Fermanagh stunned Meath with a cracking team effort at Brewster Park.Three goals were the foundation for the win, the third a superb strike from team captain Raymond Gallagher in added time. Meath had been threatening their trade-mark, last-gasp escape act, but Gallagher's goal left them with no way out and gave Fermanagh their third victory in a row.
Midfielder Martin McGrath was outstanding, and was ably supported by Tom Brewster. Another to shine was corner forward Ronan McCabe, who contributed a goal and two points. In defence centre half back Justin Gilheaney and wing half Neil Cox played soundly.
For Meath, corner forward Daithi Regan was top scorer, with four points, and full forward Shane McKeague looked sharp. But despite taking the lead immediately after half time, Meath never looked convincing.
In what was a strangely sluggish opening half the major score was the Fermanagh goal in the 11th minute. Raymond Gallagher swung in an inviting centre and full forward Stephen Maguire strode in to fist home. That put Fermanagh four points ahead, but for the remainder of the half they lived on scraps up front.
Raymond Gallagher did point a free on 23 minutes but Meath closed the gap with scores from Regan, Adrian Kenny and Trevor Giles before Donal Curtis made it 1-3 to 0-6 at the break.
Meath led briefly when Regan pointed another free within a minute of the restart, but Brewster steered over a Fermanagh response three minutes later and then the game turned decisively in Fermanagh's favour when they pounced for their second goal.
Brewster fired in a long-range free, and the breaking ball fell to McCabe, who netted from close range.
Meath replied with two well taken scores from play by Shane McKeague and a Regan free. But Fermanagh finished the stronger, with McGrath in storming form at centre field. They tagged on the points and rounded off a fine 70 minutes with Gallagher's spectacular goal.
FERMANAGH: R Gallagher; C Fitzpatrick, B Owens, M Lilly; N Cox, J Gilheaney, S McDermott; R Johnson, M McGrath; T Brewster (0-3), R Gallagher (1-2), C Donnelly (0-2); R McCabe (1-2), S Maguire (1-0), R Keenan. Subs: C Bradley for R Keenan, S Doherty for R McCabe, C Reilly for K Donnelly and D Reilly for C Fitzpatrick.
MEATH: D Gallagher; M O'Reilly, D Fay, N McKeague; P Reynolds, H Traynor, C McCarthy; N Crawford, J Cullinane (0-1); N Kelly (0-1), T Giles (0-1), D Curtis (0-1); D Regan (0-4), S McKeague (0-2) O Murphy (0-1). Subs: A Kenny (0-1) for N Kelly, R Feeley for J Cullinane, C Murphy for N McKeague, C Reynolds for N Crawford.
Referee: M Hughes (Tyrone).
