Summerhill captured the 2003 Meath under 21 football championship when defeating Seneschalstown by 0-16 to 1-10 in a thrilling replayed final at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday November 23rd. Both sides served up a feast of football and it was a pity either had to loose, but in the end Summerhill possessed that little bit of extra class and were fully deserving recipients of the Joe McKeown Cup. Despite conceding the game's only goal during the first half, the winners carried a four-point advantage into the break, 0-11 to 1-4, leaving their opponents shaken and stirred with a run of five unanswered points in the run-up to the short whistle. That was the game's decisive spurt. The sides were level on four occasions during that opening half-hour and it took something special from Padraig Lyons' team to put daylight between them for the first time. Summerhill had sneaked three points clear (0-5 to 0-2) by the start of the second quarter but that advantage was shortlived as county man Joe Sheridan fired a great goal to draw the Yellow Furze side level. Former Navan O'Mahonys player Paul Comey responded to Sheridan's major with his third point of the game, from a free, but Seneschalstown again levelled with a point from wing back David Byrne. Then came that winning sequence of five points - all courtesy of Comey and Brian Ennis. First Comey caught a long delivery and tapped over, before the same player added a brace - one from play and one from a free. Two excellent points from full forward Ennis followed and all Seneschalstown could manage in reply was a solitary point before the interval. Seneschalstown continued the second half where they had left off and quickly moved six points clear thanks to scores from inspirational midfielder Damien Byrne (31) and and Ennis (33). For the remainder of the game Seneschalstown never managed to get any closer than two points - this in spite of the fact that Summerhill had substitute Joe Farrell sent off 13 minutes from time. Aided in no small way by three mammoth Alan Foley points into the hospital end, Summerhill held out to claim their second county U21 championship, adding to the breakthrough success of six years previously. What made Summerhill's '03 success all the more remarkable was the fact that they had looked dead and buried in the drawn game a week earlier, only for ever-dependable midfielder Damien Byrne to force the replay with a dramatic injury-time goal. Trailing by 1-13 to 1-10 with normal time elapsed, Summerhill came with one last gallant roll of the dice: Paul Comey lobbed a close range free into the danger area and Byrne was on hand to palm the ball to the net, thus guaranteeing his side a second bite at the cherry. In the early stages of the drawn game, it was Summerhill who carried the fight to their opponents and they surged into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead courtesy of some impressive play from Alan Foley, Paul Rispin and Comey up front, as well as Byrne's industry in the centre. The 'Hill gradually lost their way, however, and rocked by Damien Sheridan's 18th-minute goal, trailed by 1-13 to 0-12 with time almost up. Their recovery from that unpromising position was incredible and it was no major surprise when Padraig Lyons' charges went on to complete the job in the replay on November 23rd. Victory came as a big boost to the south Meath club, who had already lost three finals in 2003 and were delighted to finally get across the winning line. Even though Seneschalstown had also reached the U21 decider in 2002, the 'Hill went into the '03 final as favourites on account of their wonderful semi-final defeat of fancied Navan O'Mahonys. Summerhill's first-round victims were Dunderry, a game in which the would-be champions demonstrated the sort of resolve that would see them strike gold. After the original match ended in a draw, Padraig Lyons' men bounced back to inflict a 2-15 to 0-17 replay defeat on the Dunderry men. A number of the championship-winning U21 side had also featured on the Summerhill minor team beaten by O'Mahonys in the 2003 county MFC final. All in all, Summerhill's underage structures are looking solid and the club has an exciting flow of young talent ready to come through and consolidate - nay, strengthen - its senior standing over the coming years. Summerhill, 2003 Meath under 21 football champions: T McDonnell; C McGrath, C Foley, B Comey; C Ennis, W Milner, R Hatton; M Kennedy (0-1), D Byrne (0-1); S Kennedy. A Foley (0-4), T Lynch; P Rispin, B Ennis (0-4), P Comey (0-6). Subs: J Farrell, F Loughrey. Signs of improvement Summerhill diced with death in the previous two Senior Football Championships, but they saved their supporters the agony of another relegation dogfight in 2003 when securing sufficient points in the group stages to hold onto their status in the top flight. By Paul Clarke. They saw off Navan O'Mahonys in 2001 and Oldcastle a year later in do or die matches that earned them safety and avoiding a similar dreaded situation in the championship gone by was always going to be high on the club's list of priorities. Overall, it was a progressive year for the club and the fact that two under-age sides managed to reach their championship finals - even if they were beaten - has to be regarded as a major source of encouragement with the future in mind. The under-age structure is so vitally important to the future stability and success of any club and 2003 certainly suggested that Summerhill are going in the right direction as the minors and under-16s enjoyed highly successful runs which just fell short of outright championship success. The seniors were drawn in Group A of the championship, a section that also included the reigning champions at the time, Dunshaughlin, who were bidding for a fourth successive Keegan Cup, Cortown, Dunboyne, Kilmainhamwood, St. Patrick's, Trim and Walterstown. Summerhill couldn't have asked for a more testing start to their campaign at Dunsany as they faced a Dunshaughlin side which had won the Leinster Club Championship the previous December, having earlier clinched a third successive county senior title. The champions looked devastating and Summerhill, in the absence of Damien Byrne, Declan McCabe, Gary Rispin, Niall O'Reilly and Ray Clavin, were beaten decisively by 0-11 to 2-12 on a day when former Meath and Kildare senior player Cathal Sheridan demonstrated his importance to the cause by scoring an impressive eight points. Next up were the beaten finalists of the previous autumn, Trim, and another big tally of 1-6 from Sheridan just wasn't enough as the town side looked highly impressive and won by 1-15 to 1-10 at Pairc Tailteann. When Walterstown inflicted a third successive defeat on Summerhill in the third round, winning narrowly by 0-11 to 0-9 at Trim, it was starting to look like a very similar story to the previous couple of campaigns for John Lyons' side. However, the match against the Blacks was one they might well have won as they led by 0-7 to 0-4 at half-time, before being outscored in the second period. After three successive defeats, Summerhill badly needed to get some points in the bag to avoid falling into deep relegation trouble and they secured them in the fourth round when defeating Kilmainhamwood in a really crucial game at Pairc Tailteann. The north Meath side led by 0-7 to 1-3 at the interval, but a blistering six-minute spell after half-time which brought two points from Adrian Kenny and a goal and a point from Sheridan played a huge part in securing an invaluable 2-7 to 0-11 victory. However, the pressure was back on after the fifth round loss to Dunboyne at Dunsany. The winners led by 1-7 to 0-2 at the break and even two second-half goals from substitute Gary Thompson weren't sufficient to revive the 'Hill who went under by seven points (2-3 to 2-10). That meant they were joint bottom of the group with Cortown and Kilmainhamwood on two points and the sixth round clash with Cortown was always going to be crucial in the battle for survival. When the pressure was on Summerhill responded well. They produced a fine second-half performance to earn a 2-12 to 1-10 victory and, with Kilmainhamwood going under to Walterstown in Kells, the 'Hill had secured their senior status. The brilliance of Packie Henry in the opening period helped Cortown to a narrow 0-7 to 1-3 interval lead, but it was Sheridan who really turned on the style in the second period as he brought his personal tally for the match to 1-6. Brian Ennis got the other Summerhill goal. There was nothing at stake for Summerhill when they played St. Patrick's in the concluding group game at Dunsany, but there certainly was for Pat's, and the Stamullen side edged through for a 0-11 to 0-10 victory which secured their place in the quarter-finals. After all the drama of the previous two campaigns, Summerhill were happy to be free from the threat of the dreaded drop to the intermediate ranks. They had achieved that particular goal, but looking back on the group campaign as a whole they might feel that they were capable of challenging for a place in the knock-out stages, never mind managing to survive. "It was a big relief not to end up in another relegation situation," said club secretary Ann McDonnell. "Those type of games aren't good for the blood pressure. Looking back on the championship we probably weren't that far away from a quarter-final place. We lost to Dunshaughlinin in our first match at Dunsany and were then beaten by Trim at Pairc Tailteann. That was our worst game of football in years. "Then we lost to Walterstown. That was really a match we should have won. A victory there would have acted as a really big boost to us and I think we would have been on a roll after that. The game against Trim was our worst performance of the championship, but the match against Waterstown was certainly our worst result. "Thankfully, we did enough after that to stay up, getting vital wins against both Kilmainhamwood and Cortown." The Summerhill second string, which was promoted to the Junior Championship following their Junior B success the previous year, performed quite well and can be satisfied that they managed to hold onto their place in the higher grade. They had something of a mixed bag of results, beating Clann na nGael in the opening round at Boardsmill, drawing with Dunderry and losing to eventual junior champions Wolfe Tones, Simonstown Gaels and Moynalty. "Overall, we have to look back on 2003 as a very progressive year, with the Junior D Championship and B League teams enjoying such good runs, while we also reached both the Under-16 and Minor Championship finals," added Ann McDonnell. "Unfortunately, we lost both of those under-age finals, but it was a very good achievement to get that far and it augurs well for the future." Summerhill, managed by former Royal County great Mick Lyons, were bidding for their first Minor Championship success in all of 61 years, but they were edged out in the final by Navan O'Mahonys at Pairc Tailteann as the town side claimed the Delaney Cup for the third time in four years. Summerhill led by 1-4 to 1-0 after 20 minutes after Stephen Kennedy had scored their goal, but O'Mahonys were on level terms by the break (1-4 each) and shaded the second period by two points to clinch the title. Significantly, both the winners' goals came from penalties scored by Henry Finnegan, while the losers were unfortunate not to have netted on a few other occasions and were also left to rue their tally of 11 wides over the hour. There was also disappointment for Summerhill in the Under-16 Championship final in late July when they lost to St. Martin's by 0-9 to 1-9 at Pairc Tailteann. The key score was a Martin's goal notched by Brian Coughlan in the second-half and Summerhill just couldn't get the goal they needed to rescue the situation and their brave efforts just failed. Losing finals is always a big disappointment, especially after the huge amount of effort it takes to get there, but Summerhill can certainly take great hope for the future from both those campaigns. "We have some very good young players coming through and we are very hopeful for future success," added Ann McDonnell. "It's probably a couple of years down the road yet, but I believe that the nucleus of a very good team is there." For the record, the Summerhill teams and scorers in those finals were: Minor - S. Lynch; R. Ardiff, R. Hatton, M. Gorman; B. Byrne, C. McGrath, P. McGlynn; B. Ennis (0-5), M. Kennedy (0-1); P. Rispin (0-1), C. Foley, G. Gorman; T. Walsh, S. Kennedy (1-1), W. Milner (0-1). Subs - C. Byrne for G. Gorman, D. Dalton for Walsh. Under-16 - S. Lynch; R. Comey, M. Gorman, G. O'Neill; A. Lyons, J. Picking, S. Husband; W. Milner (0-3), C. Byrne; K. O'Neill, B. Hatton (0-1), P. Larkin (0-1); C. Gillespie (0-2), T. Walsh (0-1), M. Byrne (0-1). Subs - A. McGee for K. O'Neill, C. Young for Lyons. Tweet

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