Steven Sherlock struck for 0-13 as 14-man Cork came from eight points behind to defeat Meath (0-30 to 1-24) in this evening’s All-Ireland senior football championship first round tie at Pairc Ui Rinn.

John Cleary’s men put in a sizzling second-half performance and wouldn’t be derailed by midfielder Colm O’Callaghan’s sending off in the 56th minute, as late scores from Daniel O’Mahony and Mark Cronin (free) were backed up by a brilliant two-pointer by Sherlock to get them over the line.

Meath looked like they were cruising after hitting a purple patch 10 minutes before half-time that saw Jordan Morris firing them 0-10 to 0-9 in front prior to a Eoghan Frayne two-pointer sailing between the Rebels’ posts.

Morris picked out Ciaran Caulfield with an expert pass for the latter to tuck away the game’s only goal on 28 minutes and another two-pointer by Frayne would help move Robbie Brennan’s men towards a 1-16 to 0-11 interval lead.

The hosts raced out of the traps for the second-half however, outscoring their Leinster counterparts by 0-7 to 0-1 in the first 10 minutes of the restart, and back-to-back two-pointers by Sherlock suddenly had them into a 0-23 to 1-17 lead.

A Sean Brennan free looked to stop the rot for the visitors, with the margin at two points when Cork went down to 14 men following O’Callaghan’s dismissal.

Frayne (free) made it a one-point game and Ruairi Kinsella would bring Meath level on two occasions ahead of Sherlock coming up with a huge score from beyond the arc and Conor Corbett sending over the last point for the Leesiders before the hooter sounded.

An EPIC second half sees Cork get the better of Meath🔥🤯 #CORvMEA

FT Score@OfficialCorkGAA 0-30@MeathGAA 1-24

Watch the full-time highlights📽️👇 pic.twitter.com/sxUuMsR6hQ

— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 23, 2026

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