A spirited final quarter showing saw Meath overcome Cavan in a keenly contested Allianz NFL Division 2 round seven clash at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday.

Meath ........ 0-14
Cavan ......... 0-12

The Royals' seasonal surge was in vain as Roscommon took the second promotion spot on offer to set up a Division 2 final meeting with Down.

A win for Cavan would have left their promotion hopes hanging on score-difference

Terry Hyland's men looked set to prevail when leading by 0-12 to 0-9 after 58 minutes when Martin Reilly pointed a magnificent free.

Meath rounded off their league campaign with five points on the spin with Stephen Bray and sub Eamon Wallace registering late on to secure the win.

Overcast and calm conditions greeted players, officials and spectators. The sides shared a pointed free apiece in the opening seven minutes as well as totting up seven wides.

Cavan's Martin Reilly posted the first score from play, at the old swimming pool end, in the ninth minute when Gearoid McKiernan provided the assist.

Newman's second free levelled matters for the second time 11 minutes in.

The tension of the occasion was reflected with 11 wides in the opening quarter with Cavan hitting six.

However, they Breffni men posted the next two scores both from play, courtesy of Reilly and Tom Corr to leave them 0-4 to 0-2 ahead after 20 minutes.

Corner-back James McEntee pulled a point back for Meath before hobbling off to be replaced by Bryan Menton.

The wide count lessened as the second quarter progressed. Cavan continued to be the marginally more wasteful.

By the 30th minute they had moved 0-5 to 0-3 clear after Dunne posted his second pointed free

Meath closed the opening half with three points on the spin from play with Michael Newman's effort followed by two from Shane O'Rourke.

Meath might have been more than 0-6 to 0-5 ahead at the break as Padraic Harnan fisted wide at the end of a fine move.

Mick O'Dowd's men resumed on the front foot moving two points clear on as many occasions within five minutes of the restart. Wing-back Mickey Burke and Stephen Bray scored for Meath.

Then the pendulum moved Cavan's as they outscored Meath by 0-5 to 0-1 over the remainder of the third quarter. There was one final twist but not one sufficient to secure promotion for the Royals. The sides hit 16 wides apiece, a reflection of what was at stake.

Meath - P O'Rourke; D Tobin, C McGill, J McEntee (0-1); B Power, D Dalton, M Burke (0-1); C Gillespie, A Flanagan; G Reilly, P Harnan, M O'Sullivan; S Bray (0-2), S O'Rourke (0-2), M Newman (0-6, 4f). Subs: B Menton (0-1) for A Flanagan, J Wallace for M O'Sullivan, E Wallace (0-1) for S O'Rourke, D Carroll for P Harnan.

Cavan - J Farrelly; K Brady, R Dunne, J McLoughlin; J McEnroe (0-1), D O'Reilly (0-1), F Flanagan; T Corr (0-1), G McKiernan (0-1); D McVeety (0-1), R Flanagan, M Reilly (0-3); C Mackey, M Dunne (0-3, 2f), B Fitzpatrick. Subs: C Conroy for K Brady, M Argue for B Fitzpatrick, N Murray (0-1) for J McEnroe, T Hayes for M Dunne, J Brady for R Flanagan.

Referee - B Cassidy.

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