TYRONE.........................................1-16
MEATH..........................................2-13
(after extra-time)
TYRONE and Meath must do it all over again after a cracking Ulster Minor League final ended in stalemate at Kingspan Breffni Park on Thursday evening.
It was end to end stuff from start to finish and apart from the opening ten minutes of the second half there was never much between the sides with even two periods of extra time failing to divide them in Cavan.
Both teams went into the decider on the back of impressive form in the group stages with both boasting unbeaten records and no doubt this game will bring both sides forward leaps and bounds for their prospective championship campaigns.
Tyrone take on Down on June 8th but with Meath due to meet Dublin in Leinster next Sunday its not clear yet when the replay will be staged. But if it's half as good as this encounter then it will be well worth going to see.
Tyrone had the better of things in the opening stages with Paddy McNeice and Conor O'Neill both converting frees while midfielder Matthew Donnelly landed a superb score from play but by the end of the opening quarter it was honours even with Mark Collins on target twice.
Kyle Coney then put Tyrone in front with an excellent score after cutting in from the right wing but in the 20th minute Meath struck for the first goal of the night when their corner forward Paddy Gilsenan fired to the net at the second attempt after his initial shot had been saved by Tim Harney.
Tyrone though had the better of things from then until the half-time whistle with Diarmuid McNulty and Ciaran Gervin (2) supplying points with the former also unlucky not to get a goal when he blazed narrowly wide. That concluded the first half action with the teams locked together 0-7 to 1-4.
Meath were out of the blocks quickly for the second period with Gilsenan, Collins and full forward Jake Regan all registering points by the fifth minute and even though McNulty responded for Tyrone it was clear that the momentum was now with the Leinster men.
In the ninth minute Meath substitute Darragh Smyth's shot was blocked by Danny Gorman but the umpire ruled that the ball had crossed the line and Tyrone were in trouble, 2-8 to 0-8 in arrears. That's when the character of this group of players really came to the fore as they restricted their opponents to just one more point.
O'Neill and team captain Ryan Pickering reduced the deficit with points before full forward McNulty showed real poacher's instinct eight minutes from time to palm the ball to the net after substitute Niall McKenna's shot had come back off the woodwork. Sixty seconds later Pickering levelled matters and even though Collins edged Meath back in front from a free Tyrone weren't to be denied and an O'Neill effort two minutes into injury time sent the tie into extra time, 2-9 to 1-12.
No doubt fatigue was setting in on both sides but you would never have noticed as both sides gave it their all in pursuit of the silverware. Regan and McNeice both scored twice during the first period of extra time as the sides were still locked together. In the second period both sides missed scoring opportunities and as time slipped away it was obvious that both were afraid to make mistakes.
It too seven minutes for the first score to arrive with Meath midfielder Damian Carroll cutting inside his man to fire over but in the final minute of the allotted extra ten Ciaran Gervin equalised after a Coney effort had come back off the post.
In the next attack Tyrone substitute Sean Murphy burst through to split the posts with what looked like the winning score but it would have been cruel on Meath to have lost and wing back Enda Nulty placed substitute Mark McCormack who coolly fisted over the bar to give his side another bite at the cherry.
