-half blitz.

There were important cameos too from Ruairí Kinsella, who hit 0-5, including two more two-pointers, while Jordan Morris, captain Eoghan Frayne and goalkeeper Seán Brennan weighed in with 0-3 each.

Jack Flynn didn't manage to add any more of his trademark booming two-pointers but he did help Meath's midfield to dominate during that crucial period in the second half when the game swung their way.

It's Meath's first piece of national silverware since capturing the Tailteann Cup in 2023 and sets them up nicely for a Leinster SFC title tilt. Their opening game is on April 19 against Longford of Westmeath.

All is not lost for Cork, of course, as they have still been promoted and will fancy their chances against Limerick in a Munster SFC semi final on April 12 on Leeside.

Cork edged it by two points when the sides met in the group last month and they led this rematch by that same margin at half time, 0-12 to 0-10.

Both sides had their spells of dominance with Meath initially getting joy from two-pointers, landing three in the opening 18 minutes to lead 0-8 to 0-5.

Kinsella drove two of those over at the Davin End and goalkeeper Brennan came upfield to nail a long-range free.

But when Brennan then began to struggle to find green jerseys off his kick outs, Cork came roaring into the game.

Sherlock represented the sharpened point of Cork's attack and took six points off Séamus Lavin before Meath switched Brian O'Halloran across to mark the St Finbarr's man.

All-Star full-back Seán Rafferty picked up Chris Óg Jones though the Cork man initially edged that head-to-head with three scores in the first 22 minutes.

Morris helped himself to the same tally for Meath, 0-3, despite the close attention of Daniel O'Mahony.

But six first-half wides undermined Meath's challenge with three of those coming from two-point attempts.

They continued to go for them though and Jack O'Connor, the destroyer of Tyrone with four two-pointers in their previous Croke Park outing, made it number five for the campaign after the restart.

Then came the Cork goal, from Jones, as a simmering encounter suddenly came to the boil.

Jones did brilliantly after bursting onto a ball through the centre, skipping around Lavin and then goalkeeper Brennan before finding the net.

Cork kept the pressure on and when Sherlock sniped his eighth point of the game in the 46th minute, they held a healthy 1-16 to 1-13 lead.

But Cork didn't score again until the 62nd minute, when Sherlock slotted his ninth, and in the meantime Meath went to town on the scoreboard.

They reeled off those eight points in a row with Cork goalkeeper Patrick Doyle now the one struggling to get his restarts away.

Conlon enjoyed a huge impact with half of those eight points coming from the St Colmcilles man alone.

Skipper Fryane clipped over three singles from frees and with a 1-21 to 1-16 lead and only nine minutes remaining, it was Meath's game to lose.

They almost did, Cork sub Brian Hurley finishing off a sweeping 65th minute move with a goal to cut the deficit to just two.

Now it was a case of winding down the clock from Meath's perspective and they did just that, holding onto their slim advantage until the hooter sounded.

Meath scorers: Jack O'Connor 1-2 (tp), Ruairí Kinsella 0-5 (2 tp), James Conlon 0-4, Jordan Morris 0-3 (0-1f), Seán Brennan 0-3 (1 tpf, 1 45), Eoghan Frayne 0-3 (0-3f), Aaron Lynch 0-1, Ciarán Caulfield 0-1.

Cork scorers: Steven Sherlock 0-9 (0-1f, 1 tp), Chris Óg Jones 1-3, Brian Hurley 1-0, Paul Walsh 0-2, Colm O'Callaghan 0-2, Mark Cronin 0-1.

Meath: Seán Brennan; Séamus Lavin, Seán Rafferty, Brian O'Halloran; Donal Keogan, Seán Coffey, Ciarán Caulfield; Bryan Menton, Cian McBride; Jack O'Connor, Ruairí Kinsella, Jack Flynn; Jordan Morris, Eoghan Frayne, Aaron Lynch.

Subs: James Conlon (0-04) for Lynch 42, Ronan Ryan for Lavin 45, Cathal Hickey for McBride 50, Killian Smyth for O'Halloran 52, Oisín Martin for O'Connor 61.

Cork: Patrick Doyle; Maurice Shanley, Seán Meehan, Daniel O'Mahony, Brian O'Driscoll, Tommy Walsh, Luke Fahy; Colm O'Callaghan, Ian Maguire; Paul Walsh, Dara Sheedy, Seán McDonnell; Mark Cronin, Chris Óg Jones, Steven Sherlock

Subs: Brian Hurley for Sheedy 43, Kevin O'Donovan for Shanley 50-52, Ruairí Deane for McDonnell 52, Sean Walsh for Cronin 56, Rory Maguire for Fahy 58.

Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).