Tony gets his hands on the Keegan Cup
November 27, 2011
Summerhill have been plying their trade in the senior ranks continuously since 1973 and since then they have won the Meath senior football championship on six occasions, four of these wins came consecutively from 1974 to 1977, culminating with a Leinster club SFC win in 1977, while the fifth county title was added in '86.
However, the club had to wait a quarter of a century before the Keegan Cup once again visited the parish; way too long for a club of its stature. Navan O'Mahony's (17) and Skryne (13) are the only two teams ahead of Summerhill in the senior roll of honour and although it may be some time before they catch up with either of those two, this progressive club is certainly heading in the right direction.
This year's success was no flash in the pan and 2011 captain Tony McDonnell explained to the Royal County Yearbook that it was the fruition of many years' hard work.
Three years ago, Summerhill reached their first county final since 1990 and ironically they face the same opposition in the two finals, O'Mahony's, but despite the high hopes of the blue and yellows, the Navan town team came out on top on both occasions.
The latter defeat saw the re-emergence of Summerhill as genuine contenders for the championship and although it took them three years to return to the county final, they were determined not to let this one slip away.
"We had been working towards this win for a few years now; the club has had great success at underage level in recent years and that has come about through the hard work of many who are involved in the club," admitted Tony.
"We would have learned a lot from the O'Mahony's defeat three years ago, many of the lads were very young at the time and it certainly brought us on a lot. But, the Meath championship is very hard won and if you look at it no side has successfully defended the title since Dunshaughlin ten years ago. So that shows you the level of competition that is out there. Nearly every team in the championship has a good chance of winning it, which is very good for Meath football in general."
For this year's campaign Cavan native Declan McCabe was brought in as manager and Tony revealed that right from the offset, there was a renewed vigour in the side as they set off to reach their holy grail.
"Declan came in and freshened things up straight away. That's not to say anything against the previous managers, who in my opinion were all very good, but Declan introduced new ideas and he kept the interest levels at training up, which is important."
The group campaign of the championship saw Summerhill placed alongside Wolfe Tones, Simonstown Gaels, Blackhall Gaels, Oldcastle and Trim. Their opening match saw them comfortably defeat Trim and then they recorded a two-point win over Blackhall Gaels. A six point win over Oldcastle maintained their 100% record and kept them on course for a place in the knockout stages.
"From the very start of the year, we said we would take it one game a time and see how we went from there. We got off to a great start winning our first three matches. We set our stall out early in the year and we trained very hard. Once the championship came around we knuckled down and our aim was to get out of the group."
"However, Summerhill's campaign suffered a massive setback when Simonstown Gaels inflicted their first defeat of the campaign on them and this was followed by a second defeat to Wolfe Tones in their last match. To their relief though, McCabe's charges had done enough in their first three matches to finish second in the group and qualify for the knockout stages.
"We just didn't perform in our last two matches and that was a real concern, but at the same time I think the defeats were a wake up call for us and it made us realize that every game in this championship was going to be tough."
Summerhill were pitted against annual championship favourites Navan O'Mahony's in the last eight. O'Mahony's had inflicted the last two county final defeats on the men in blue and gold, but this time the Navan men were to meet a very determined outfit.
Following an excellent display, Summerhill emerged victorious on a scoreline of 2-10 to 0-12 as they progressed to the semi final and a meeting with Wolfe Tones, who had beaten them in their last group match.
However, that result counted for little as McCabe's men buoyed by their win over O'Mahony's once again produced a confident performance as they defeated the former champions by 1-7 to 1-6 to book their place in the final where they would face Dunshaughlin in the decider.
"The two wins over O'Mahony's and Wolfe Tones gave us great belief that we could go on and win the championship, but we were by no means over confident as we knew what it was like to lose a county final," stressed the 29-year-old.
In a tense dramatic clash, the county final ended in a draw and a replay was needed to see who would be crowned the 2011 Keegan Cup winners.
Having needed a Michael Byrne pointed free in the 60th minute to force the additional 20 minutes, Summerhill put a significant deposit on the Keegan Cup with four unanswered points in the first period of extra time.
'Man-of-the-match' Adrian Kenny got the sequence going with his sixth point from play. David Larkin, Byrne and Conor Gillespie with the other Summerhill scorers in this phase of the game.
Points from substitute Eoin Hegarty and Conor O'Dwyer were all breeze-assisted Dunshaughlin could muster in the time remaining. Dunshaughlin did have a goal chance in the latter stages of extra time but it was comfortably dealt with by Summerhill 'keeper and captain Tony McDonnell. A late Dunshaughlin line ball caused some unease in the Summerhill defence. The awarding of a free-out led to the last action of the game as Summerhill were crowned champions following a score line of 0-14 to 1-9.
"It was a special feeling when the final whistle went and the relief was something else. It was a great honour to captain the team and it was a privilege to lead the lads out this year. Every member of the panel put in a huge effort; not only this year but over the last few years and we have finally reaped the rewards."
Two of Tony's biggest supporters are his parents, both of who are deeply involved in the Summerhill club as his father was a selector on the team, while his mother Anne is the Meath County Board PRO.
"For as long as I can remember both my parents have been steeped in football. My Grandfather, Paddy Daly, who was my Mam's Dad was chairman of the club for two separate terms ('81-'83 and '94-'95) while he was selector when they won the four in a row and unfortunately he passed away ten years ago and missed out on seeing us win this championship, but I know he would have been looking down on us."
The latest addition to the clan is Tony and Kathleen's son Lleyton, who was born earlier this year and was mascot in the county final.
One of the hardest tasks in Meath football is defending the Keegan Cup, but Tony is confident that with a bit of luck on their side, Summerhill can be the first side to it in the last decade. "We are definitely equipped to do it. I'd be hopeful that Declan would stay on for another year and if we don't lose any players to emigration then we have a great chance of defending it."
Tony works for Gem Pack Foods, which specialises in delivering a range of retail and food service products to a large customer base. Based in Blanchardstown, Tony is the Warehouse Supervisor and the company employs 80 people.
"Gem Pack Foods was incorporated in 1967 and its core activity was packaging and distributing dried fruits. Over the years we have had a steady growth pattern adding additional food products such as Rice's, Cereals, and traditional Desserts, Sugar, Salt, and Pepper sachets under the Gem and Gold Seal brand. We also produce own label products for the leading multiples in Ireland."
Most Read Stories