By Paul Fitzpatrick at Pairc Tailteann
Meath 0-14 Cavan 0-12
Meath finished strongly with five unanswered points in the final 12 minutes to see off Cavan in Páirc Tailteann – but it still wasn't enough to see Mick O'Dowd's men promoted to Division 1.
The introduction of speedster Eamonn Wallace helped swing things in favour of the Royals in the closing stages but the big talking point was the atrocious shooting from both sides, with Cavan recording 15 wides and Meath reeling off 16 over the hour.
The hosts led by one, 0-06 to 0-05, at the end of a closely-contested first half which was marred by some terrible shooting.
The Royals grew into the match as the half progressed and reeled off three unanswered points in the five minutes before the break – two of which came from target man Shane O'Rourke – to go in ahead, despite registering six wides.
The Blues, for their part, were even worse in front of the posts – they landed nine first-half wides, as well as dropping another couple of attempts into the grateful arms of Meath goalkeeper Paddy O'Rourke.
In perfect conditions, the exchanges were tight early on as Mickey Newman and Martin Dunne exchanged frees. Cavan edged in front for the first time in the eighth minute when Martin Reilly turned sharply and slotted over but again Newman replied for the Royals, this time from play.
Reilly, after good work from James McEnroe, and Tomás Corr sent over points from play for Terry Hyland's side but a well-taken left-footed point from corner-back James McEntee dragged Meath closer.
Dunne was on the mark with another free as Cavan continued to hold the edge but the last five minutes were all about Mick O'Dowd's men as a point from Newman and then two from O'Rourke, who was beginning to shade a great battle with Rory Dunne, saw Meath nudge in front at 0-6 to 0-5.
And while there were some superb scores in the second half, the match still descended into a comedy of errors at times, with both Cavan and Meath players inexplicably blasting wide of the target on numerous occasions.
One passage of play late on summed it up – Cavan's Damien O'Reilly's shot trailled off and didn't even go wide, Meath countered and sub Wallace blasted off target from 10 yards.
For all that, the intensity and entertainment levels were high throughout.
Mickey Burke and Martin Dunne both sent over excellent points early in the second half before Stephen Bray and Gearoid McKiernan exchanged points as Meath led by 0-8 to 0-7 by the eight minute of the second half.
Cavan levelled through O'Reilly, Newman nudged Meath in front again but once McKiernan drove over to tie the match again, the Breffni men took charge.
They should have had the opening goal, Martin Dunne screwing his shot wide from 10 yards, but points from Dara McVeety, Niall Murray and a spectacular free from the right sideline from Martin Reilly saw Cavan race into a 0-12 to 0-9 lead with 13 minutes to play.
To their credit, Meath dug deep, with Wallace creating problems, and two points from Newman (one an overhead flick and the other a free) and great score from Menton after a lovely move saw them all square again.
And, on the home stretch, Meath had more gas in the tank, Bray and Wallace both fisting over as they ran out two-point winners.
Meath: P O'Rourke, D Tobin, C McGill, J McEntee (0-01), M Burke (0-01), D Dalton, B Power, C Gillespie, A Flanagan, G Reilly, P Harnan, S O'Rourke (0-02), M Newman (0-07, 3f), S Bray (0-2), M O'Sullivan
Subs: B Menton (0-01) for McEntee (20 mins), J Wallace for O'Sullivan (27 mins), E Wallace (0-01) for O'Rourke (56 mins), D Carroll for Harnan (69 mins)
Cavan: C Gilsenan, J McLoughlin, R Dunne, R Flanagan, J McEnroe (0-01), F Flanagan, D O'Reilly (0-01), T Corr (0-01), G McKiernan (0-01), D McVeety (0-01), K Brady, M Reilly (0-03, 1f), C Mackey, M Dunne (0-03, 2f), B Fitzpatrick
Subs: C Conroy for K Brady (ht), M Argue for Fitzpatrick (45 mins), N Murray (0-01) for McEnroe (52 mins), T Hayes for M Dunne (60 mins), J Brady for R Flanagan (66 mins),
