A much improved second half performance from Meath saw them edge out Cork in their Allianz Football League Division 2 clash Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Colm O'Rourke's charges scored 2-08 against the breeze on their way to a four-point victory.
The Royals looked nervous in the opening minutes as good Cork pressure saw Stephen Sherlock pop two easy frees over from in front of the posts.
In the tenth minute, and completely against the run of play, Meath took the lead after a fine roving run from Shane Walsh.
He breezed past Kevin O'Donovan with ease before turning inside and burying the ball past Michéal Aodh Martin in the Cork goal.
Cork looked much the more confident side in attack in the opening quarter, asking all of the right questions of the Royals early on. Mattie Taylor had a gilt-edged chance of a goal on 18 minutes but was denied by the fingertips of Harry Hogan pulling off a fantastic save.
The sides were level on 25 minutes with Matthew Costello pointing from a free.
The impressive Sherlock was proving a handful for the Meath defence and helped himself to his eight point of the game just before the break.
Cork led at half time on a score line of 0-11 to 1-06 and despite plenty of positives will have been disappointed to only be two ahead at the break.
O'Rourke's side came out with intent after the break and two quick fire scores from Morris and Walsh gave them the start they would have wanted.. Much improved energy and work rate right across the field.
The purple patch finally arrived for Meath on 52 minutes with Jordan Morris firing to the back of the net for Meath to edge them into the lead entering the final quarter of the game. Jason Scully did all of the hard work in the build up advancing towards goal before finding Morris for an easy finish to the back of the net.
The goal gave Meath the confidence shot they needed, having threatened at times with substitute Moriarty and Walsh pointing to give the Leinster side a three-point lead.
Sherlock, as he had been doing all game, was keeping the scoreboard ticking over for Cork but it was goals needed now.
Meath had their third goal of the afternoon courtesy of the evergreen Cillian O’Sullivan who took advantage of a very lax Cork full-back line before burying to the back of the net completely unmarked to extend the lead to six with eight minutes remaining.
Sherlock got his 14th point of the game to conclude the scoring but it wouldn’t be enough for the hosts as Colm O’Rourke's side held on for a four-point win and importantly leave Leeside with maximum points to kick off their campaign.
Cork: Micheál Martin; Maurice Shanley (0-01), Daniel O Mahony, Kevin O'Donovan; Sean Meehan, Rory Maguire, Mattie Taylor(0-01); Colm O'Callaghan, Ian Maguire; Eoghan McSweeney, Sean Powter (0-01), Brian O Driscoll; Chris Óg Jones (0-02), Brian Hurley, Steven Sherlock(0-14, 12f)
Subs: Tommy Walsh for Kevin O’Donovan (44), John O Rourke for Eoghain McSweeney (52), Cian Kelly for Rory Maguire (55), Cathal O’Mahony for Brian Hurley (59)
Meath: Harry Hogan; James O'Hare, Michael Flood, Cathal Hickey; Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan, Daniel O'Neill; Ronan Jones, Daithi McGowan; Cillian O'Sullivan (1-01), Jason Scully, Darragh Campion; Jordan Morris(1-03), Mathew Costello (0-02, 1f), Shane Walsh (1-06, 4f)
Subs: Adam O Neill for Daniel O Neill (35), Harry O’Higgins for James O Hare (49), Jack O’Connor (0-01) for Eoin Harkin (49), Diarmuid Moriarty (0-01) for Daithi McGowan (51), Shane Crosby for Cillian O’Sullivan (67)
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
