Graham Geraghty's second-half goal proved decisive for Meath

Meath hit the opening three scores and continued to control the game before Sean Cavanagh's cracking goal cut the Royals' lead to 0-7 to 1-3.

Tyrone trailed 0-10 to 1-5 at the break but then went ahead after Owen Mulligan's opportunist goal.

But Graham Geraghty's goal put Meath three ahead again and they held on to win despite Tyrone's late pressure.

Pre-match fitness doubt Brian Dooher did start for Tyrone but it quickly became obvious that the Red Hand skipper was struggling and he was replaced by Enda McGinley a minute before half-time.

Meath showed their intent from the start with two Brian Farrell points split by a Mark Ward score as they took an early 0-3 to 0-0 lead.

Gerard Cavlan opened Tyrone's account in the 12 minute and Raymond Mulgrew's fisted effort left the minimum between the teams two minutes later.

But Meath's direct but purposeful football was continuing to cause major problems for the Tyrone defence.

Fine efforts from play from the impressive Stephen Bray, Peadar Byrne and Graham Geraghty helped the Royals claim a 0-7 to 0-3 lead by the 22nd minute.

It nearly got worse for Tyrone when Byrne ran through on goal a minute later but John Devine produced a great save to keep his side in touch.

That save seemed a potentially pivotal moment when Sean Cavanagh stormed downfield a minute later to rifle the ball past Brendan Murphy with an unstoppable shot.

But Meath weren't rattled and replied with the next three scores to extend the margin to four again.

Sean Cavanagh's goal got Tyrone back into the game

Points from defender Damien McCaul and McCullagh meant that the Royals led by only two at the break (0-10 to 1-5) which was in no way representative of the first half play.

Tyrone took an unlikely lead two minutes after the break when the previously off-colour Mulligan reacted to slam home the ball to the net from close range after Cavlan's long-range free had come back off an upright.

The Red Hands continued to raise their intensity significant from their first-half display while Conor Gormley was doing a much better job in containing Bray than Ryan McMenamin had managed before the interval.

However, Meath regrouped to level thanks to a Farrell free in the 44th minute and then came Geraghty's cool finish which ultimately decided the match.

The veteran ran on to a long ball played right down the middle of the Tyrone defence and his exquisite palmed finish looped over the stranded Devine and into the roof of the net.

Meath only managed two further points in their remaining 27 minutes of play but Tyrone never really looked like getting on terms.

The Red Hands were winning plenty of possession in their own half and around midfield as Meath retreated but the Tyrone forwards never looked like picking off the scores that they needed.

Stephen O'Neill was introduced for the final 10 minutes of action but even he was afflicted by the poor shooting which had plagued the Tyrone display.

Geraghty picked up a yellow card in the 62nd minute after his stray boot appeared to have caught Cavanagh in the head after the Tyrone midfielder had tumbled to the ground.

Ryan Mellon's score reduced Meath's lead to two points as the match entered injury-time.

O'Neill then engineered a '45 deep in injury-time but his effort sailed high and harmlessly wide to sum up a day to forget for the 2003 and 2005 All-Ireland champions.

Tyrone: J Devine; R McMenamin, J McMahon, D McCaul (0-1); D Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan; K Hughes, S Cavanagh (1-0); B Dooher (capt), R Mulgrew (0-2), R Mellon (0-1); C McCullagh (0-2), G Cavlan (0-1), O Mulligan (1-1). Subs: E McGinley for Dooher 34 mins, T McGuigan for Hughes 55, D Carlin for Jordan 60, S O'Neill for Cavlan 63.

Meath: B Murphy, C McGuinness, D Fay, N McKeigue, C O'Connor, K Reilly, C King, M Ward (0-1), N Crawford (1-1), G Geraghty (1-2), A Moyles (capt), P Byrne (0-1), S Bray (0-3), S O'Rourke (0-1), B Farrell (0-4). Subs: S Kenny for Byrne (half-time), C McCarthy for O'Rourke 61, C Ward for Bray 67, S MacGabhann for Fay 68.

Referee: Vincent Neary (Mayo).