All set to deliver
November 30, 2007
After spending a few years fighting survival battles, Summerhill are moving in the right direction again and in 2007 qualifying for the quarter-finals of the SFC was significant progress for their young side.
From 2001 to 2004 the once mighty 'Hill found themselves one hour from being demoted to intermediate ranks but on each occasion their battling instincts enabled them to stay up. But they have more than fighting spirit these days with a number of talented young footballers coming up from the underage ranks enabling them to compete with the best in the top grade.
County championship wins in the minor and under 21 grades as well as Division 1 League and Feis Cup successes in the last few years brought the club back into the limelight and this year was the 21st anniversary of the most recent SFC triumph in 1986.
Pauric Lyons was the happy captain when the Keegan Cup went to Summerhill for the fifth time following a 0-13 to 1-8 final victory over Seneschalstown while Mattie Kerrigan, a playing star for the first four title triumphs, was coach for the latter rounds, have taken over from none other than Michael 'Babs' Keating, who had been appointed as Tipperary hurling boss.
Lyons and Kerrigan were the joint managers of their club's senior side in 2007 and at the end of the championship campaign, the record was played six, won three, drew one and lost two. The defeats were in the last two outings, to Dunshaughlin in the final round of the group stages and to Seneschalstown in a quarter-final.
Summerhill used a big sprinkling of the team which defeated Skryne in the under 21 final of the previous December and ten of them figured in the game against Seneschalstown. Billy Shaw, Mark O'Reilly, Gary Rispin, Adrian Kenny, Damien Byrne and Rory Donnelly were the more experienced members of the side.
In their first game in the six-team group Summerhill did not have to click above second gear in order off the weak challenge posed by one of the relegation favourites, Ballinlough, at Longwood. The biggest surprise was that the men in red and white scored first before points from Brian Ennis (two), Stephen Kennedy and Adrian Kenny got the south county outfit moving in the expected direction.
Summerhill went on to win by 0-20 to 1-6 after being ahead by 0-8 to 0-2 at the break. Paul Larkin featured well with four points from play and Brian Ennis put over five, three from frees.
The road would be a bit more difficult but still so impressive was the display in the 2-9 to 0-9 victory over Blackhall Gaels in a Sunday evening tussle at Pairc Tailteann that one local paper carried the 'Hill emerge as real contenders' headline.
Summerhill became the first team in the championship to garner four points and they stayed the pace better than their opponents and after the sides were level four times, they struck for goals after 42 and 55 minutes. Most of the better football was served up in the second half after the eventual winners led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the break.
Even though Blackhall hit the first two scores following the restart, the introduction of substitute Stephen Kennedy proved crucial for the 'Hill. Shortly after joining the action, he passed to Davy Dalton who fired home the first goal. Later Kennedy fisted a free by Brian Ennis to the net and the latter also made an important contribution with six points from frees.
Summerhill retained their position at the top of Group A with a 1-7 to 0-10 draw with Simonstown Gaels at Dunsany in a game which was also tied at the break, 0-6 each. Stephen Kennedy also found the net in this game, a score similar to that of the previous round when getting to the end of a free by Ennis at the start of the final quarter.
That left the south county side leading by 1-6 to 0-8 and after Simonstown hit back to regain the advantage with a brace of points, it took a Rory Donnelly converted free to give a share of the spoils to Summerhill who were less than impressive up front.
Then it was on to another 'troll in the park' for Summerhill as they outscored Duleek by 2-15 to 0-6 at Dunsany. That was after going two points in arrears before Paul Rispin got them on the board and Paul Larkin netted the first goal with eight minutes gone.
The two Pauls were prominent as their side raced clear. At the other end veteran netminder Billy Shaw made a fine stop and it was 1-9 to 0-3 at the break. Full forward Richie Hatton put his name on the second goal when palming in a cross from Larkin.
That win ensured that Summerhill were through to the last eight and the 0-10 to 0-12 defeat by Dunshaughlin at Dunderry meant that they finished in second place to the black and amber brigade in the group. In a keenly contested encounter two late points decided the outcome after the sides had been on level terms eight times.
After trailing by 0-1 to 0-4, Summerhill began to come more into the game with Maurice Kennedy and Damien Byrne showing up well at midfield. It was 0-6 each art the break and Kennedy contributed spectacular point after half an hour, punching over the bar following a long solo run which brought close to the posts.
Although Rory Donnelly twice put Summerhill into the lead in the second half, they were outscored by three points to nothing in the last ten minutes as Dunshaughlin jumped above them to claim the top spot in the section.
Although Summerhill went into their quarter-final as favourites, they were handicapped by the absence of Gary Rispin, who was away on his honeymoon, and Maurice Kennedy not being able to join the action until the last five minutes because of illness.
They only led in the early stages after two points from Brian Ennis and after leading by 1-6 to 0-6 at the break, Seneschalstown won by 2-11 to 0-11. Summerhill trailed by five points close to the break before points from Paul Rispin, Paul Larkin and Ennis raised their hopes.
However, they continued to play catch up in the second half. Mark O'Reilly was up against an in form Joe Sheridan and although Paul Rispin, Stephen Kennedy and Rory Donnelly put over points, the concession of the goals meant the end of their championship run.
In the JFC Summerhill started off well with wins over Dunsany and St Brigid's with John Loughrey and Willie Milner figuring prominently in these successes. However, both of those went to figure with the seniors and defeats by Moynalvey and Bective prevented that seconds from making further progress.
The club's third team operated in the junior D ranks and they enjoyed championship successes over Dunderry, Longwood, Trim and Boardsmill before being ousted by Ratoath. Raymond Comey, Declan Bruton, Stephen Mullally and Eoin Noone were among those to figure prominently on that side.
Looking back on Summerhill's 2007 SFC campaign Padraig Lyons summing it up by saying that while it was good to reach the knockout stages for the first time in seven years, he would have liked to have gone one more step forward.
The former All-Ireland winning defender bemoaned the fact that Gary Rispin and Maurice Kennedy were both unable to start while work commitments ruled out Noel Kennedy for a number of games. "Maurice had a stomach bug during the week and he had little energy on the day. He was a big loss as he is a good man at running at defences," he said.
"We probably played our best football in the second half of the game against Blackhall Gaels, the game which we drew with Simonstown was a middling affair, Ballinlough or Duleek did not provide strong opposition and while the last group game against Dunshaughlin was fairly competitive, the fact that they had to win to stay in gave them the edge at the end.
"As regards losing to Seneschalstown, while they were the better side on the day, I would like if we had gone out with a bit more fighting spirit. We were caught for the two goals and while Joe Sheridan had a hand in both, he was well held for the rest of the game," added Lyons.
The 1986 captain would obviously love to shed the title of being the last Summerhill player to be presented with the Keegan Cup and he hopes that the players can learn from the 2007 campaign and go further in the coming year.
"There were a lot of young players on the team this year but as I said before, they can't stay young forever and they will have to push on and accept more responsibility. It will be up to them to mature a bit more next year," he remarked.
Still after being involved in three relegation finals earlier in the decade, Summerhill are beginning to look like a side who could soon make a stronger challenge for outright honours in the SFC. In 2008 perhaps.
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