Meath SFC Final

Summerhill 0-22 Ratoath 1-13

By Paul Keane at Páirc Tailteann

A decade after they last won the Meath SFC title - and with four final defeats in the meantime - Summerhill are county champions once again.

Typical of their struggle to regain the Keegan Cup, they won this one the hard way too in Navan, overcoming a fatiguing bout of extra-time before eventually coming good with a landmark win.

Truth be told, Summerhill had the look of champions well before the full-time whistle eventually sounded as they outscored holders Ratoath by 0-7 to 0-1 in extra-time.

Rising Meath star Eoghan Frayne was their inspiration with six points on the day and he claimed the Man of the Match award as the south Meath club lifted their eighth title.

Barry Dardis weighed in with five important points too for Conor Gillespie's side who were previously beaten by Ratoath in the 2019 and 2022 deciders.

Ratoath, who beat Dunshaughlin and Wolfe Tones by a point in their quarter and semi-final ties, looked like they might pull off another great escape to sicken Summerhill yet again when Daithi McGowan forced extra-time with a 63rd minute leveller.

But they ran out of gas and only added one more score in the 20 minutes or so as Summerhill strode forward to claim the silverware.

They would have kicked themselves if they'd missed out again because they booted nine wides in regular time - compared to just four for Ratoath - and failed to take advantage of three goal opportunities which arose for them.

Summerhill will be back in action in a fortnight against Tullamore as the Meath and Offaly representatives have been paired off together in Round 1 of the Leinster club SFC, in Offaly.

Defeated Ratoath were initially boosted by the availability of former Meath attacker Joey Wallace for his first start of 2023.

The speedy full-forward came on in the semi-final defeat of Wolfe Tones following his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Wallace memorably played for a portion of last year's final win over Summerhill whilst waiting on surgery having suffered the injury weeks earlier.

He had an immediate impact on this encounter with the angled delivery in the fourth minute which led to a Bryan McMahon goal for Ratoath, a fisted finish after the former Meath forward rose up above Ronan Ryan and goalkeeper Sean Muddiman.

Wallace won a free that Daithi McGowan later converted also though it was Summerhill that fought back to take a narrow 0-10 to 1-06 half-time lead.

Ratoath led by 1-1 to 0-0 after that early McMahon goal but Summerill wiped out the deficit by the 13th minute following points from Eoghan Frayne, Dardis and David Larkin.

In perfect conditions, Summerhill picked off a series of terrific scores from distance with Frayne, still just 20, and the more experienced Dardis splitting seven points between them in the first-half alone.

Eamon Wallace, Joey's big brother and also a former Meath forward, operates in the half-back line for Ratoath and burst through for a timely first-half point.

It was an open and enjoyable decider with a series of intriguing match-ups for the estimated crowd of around 3,000 to pore over.

Dardis was initially tracked by former Meath full-back Conor McGill whilst Ratoath's Jack Flynn, the star of Meath's Tailteann Cup final victory, went head to head with Summerhill's powerful midfielder Adam Flanagan.

Joey Wallace was picked up by Summerhill corner-back Iarla Hughes until the defender's exit midway through the second-half.

Ratoath restarted brightly and controlled the third quarter, outscoring Summerhill by 0-4 to 0-1 in the 15 or so minutes after the break.

Joey Wallace opened his own account with an eye-catching score off his left foot following a probing run from right to left across the 13-metre line.

There were points too from Donegal man Ciaran O Fearraigh, Cian O'Brien and McMahon as Ratoath took a two-point 1-10 to 0-11 lead into the final quarter.

They couldn't close it out though and Summerhill fought back to level terms on three occasions late on, Lavelle putting the underdogs one up in the 65th minute before McGowan drilled the equaliser for a free with just three seconds of stoppage time remaining.

Summerhill were dominant in the opening half of extra-time with points from Dardis, Eoghan Frayne and Conor Lyons and only one in response from Ratoath's Flynn.

And Summerhill duly finished the job with four more points in the second-half, allowing their supporters to finally savour a victory that was a decade in the making.

Scorers for Summerhill: Eoghan Frayne 0-6 (0-3f), Barry Dardis 0-5 (0-2m, 0-1f), David Larkin 0-2, Conor Frayne 0-2, Conor Lyons 0-2, Diarmuid McCabe 0-1, Adam McDonnell 0-1, John Lavelle 0-1, Davy Dalton 0-1, Padraig Jennings 0-1.

Scorers for Ratoath: Bryan McMahon 1-1, Daithi McGowan 0-4 (0-3f), Cian O'Brien 0-2, Jack Flynn 0-2, Joey Wallace 0-1, Cian Rogers 0-1, Eamon Wallace 0-1, Ciaran O Fearraigh 0-1.

Summerhill: Sean Muddiman; Iarla Hughes, Ronan Ryan, John Lavelle; Adam McDonnell, Ross Ryan, Padhraig Geraghty; Adam Flanagan, John Keane; David Larkin, Diarmuid McCabe, Kevin Ryan; Conor Frayne, Eoghan Frayne, Barry Dardis.

Subs: Micheal Byrne for Keane 17, Conor Lyons for Kevin Ryan 40, Padraig Jennings for Hughes 43, Jamie O'Shea for McDonnell 45, Davy Dalton for McCabe 56, Eamon McDonnell for Dardis 60-62, blood, McDonnell for Conor Frayne 68. Ben Moran for Geraghty h/t e/t, Sean Dalton for Eoghan Frayne 72.

Ratoath: Shane Duffy; Conor McGill, Ben Wyer, Ciaran O Fearraigh; Andrew Gerrard, Gavin McGowan, Eamon Wallace; Jack Flynn, Ben McGowan; Keith McCabe, Daithi McGowan, Cian O'Brien; Cian Rogers, Bryan McMahon, Joey Wallace.

Subs: Bobby O'Brien for McCabe 48, Brian Daly for Gerrard 49, Padraig Byrne for Ben McGowan 53, Conor Rooney for O'Brien 62. Cian O'Farrell for Duffy e/t, Liam Kelly for Gavin McGowan 66, Tom Fadden for Joey Wallace 69, Ronan Byrne for McMahon 69.

Referee: David Coldrick.