Meath are in an embarrassing position in Division Two after losing by 1-14 to 1-12 to neighbours Kildare at Newbridge.

This was the Royal County's fourth defeat of the campaign and Seamus McEnaney's charges are now faced with the stark reality of a relegation dogfight as the horrendous spectre of Division Three football looms ever larger.

This match was played at real championship intensity in front of a massive crowd and Meath rallied late on. They seemed set to pull the game out of the fire when Shane O'Rourke's 57th-minute goal levelled the scores, but late points from Fionn Dowling and James Kavanagh finally put an exhilarating encounter to bed.

Kildare dominated the first half and led by 1-5 to 0-5 at the break.

A huge crowd flocked to St Conleth's Park for this Leinster derby and the home supporters were delighted that Johnny Doyle was passed fit to start after missing the last round through illness.

However, Meath's Joe Sheridan opened the scoring from a 45 after three minutes and Brian Farrell added a nice score from play for the Royals before Eoghan O'Flaherty replied for the Lilywhites.

After points were exchanged, who else but Doyle fired to the back of the net in the 22nd minute to make it 1-2 to 0-3 to the Lilywhites!

O'Flaherty and Robert Kelly - with a magnificent point - added more points for Kildare but Seamus Kenny replied for the Royals, who were delighted to be within three points at the short whistle.

Cian Ward came on for Meath and Sheridan got the first score of the second half. Ronan Sweeney, Ward and Kelly - with another beauty - all exchanged scores: 1-7 to 0-7 ten minutes into the second period.

The next four points were traded. Ward slotted two more frees and Doyle and Padraig O'Neill were on target for the hosts, who led by three with quarter of the match remaining: 1-9 to 0-9.

When Shane O'Rourke gathered the ball from Sheridan's flick to plant the ball in the net with 13 minutes left, this one was going to go all the way down to the wire. Banty was paroling the sideline for the first time: all square and everything to play for.

The scores were flowing over now but the hosts pulled away again to lead by 1-14 to 1-11. There were shades of the Leinster final as the Royals stormed forward looking for a goal but Paddy O'Rourke knocked the ball over the bar to close the gap to two.

Nobody was leaving Newbridge early as two additional minutes were signalled and the match reached a grandstand finale. Kildare held on to reaffirm their superiority over their neighbours. Tweet

Most Read Stories