Historic underage success
December 31, 2001
The Summerhill U-16s carved a niche for themselves in the history of the club last July when defeating O'Mahony's to claim the Benny Caffrey cup for the first time ever. Club juvenile chairman and team mentor Mick McGlynn recounts the team's road to glory.
The SFC relegation play-off between Summerhill and Navan O'Mahony's last October attracted the attention of gaelic football followers the length and breath of the county. Fortunately, for Summerhill, they emerged with their senior status intact following a close battle at Dunsany.
The end result was similar to when these two clubs met at Trim in July to decide the destination of the U-16 FC title. 1-6 to 0-6 was the final score as the 'Hill claimed the Benny Caffrey Cup for the first time ever in their history.
After their close shave in the senior, this success will provide members of Summerhill with plenty of reasons to be hopeful about the future.
Mickey McGlynn has been involved with this talented batch of players since they were U-12 and this year he was joined on the management team by Summerhill and Meath legend Mick Lyons and club chairman Ned Daly.
"Staying senior was the big event for the club this year but the U-16 win came a close second," remarked McGlynn who has occupied the role of Summerhill juvenile chairman for the past three years.
"Particularly due to the fact that it was the first Division 1 underage championship won by the club in the last fifty or sixty years. We did win the U-21 recently but we would consider that to be adult."
He added: "It's important that we will be able to say to these young lads that if they keep training and playing away they could be playing senior football in a couple of years time. That's a big advantage, and that is why it was vital we retained senior status."
Prior to the first ball kicked in anger in this year's U-16 FC, O'Mahony's were installed as red-hot favourites to land the silverware. The Brews Hill club has dominated the underage landscape in Meath for quite some time now and they were fancied to add this year's U-16 title to the collection due to their success in the U-14 two years ago.
On that occasion they defeated Summerhill in the final, so the south Meath men were primed to exact revenge and following their semi-final defeat of Dunboyne in Trim they delivered in impressive fashion in the final.
"We knew we had a team capable of going all the way because we were beaten in the U-14 final two years ago by O'Mahony's and we were missing a couple of our key players for that game.
"O'Mahony's would have been strong favourites going into the final but we had drawn with them at home in an earlier round so we were quietly confident heading to Trim. One thing about this team is that they have tremendous fighting spirit and they never know when they are beaten. They just keep going and going and that attitude had won them many a game in the past."
This quality was very much in evidence in the 'Hill's final victory over their Navan rivals.
Despite playing with the wind in the first half, the team in blue and yellow made a slow start. They played their best football in the second and third quarters, however, and this proved to be sufficient to take the title.
O'Mahony's hit the first point of the game but Summerhill went two points clear in the 13th minute when an attempted point from centre-forward and team captain Brian Ennis somehow managed to find its way to the Navan net.
Speaking of Ennis, he emerged as the game's most influential performer and certainly played a captain's part with a final tally of 1-4. But it wasn't just his scoretaking ability which helped Summerhill to victory, he was accomplished in every facet of play with his fielding ability and strong running also catching the eye.
Elsewhere, Conor Foley, Mark Lynch, Paddy Austen and Peter McGlynn (Michael's son) laid the foundations in defence, Richard Hatton and Maurice Kennedy shaded the midfield battle while Paul Rispin and substitute Stephen Lynch provided good support to Ennis up front.
O'Mahony's recovered quickly from that freak goal to restore parity with two points and then took the lead in the 22nd minute with a fourth point.
But Summerhill improved their performance for the remainder of the half and points from Rispin (free) and Ennis established a 1-2 to 0-4 half-time lead.
Ennis and co. continued where they had left off after the resumption and they had pulled clear by 1-6 to 0-5 at the end of the third-quarter. Rispin and Ennis (2) accounted for those points during that period.
It looked good for Summerhill at that stage but as things transpired they weren't to score again during the final 15 minutes. O'Mahony's did raise the stakes in the closing stages but were left to rue a number of missed opportunities as the 'Hill rearguard defended courageously to guarantee their side the win.
As you would expect, referee Michael McDonagh's final whistle was greeted with memorable scenes of jubilation amongst the Summerhill mentors, panel and large band of supporters.
"It was a great relief when the final whistle went and we realised we had done it," enthused Michael who originally hails from Coole in Westmeath. "The lads produced a display full of guts and determination and fully deserved to win."
"An underage structure was put in place within the club back six of seven years ago and that is now beginning to reap dividends. Indeed, all out underage teams, from U-12 to minor, competed in Division 1 in their respective championships and that is a big achievement as far as we are concerned. It's important to have them up there playing against the best. That can only improve them as footballers."
The natural progression from here would point to a MFC success for Summerhill in two years time but Michael refuses to count his chickens. He realises that, like this year, a lot of hard work and commitment will be required over the next two years before a minor success can be contemplated.
"It would be foolish to start talking about winning a Minor in two years time because you never know what will happen during that period of time. Keeping the lads together and playing football is the main priority for now.
"We will have a lean year in the Minor in 2002. For example we played Dunboyne in the U-17FL Division 1 recently and they had only one player from the team we beat in the U-16 semi-final this year. We, on the other hand, had just one new addition to our U-16 team. It will be a learning process but hopefully we can keep the lads interested and the Minor in two years time is what we would be aiming for, but I'm sure O'Mahony's will be back then too and this time around it will be them looking for revenge."
The Summerhill team and subs which was on duty for the final win over O'Mahony's was: N Sullivan; T Walsh, C Foley, S Kennedy; P Austen, P McGlynn, M Lynch; M Kennedy, R Hatton; P Rispin (0-2), B Ennis (1-4), W Milner; G McDonnell, G Gorman, D Canton.
Subs - V O'Mahony for Canton, S Lynch for Milner, B Byrne for Walsh, D Canton for S Lynch.
Donie's Hill
Far from being over the Hill, Summerhill old boy Donie Mooney believes, instead, that with a bit more experience, the blue and gold's current premier squad will prove themselves to be a top notch outfit in the near future.
For county wanabees, the half-hearted, journeymen and serious students of football alike, it's all about the Keegan Cup in Meath. Nothing more, nothing less.
And the way things are panning out these times, the chances are that a solitary Keegan Cup medal may be all that a player will get in his lifetime given the way the holy grail has been doing a tour of the county over the last seven years. In Meath SFC circles, it's a bit like a micro version of the macra All-Ireland football scene where one-in-a-row will do, thank you very much.
Not that too many connoisseurs of the big ball game in Meath can remember when the biggest prize sport in the county has to offer was a long way removed from the Quality Street collection.
For his part though, Donie Mooney has four reasons to remember when the phenomena of sharing out the glittering prize in Meath was virtually non-existent.
Fact is, our man Mooney has four Keegan Cup medals to his name. Better still, their dates run in sequence, 1974, '75, '76, 77 - so there's no hassle remembering when it was that his club, Summerhill, dominated the local landscape like Nelson's column on O'Connell Street.
Though the blue and yellow machine is sans Mooney these days, the man himself is very much still at the heart of things and, in his role, of Public Relations Officer, he is obviously very keen to talk up the quality of the talent currently available to his beloved Summerhill.
"We're not too far off the pace as things stand. The current senior panel have age on their side with at least nine of them still under 21. The players have a lot of potential and in drawing with Walterstown and losing by just two points to Seneschalstown, St. Pat's and Trim, they showed that there's only a couple of kicks of the ball between them and the other leading contenders at senior level.
"Having said that, maybe they lack that wee bit of experience which is necessary to actually allow them to go right to the top. I'm convinced they haven't that much ground to make up," the former centre-forward cum full-back opines.
Certainly, Donie would hate to see Summerhill make the drop down to intermediate grade. In analysising Meath intermediate football, the former club and county star conjures up an image of dog-eat-dog fare, the group of death and so forth.
"Surviving relegation this year was a huge relief to everyone at the club. Even though it was O'Mahony's we beat to stay up, it didn't matter who it was we had to overcome as long as we did the business and stayed senior.
"I personally was very apprehensive about our chances of avoiding the drop as the O'Mahony's game grew closer. We hadn't been winning our matches in the run-up to the game while they were on a good run.
"Summerhill players have a tradition of raising their game when they come up against O'Mahony's and that's the way it proved last time out when, I felt, our lads showed themselves to be more committed over the hour. We did have the rub of the green too though.
"It was vital that we didn't go down to intermediate 'cause such is the nature of the age and experience of our players, that they need to consolidate their position in senior ranks over the next few years.
"Competition is really stiff in intermediate ranks and teams find it very difficult to get back out of intermediate ranks once they are relegated. The likes of Carnaross and Slane are examples in recent times in that regard.
Reflecting on Summerhill's unsuccessful foray into the blue riband competition in Meath in 2001, Donie maintains that being without the services of Mark and Niall O'Reilly was always going to make the club's bid for success a really difficult one.
"Any club would have a lot of problems trying to replace fellas of that calibre and although we like to think we have good strength in depth and can comfortably field three adult teams, players of the quality of those two lads aren't exactly thick on the ground," adds Donie, a stalwart full-back with the Royal County in the pre-Mick Lyons era.
Donie sees Summerhill's future in a very optimistic light but cautions that club supporters will have to show a large degree of patience and understanding as the players gather the requisite level of experience and football nous.
In addition, Donie insists that Summerhill's future success or failure on the playing fields lies primarily in the hands of the players.
"The structures are there at the club to allow the players realise their potential if they wish to do so but, like the way success was achieved by the club back in the seventies, they will have to work hard and be totally committed to the cause if they are to make it to the top."
A member of the Summerhill team which recorded a magnificent victory over a star-studded St. Vincents (Dublin) team - Jimmy Keaveney, Brian Mullins, Bobby Doyle et al - to win the Leinster club championship in 1977, Donie says that talent is only half the package. The rolled-up-sleeves mentality is crucial too.
"The stuff is there, as I say and if injuries can be avoided, Summerhill should prove to be the equal of any other team in Meath in the next couple of years.
According to Donie, everything is in place for the club to be successful again and win its first senior county championship title since 1986. Summerhill is a family-orientated club but it has an ambitious streak running down through every level, from underage to senior.
"We've huge numbers involved in playing the game at underage level and in men like Mick McGlynn and John Carton, the right kind of mentors looking after the juveniles.
"The club is laying the foundations at underage level for future success at senior level and we won't be satisfied until we win the senior championship again," the Summerhill-based fitted kitchens manufacturer adds.
Captain of the all-conquering Summerhill team of 1975 and as a powerful full back with the likes of the red haired Tom Flynn at right full and experienced dual player Bobby White in goals 'the Hill's defensive unit was not easily breached. Current trustee of the famed club, Donie knows all about leadership and setting good examples and, in these respects, he's confident that Summerhill has got people of character and standing who can lead the blue and golds back to the promised land.
So what of the opposition in the senior ranks in Meath?
"I think there's a fairly even standard among six or seven of the top teams at senior level. Anyone of a number of teams has the ability to win the Keegan Cup in any given year. Just look at how many teams have won the senior championship over the last seven years. There's very little separating a lot of teams."
And the well-being of Meath football in general?
"I'd say pretty good. You may not see the same passion and commitment from the players today as was maybe seen some years ago but the quality of the football is pretty good and with the success Meath have enjoyed over the last 20 years, football has seldom been more popular with the general public in the county."
Just the way Donie would wish it to be!
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