A second-half purple patch, which yielded eight points without reply, helped Meath to a 1-22 to 2-17 win over Cork in the Allianz Football League Division 2 final.
Robbie Brennan's Royals trailed a Steven Sherlock-inspired Cork by three points with just over 20 minutes to go.
However, that was when they conjured up their very best form, reeling off those eight points without response from a shellshocked Cork to set the seal on their first piece of league silverware since capturing the same title in 2007.
Jack O'Connor supplied the Meath goal during the third quarter and finished with 1-02, though James Conlon's impact from the bench was significant, with the inside forward registering 0-04.
There were also important cameos too from Ruairí Kinsella, who hit 0-05, including two more two-pointers, while Jordan Morris, captain Eoghan Frayne and goalkeeper Seán Brennan weighed in with 0-03 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 19 April against Longford or 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 12 April 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 at 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 0-08 to 0-05.
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 kickouts, 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, but 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, 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.
However, they continued to go for them 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 (above) did brilliantly after bursting onto a ball through the centre, skipping around Lavin and then goalkeeper Brennan before finding the net.
Cork followed that it up as Colm O'Callaghan kicks his second point of the game before Meath registered a 45.
O'Connor's glorious goal came in the 42nd minute, with the marauding Meath man tearing forward and unleashing an unstoppable piledriver to the roof of 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.
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, with 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: Seán Brennan (0-03, 1 tpf, 0-01 45); Séamus Lavin, Seán Rafferty, Brian O'Halloran; Donal Keogan, Seán Coffey, Ciarán Caulfield (0-01); Bryan Menton, Cian McBride; Jack O'Connor (1-02, tp), Ruairí Kinsella (0-05, 2 tp), Jack Flynn; Jordan Morris (0-03, 0-01f), Eoghan Frayne (0-03, 0-03f), Aaron Lynch (0-01).
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 (0-02), Ian Maguire; Paul Walsh (0-02), Dara Sheedy, Seán McDonnell; Mark Cronin (0-01), Chris Óg Jones (1-03), Steven Sherlock (0-09, 0-01f, 1tp).
Subs: Brian Hurley (1-00) 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).
