Royals just not ready for taste of the top flight
their generous side by allowing Cork to regain the initiative and grab back their lead.
The game was in the fifth minute of added time when Donal Lenihan brought this haywire of a game to a conclusion with the equalising point from a close-range free following a foul on Graham Reilly.
Different conclusions can be drawn from this latest performance, but on the basis of their five outings so far in the campaign Meath are definitely not yet ready to mix it with the big guns and Division 1 football. There is a solid argument that the county would be best served in the long run by operating in Division 2 for another season at least.
That said, Meath continue with a home tie against Fermanagh next Sunday and they end the campaign with an away tie in Clare. If they manage to pick up full points from those outings and other results go their way, then the Royals are in with a real shout for promotion.
Meath led within 90 seconds of the start with a point from Bryan McMahon, but they had to wait more than 20 minutes for their next score from captain Graham Reilly.
What they produced in between those scores wasn’t very inspiring stuff as they allowed Cork take control of proceedings despite the Leesiders losing influential midfielder Aidan Walsh to injury after just eight minutes.
Needless fouling by Meath set Cork up for a 0-3 to 0-1 lead by the 10th minute, with Mark Collins and Colm O’Neill (two) on target. That lead stretched to six points by the 20th minute and it should have been more when the dangerous O’Neill broke through but dragged his goal effort wide of the target on 22 minutes.
Meath did have an earlier goal chance, but Cillian O’Sullivan had his effort saved by Cork keeper Ken O’Halloran.
Points from Alan Forde and Donal Lenihan (free) left it 0-8 to 0-4 by the 28th minute, but it was the home side which finished the half stronger to lead 0-12 to 0-5 at the break.
O’Neill accounted for six Cork points in the half and the Leesiders, who found scores much easier to come by, also squandered another goal chance when Peter Kelleher shot wide when he should have done much better.
James McEntee, following his recovery from a hand injury, tasted his first action of the campaign at the start of the second half, but it got much bleaker for the Meath men as O’Neill continued his scoring exploits with two further points.
The gap was still nine points on 45 minutes after Graham Reilly and James Loughrey exchanged points. Donal Lenihan and Cillian O’Sullivan added to the Meath tally, but it remained double scores - 0-16 to 0-8 - following a point from Cork captain Paul Kerrigan.
However, Cork only scored twice more after that and a point from sub Eamon Wallace signalled the start of a Meath revival. Efforts from Forde and Lenihan closed the gap further and then came the game-changer, a Meath goal from an unlikely source.
Corner back Donal Keogan found himself at the wrong end of the pitch but was spotted inside the Cork cover by Wallace and the Rathkenny man managed to get a shot under pressure to hit the back of the net to give Meath a real tonic.
A previous dominant Cork were now very much on the back foot, and with the momentum behind them Meath continued to attack - with mixed fortunes. Tobin, Wallace and Lenihan all struck wides as Reilly reduced the deficit to the minimum with a long-range effort.
An attempt at an equaliser from Bryan Menton came off the woodwork before Lenihan eventually drew the sides level following a foul on Reilly.
The clock was at the 65-minute mark when Tobin pointed Meath ahead. The lead, though, was short lived as O’Neill accounted for his ninth point, and sixth from play. Reilly was then short with his effort to regain the lead before Barry O’Driscoll pointed the hosts ahead again with a minute of normal time remaining.
Cork then had a chance to seal the victory, but Mark Collins dropped a free short and that miss proved costly when Lenihan was handed an opportunity in the fifth minute of added time.