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Substitute Jordan Morris capped an incredible cameo with a tie point in the 75th minute for Meath to secure a dramatic Allianz League Division 1 draw with Monaghan at Clones.
The already relegated Royals were trailing six points after a horrifying start and appeared poised to fall to their seventh straight loss against a Monaghan team that only needed a draw to maintain their top-flight status.
Conor McManus was excellent for Monaghan and swept 1-08, although Morris would have the last word with the last three points of a very entertaining game.
He brought the Nobber man personal tally to 0-07 and his last one was a beauty as he broke the leveling point despite being under pressure from various defenders, and eventually nearly up.
It was an appropriate result for both teams, as it allowed Meath, who lost to Dublin by four points last weekend, to build much-needed momentum ahead of their Leinster championship clash with Wexford or Wicklow on 8 November.
As for Seamus McEnaney’s Monaghan, they know they will play in Division 1 for another season and will be optimistic before his return to Clones next weekend to face Cavan in the preliminary round of the Ulster championship.
Monaghan came close to this game that required at least the draw following back-to-back losses in Division 1, the most recent against Kerry last weekend.
They started out as the team most in need of a result, showing greater urgency and cutting Meath initially to take a 1-03 to 0-01 lead after just eight minutes.
Evergreen McManus was very influential in this span with an opening point assist from Conor McCarthy before stroking a beauty himself in the fifth minute.
Rory Beggan nailed a long-range free kick to stretch Monaghan’s lead before his goal came through Michael Bannigan in the eighth minute.
McManus played a clever ball over the Meath defense that Ryan McAnespie grabbed before running his hand through goals from Bannigan, a Sigerson Cup winner earlier this year, to stretch a leg and steer the ball home.
Monaghan didn’t score again for 10 minutes, but when they did it was McManus who normally converted under pressure from 30 meters in center position.
Faced with a possible defeat and losing 1-04 to 0-01, Meath finally regrouped and edged Monaghan 0-06 to 0-03 from the 19th minute until halftime to return to the game.
The Royals had to do it without Cillian O’Sullivan, who had scored an early point for them, after a major collision with Darren Hughes that required the corner forward to be replaced.
Powerful midfielder Ronan Jones was at the center of Meath’s resurgence with two points, one on each foot, while Jason Scully and Shane Walsh also tapped.
Monaghan was still in control with a 1-07 to 0-07 lead and knew that if they could stay in front they would stay in the top flight.
But they were dominated throughout the third quarter as Meath kept up his momentum and pushed ahead on consecutive points from backup Morris who had replaced O’Sullivan.
That left a point and Meath worked his way to pole position with a goal in the 47th minute from team captain Bryan Menton.
It was a clever hand pass move started by Donal Keogan on the right that ended with the ball being crossed for Menton to reach the palm of the hand.
Suddenly, Meath led 1-09 to 1-07 and should have moved five clear moments later, but he wiped out a great scoring opportunity when Morris’s ball was too far ahead of Shane Walsh.
Monaghan took the lead from there and leveled the game three times before McManus scored a goal in the 61st minute that put Farney 2-12 to 1-11 ahead.
It looked like Monaghan would finally go ahead and seal the win, but it was all about Meath in the final stages with backups Joey Wallace and Thomas O’Reilly aiming before Morris took over those last three points in a row to secure the tie.
Monaghan: Rory Beggan (0-01, 0-01f); Kieran Duffy (0-01), Conor Boyle, Ryan Wylie; Ryan McAnespie, Fintan Kelly (0-01), Karl O’Connell; Darren Hughes, Andrew Woods; Dessie Ward, Michael Bannigan (1-00), Stephen O’Hanlon; David Garland, Conor McCarthy (0-02, 0-01f), Conor McManus (1-08, 0-03f)
Subs: Killian Lavelle by D Hughes 24-29 Blood, Christopher McGuinness by Garland 41, Shane Carey and Dermot Malone by O’Hanlon and Bannigan 47, Kieran Hughes by McCarthy 56
Meath: Andrew Colgan; Seamus Lavin, Conor McGill, David Toner; Cathal Hickey, Shane McEntee, Donal Keogan; Bryan Menton (1-00), Ronan Jones (0-02); Jason Scully (0-01), Bryan McMahon, Ronan Ryan; Cillian O’Sullivan (0-01), Shane Walsh (0-01), Thomas O’Reilly (0-04, 0-03f)
Subs: Jordan Morris (0-07, 0-03f, 0-01m) for O’Sullivan 24-f / t blood, Mathew Costello for Scully h / t, Joey Wallace (0-01) for McMahon 49, Eoin Harkin for Toner 53 , Jack O’Connor for Hickey 63, Ethan Devine for Walsh 68
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
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