Emma Duggan's second-half goal proved to be the difference at Parnell Park as reigning All-Ireland Champions Meath again defeated rivals Dublin.
The sides, who contested last year's final, were level at four points apiece at the break but a strong attack in the third quarter pushed Meath over the line to victory.
This was Meath’s first game in the Leinster Senior Championship since 2016, and they dominated the early exchanges.
Stacey Grimes got them on the scoreboard first from a free on three minutes. Vikki Wall added the first point from play and another from some distance two minutes later after a well-timed pass from Niamh O’Sullivan.
While Dublin tried to get a foothold in the game, Meath pushed into a three-point lead with Grimes hitting a second free on 11 minutes. On the resumption, Nicole Owens curled a terrific effort around the posts to get Dublin off the mark.
In a game that was end to end, Sinead Wylde reduced the gap to two points when Lyndsey Davey found her in space. However, this was cancelled out when Niamh O’Sullivan supplied Aoibhin Cleary and the All- Star finished over the bar.
Kate Sullivan completed a terrific run when she split the posts to leave Dublin one adrift and the game was level on 28t minutes when Jennifer Dunne found her range. At half time, there was nothing to separate the sides.
On the resumption, Grimes converted her third free before Niamh O’Sullivan pushed Meath into a two-point lead a minute later.
Meath opened up a five-point gap when Wall and Grimes exchanged and found Duggan, who rifled past Abby Shiels in the Dublin goal.
Dublin were then unlucky at the other end as Caoimhe O’Connor saw her effort rebound off the upright.
Wall grabbed her second point and pushed Meath into a six point lead when she ran from the centre of the field and converted while Grimes added her fourth free to make it a seven point game shortly after.
Two quick-fire Sullivan points reignited the Dublin attack and Hannah Tyrrell pointed to bring the gap back to four with around 10 minutes left on the clock. Dublin almost found the goal they needed when Sinead Goldrick spotted Lyndsey Davey behind the Meath defence, but she couldn’t connect with the pass.
Martha Byrne and Goldrick both pointed to reduce the gap to two with time running out.
Dublin lost Lauren Magee to the sin bin in the final moments and when Aoife Kane converted, Dublin were just a single score adrift.
However, Meath kept a stranglehold on possession and did enough to hang on to a one-point victory.
Next Saturday, Meath will face Westmeath in the final round of the Leinster round-robin, which will decide seedings for the All-Ireland SFC group stages.
Scorers: Meath; S Grimes 0-4 (4f), E Duggan 1-0, V Wall 0-2, N O'Sullivan 0-1, A Cleary 0-1. Dublin: K Sullivan 0-3, M Byrne 0-1, J Dunne 0-1, N Owens 0-1, S Wylde 0-1, H Tyrrell 0-1.
MEATH: M McGuirk; S Ennis (C), MK Lynch, O Duff; Aoibheann Leahy, E Troy, A Cleary; O Byrne, O Lally; M Thynne, E White, E Duggan; V Wall, S Grimes, N O’Sullivan.
Subs: N Gallogly for Aoibheann Leahy (HT), B Lynch for White (35), Ailbhe Leahy for O Byrne (42), M Byrne for O’Sullivan (48), C Smyth for Lally (55).
DUBLIN: A Shiels; J Tobin, L Caffrey, E Gribben; S Goldrick, M Byrne, O Nolan; J Dunne, K McDaid; N Owens, S Wylde, K Sullivan; C O’Connor, N Hetherton, L Davey.
Subs: L Magee for Wylde (HT), A Kane for Nolan (HT), H Tyrrell for Hetherton (HT), S Killeen for O’Connor (49), N Hyland for Owens (55).
Referee: Barry Redmond (Wexford)
