Patrick McBrearty hammered over a stunning 72^nd-minute winner as Donegal defeated Meath by 1-15 to 1-14 in a Navan thriller.

The game seemed to be heading for extra time as the action ebbed one way and then the other but Kilcar assassin McBrearty (0-7) gathered possession from substitute Mark McHugh right at the death and finished with aplomb from 45 metres off that trusted left boot to give the Tir Chonail men the narrowest of victories.

The Royals produced one of their best displays under Andy McEntee and moved ahead with six minutes left but McBrearty was the most dangerous player on view and it was almost inevitable that he would deliver the blow that eventually separated these two evenly-matched sides.

Level eleven times over the evening, the teams shared 14 points during the course of an entertaining but low quality opening period where no quarter was either asked or given.

Donal Lenihan (free) and Jason McGee swapped points in the fifth and sixth minutes before scores from captain Graham Reilly and Ruairí Ó Coileáin edged the Royals two ahead with eight minutes gone. But the sides were level again by the tenth minute, with McBrearty (free) and Michael Murphy on target for Rory Gallagher's men.

There were no further scores until the 20^th minute when Lenihan's second free restored Meath's lead but Donegal led for the first time on 25 minutes thanks to scores from McBrearty (free) and Murphy. McGee made it 0-7 to 0-5 on the stroke of half an hour with his side's third successive score but the spirited hosts lofted over the last two before the short whistle courtesy of Donal Keogan and Lenihan (free) to turn around still very much in contention.

Eight points were shared during the third quarter. A fourth Lenihan free had the Royals back in front within seconds of the resumption but the Tir Chonail men were level again by the three-quarters stage following quickfire points from Frank McGlynn and McBrearty in the 18^th minute - 0-11 each.

In between, Murphy traded points with Lenihan (free) and Shane McEntee before a sixth successful Lenihan free of the evening had the home side ahead by eleven points to nine.

Murphy missed a Donegal free with the sides deadlocked but McBrearty's second successive point edged the northerners back in front in the 22^nd minute, only for James McEntee to reply immediately at the other end - 0-12 each.

Ten minutes from the end, Donegal struck for a goal when Eoghan Ban Gallagher did the spadework and the diving Ryan McHugh palmed to the net. Incredibly, 90 seconds later, Cillian O'Sullivan was on hand to finish the ball to the Donegal net as the Royals picked the perfect moment to register their first goal of the 2017 championship season - 1-12 each with eight minutes left!

And Meath moved back in front in the 64^th minute when Bryan Menton lofted over the lead point much to the obvious approval of the vociferous home support. McBrearty kept his composure to arrow over a tricky close-range Donegal free from an acute angle following an O'Sullivan foul (black card), but Murphy stroked over another Donegal free two minutes from time as the lead changed hands again.

On the stroke of full time, Lenihan brilliantly steered over his seventh from a really difficult free and it was announced across the tannoy system that there would be three minutes of injury time. In the second of those, the mercurial McBrearty thumped over the visitors' 14^th point from distance, his seventh of the night ensuring that Donegal will be in fourth-round Qualifier action in a fortnight.

Donegal - M A McGinley; C Ward, N McGee, K Gillespie; P McGrath, R McHugh (1-0), F McGlynn (0-1); J McGee (0-2), M Murphy (0-5, 2f); E Ban Gallagher, C Thompson, E McHugh; M O'Reilly, H McFadden, P McBrearty (0-7, 3f). Subs: M McElhinney for C Thompson, J Brennan for H McFadden, K Lacey for M O'Reilly, M McHugh for F McGlynn.

Meath - P O'Rourke; D Keogan (0-1), C McGill, M Burke; P Harnan, B Power, S McEntee (0-1); B Menton (0-1), B Conlon; R O Coileain (0-1), J McEntee (0-1), G Reilly (0-1); S Tobin, C O'Sullivan (1-1), D Lenihan (0-7f). Subs: M Newman for S Tobin, D Tobin for S McEntee, E Wallace for C O'Sullivan (BC).

Referee - D O'Mahoney.

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