Meath 1-10 Armagh 0-8
Bord na Mona O'Byrne Cup winners Meath maintained their strong start to the season with an impressive opening round Allianz Football League Division 2 win in Navan.
Full-forward Mickey Newman's 1-04 haul was decisive in testing conditions at Pairc Tailteann, where Meath took advantage of a stiff breeze to pull decisively clear in the second-half.
Armagh led by a point at half-time but with goalscorer Newman reliable from placed balls, Meath quickly reeled Kieran McGeeney's men in before moving ominously clear.
In fact, Armagh went the entire second-half without a point as they struggled badly with the high winds and driving rain.
The Orchard outfit also lost half-back Aidan Forker to a 66th-minute second yellow card, while Miceal McKenna was black carded in a separate injury-time incident.
Meath came into the game high on confidence after that pre-season success and were seeking a home win to ignite their promotion bid.
Under Mick O'Dowd the Royals have finished third in each of the last two seasons and have made no secret of their desire to join the top eight sides.
As for Armagh, they an up and down Dr McKenna Cup campaign with a win over Monaghan and defeats to Cavan and University of Ulster which cost them a semi-final place.
Kieran McGeeney's side, promotion from Division 3 last year, hit the ground running in Navan and surged three points ahead after five minutes.
Gavin McParland, Colm Watters and Stefan Campbell were all on the mark.
But Newman's 10th-minute Meath goal, against the run of play, turned the game on its head. The full-forward burst through down the right, lost possession but regained it quickly before shooting low to the bottom left corner beyond Matthew McNeice.
It remained nip and tuck from there on with Armagh taking a one-point lead into the half-time break, 0-08 to 1-04.
McParland and McKenna scored a brace of points each though Armagh had a significant wind advantage and the big question was whether they'd made the most of it.
Newman did the bulk of Meath's scoring with 1-02 in the opening half, while Cillian O'Sullivan, in form again after two seasons of back trouble, kicked two neat points.
Meath used the wind more efficiently after the restart and four points in a row, including one from captain Donal Keogan who strode up field from defence, put them into a commanding position, 1-08 to 0-08.
In truth, it wasn't a classic contest in the final quarter but Meath embellished their lead with points from free-taker Sean Tobin to secure a gutsy five-point win.
Meath: P O'Rourke; D Keogan (0-1), C McGill, M Burke; C Finn, P Harnan, B Power; A Tormey, H Rooney; D Smyth, C O'Sullivan (0-02), J McEntee; B McMahon, M Newman (1-04, 0-03f), D Lenihan.
Subs: S Tobin (0-03, 0-03f) for Lenihan, C Downey for McMahon, R O Coileain for Smyth, A Douglas for Finn.
Armagh: M McNeice; S Heffron, C Vernon, R McCaughey; S Forker (0-1), A Forker, M Shields; B Donaghy, S Sheridan; S Campbell (0-01), M McKenna (0-02), C O'Hanlon; E Rafferty (0-01), C Watters (0-01), G McParland (0-02).
Subs: A Findon for Sheridan, E McVerry for McParland, J McElroy for Shields, S Connell for Donaghy, N McConville for Watters, N Grimley for McKenna (BC).
Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow).
