Tailteann Cup final: Meath see off wasteful Down at Croke to end 24-year wait for silverware

Meath celebrate their Tailteann Cup success

Meath held off wasteful Down to win the Tailteann Cup with a 2-13 to 0-14 victory in a tense final at Croke Park.

Ronan Jones bundled in a fortuitous opening goal for the Royals as the sides went in level at 1-3 to 0-6 at half-time.

Down were left to rue a number of good goal opportunities as Meath got on top after the break and sealed their win with a last-gasp Jack O'Connor goal.

The five-point win delivered Meath's first silverware since 1999.

Defeat for Conor Laverty's side, however, means the Mournemen's search for a first major trophy since their 1994 All-Ireland triumph over Dublin continues.

As well as winning the Tailteann Cup, Saturday's victory also guarantees Meath a spot in the group stages of next year's All-Ireland series.

Meath's opening goal in the 15th minute had an element of luck about it as Jack Flynn seemed to overhit a pass forward that came back off the post and, as Pat Havern attempted to clear, the ball seemed to go into the net off the knee of Jones.

Their second goal came with the last kick of the match in the sixth minute of injury time and sealed their win, with Down at that stage looking to stage a late fightback.

O'Connor found himself clean through on goal and, although keeper Niall Kane got a partial block on the shot, he could not hold on to the ball and it made its way into the net.

Down had two excellent goal chances themselves in the closing stages of the first half, with the first one falling to Ryan Johnston who had space but took his time to get his shot away, allowing goalkeeper Sean Brennan time to come off his line and make a fine save.

That was on 34 minutes and two minutes into injury time, Liam Kerr fired a shot over the crossbar with the last touch of the half when he was free in front of goal and looked set to hit the target.

Ceilum Doherty, who opened the scoring for the Mournemen when he slotted over a lovely point in the third minute, was shown a black card for a challenge on Jack Flynn, but Meath failed to score during the 10 minutes he was off the pitch either side of the break.

Down started the second half well with two early points from goalkeeper Kane but they were again wasteful with two further goal chances as four points from Jack Flynn in the closing stages and that O'Connor goal won the game for Meath.

Down: Niall Kane; Patrick McCarthy, Pierce Laverty, Anthony Doherty; Miceal Rooney, Ceilum Doherty, Daniel Magill; Daniel Guinness, Odhran Murdock; Shealan Johnston, Liam Kerr, Rory Mason; Eugene Branagan, Pat Havern, Ryan Johnston.

Subs: John O'Hare, Shane Annett, Ryan McEvoy, Ross Carr, Patrick Branagan, Donach McAleenan, Gerard Collins, Andrew Gilmore, Conor Poland, Peter Fegan, Ryan Magill.

Meath: Sean Brennan; Adam O'Neill, Ronan Ryan, Ciaran Caulfield; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Sean Coffey; Ronan Jones, Conor Gray; Cathal Hickey, James McEntee, Jack Flynn; Jordan Morris, Mathew Costello, Aaron Lynch.

Subs: Harry Hogan, Ciarán Caulfield, Cillian O'Sullivan, Cathal Hickey, Jack Flynn, Eoghan Frayne, Michael Flood, Donal Lenihan, Diarmuid Moriarty, Keith Curtis, Ben Wyer.