THE honours were shared evenly this afternoon at Owenbeg when Derry came back grab a well deserved draw (throw in 2 pm).
The scoreline swung all afternoon like a pendulum with Derry looking like that they might have been able to hang on in the blustery conditions to secure a win.
But Meath had that never say die attitude and came back from a four point deficit to lead the game only for Derry to snatch a late point and get a well deserved draw.
In the dying seconds of added time, Karl McKaigue was fouled and Ryan Bell fired over the free.
The second half was just six minutes old when Niall Loughlin netted for Derry’s second goal of the game.
The second period opened as Meath had left off the first half scoring a point from play.
But Loughlin – who saw his first half attempt on goal come off the crossbar – then made sure with his second attempt and netted.
Meath responded with a Newman point but on 46 minutes Derry had increased their lead with scores from Sammy Bradley and Benny Heron making it a two point game at Owenbeg.
James Kielt got another score and on 56 minutes Benny Heron made sure of his 45 and Derry’s lead was up to four points.
Meath almost had a chance to cut the deficit but Newman missed his 45. However, he made up for it a short time later when he score a point bringing the game down to a three point margin.
On 60 minutes, Benny Heron restored Derry’s four point lead and the scoreline read 2-11 to Meath’s 2-07.
But with eight minutes left of normal time, Newman scored another Meath point bringing his tally so far to 1-06.
With five minutes remaining, the Royal County started their fight back with two successive scores and Derry’s lead was down to a single point – 2-11 to 2-10.
Then Meath came back again and scored two more points before Bell scored his free in the last seconds of added time.
The final whislte blew and the Oakleafers secured a much deserved draw.
It was Derry’s last home game of the Allianz National Football League Division Two.
HALF TIME: DERRY 1-06 V 2-04 MEATH
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