Meath withstood a comeback attempt by Down in Newry on Saturday evening to run out three-point winners in another thrilling Allianz League Division 2 match.
It was a testament to the new rules that nobody was budging from the ground until the buzzer sounded at the finish.
There was nothing between the teams for much of the game, but midway through the second half Meath pulled away and under the old rules that might have been that.
Not these days however, as the Mourne men battled back to get within two, but unlike their resurgence against Cork the previous game, Conor Laverty's men couldn’t quite pull off this one and it was Meath who went home with the points in the bag.
Ciarán Caulfield was back in action in Páirc Esler, having captained DCU to the Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup on Wednesday evening and he still managed to look fresh. Jordan Morris and Eoghan Frayne were also immense, scoring 0-08 each.
It was a cagey start to the game in front of a packed crowd.
Pat Havern opened the scoring from a free after Meath had tested the waters with possession around the arc but with nothing to show for their efforts. Shane Walsh levelled in the fourth minute and the tit for tat continued with the sides level at 0-04 apiece with 10 minutes on the clock.
One of those scores came off the boot of Ronan Jones and while it was clearly incorrectly recorded as a two-pointer, it was not rescinded on the scoreboard and the confusion was never really addressed satisfactorily.
A ’45 converted by Meath keeper Billy Hogan and a point from play by Frayne put the Royals into a two-point lead and while Jones was black carded on 14 minutes, Down didn’t make the most of the numerical advantage only scoring two points from a Havern free and one from play by Daniel Guinness to level proceedings again at 0-06 each.
Meath pulled away again when Jones came back on with points from Bryan Menton and Frayne, but Down finished the half strongly. Havern drilled his first two-point free over the bar to square proceedings again and on 32 minutes, after Meath replied with a point.
It was a move that saw Shay Millar launch the ball across the field to the in-rushing Ryan McEvoy who fired into the net. The Royals however hit two of the last three scores of the half to make it 1-09 to 0-10 at the short whistle.
Straight after the re-start Meath were awarded a two-point free that Frayne sent over the bar but Havern replied with a point at the other end putting the hosts back into a narrow lead.
There was still nothing to separate the sides and they were level again 1-11 to 0-14 until Meath hit that purple patch, scoring a lethal seven points in a five-minute spell - two of those were two-point scores of the boot of Morris.
Ceilum Doherty halted their gallop with a point and when Down sub Miceal Rooney scored from outside the arc, hope was restored amongst the home supporters.
The belief that their men could pull off another miracle comeback was really felt when Meath’s lead of 0-23 to 1-14 was reduced to two with a two-point score from Daniel Guinness and further points from Danny Magill and Havern.
Frayne however had the last word, scoring from a free and the visitors held firm until the finish.
KEY: tp - two-point score; tpf - two-point free; tpm - two-point mark
Down: R Burns; P Fegan, P Laverty (Capt), C Doherty (0-02); R Magill, D Guinness (0-03, 1tp), P McCarthy; C Mooney, R McEvoy; D Magill (0-01), O Murdock (1-01), J Guinness; H P McGeary, P Havern (0-09, 1tpf, 6f), S Millar.
Subs: M Rooney (0-02, 1tp) for Mooney (h-t), A McClements for Millar (51), C Francis for Magill (54), E Brannigan for J Guinness (59), P Brooks for Doherty (63)
Meath: B Hogan (0-01,1’45); S Lavin, S Rafferty, D Keogan; B O’Halloran, S Coffey, C Caulfield (0-01); J Flynn (0-01), B Menton (0-02); C Duke, J Kinlough, R Jones (0-02, 1tp); J Morris (0-08, 1tp, 1tpf), S Walsh (0-01), E Frayne (Capt) (0-08, 3f, 1tpf).
Subs: A O’Neill for O’Halloran (45), J Conlon for Walsh (47), K Curtis for Duke (59), D Magowan for Kinlough (64), R Ryan for Rafferty (68)
Referee: Sean Lonergan (Tipperary)
