Summerhill made a short trip to take on neighbours Trim in their third game of this years A-League Division One. Summerhill were hoping to bounce back from defeat in the previous round to St Colmcille’s while Trim were looking to get their first points in the competition. Both teams were missing a number of regulars due to county commitments and injuries etc. but a tough contest between these two neighbours was still expected. The pitch in Trim as always was in excellent condition as always but a very strong wind blowing straight across the field was going to make scoring difficult.

Summerhill started brightly with a point from Barry Dardis with their first attack. Trim hit back with two points of their own to take the lead. Four unanswered points from Summerhill saw them take the lead again with these points coming from Kevin Ryan, Conor Frayne, David Larkin and a Eamonn McDonnell mark. Summerhill lost full back Willie Ryan early on to what looked like a nasty ankle injury and he was replaced by Jack Davies. The wind what’s having a significant impact on the game with both sides hitting a number of wides in the lead up to half time. Summerhill went in at the break leading by a single point on a score line of 0-6 to 0-5 with all to play for in the second half.

Trim scored the first point of the second-half two to draw the teams level but two more Summerhill points, a free from Eamonn McDonell and a point from Liam Shaw saw them take the lead again. Both sides exchanged further points and by the midpoint of the half Summerhill led by two points. By this point the wides were starting to mount up  as both sets of forwards struggled to deal with the difficult wind. In the 16th minute of the half Summerhill missed a golden opportunity to score a goal when and Eamonn McDonnell shot was well blocked on the line by a retreating Trim defender.

As you would expect on two neighbours meet there was an edge to the game at times with both sides picking up a number of yellow cards. It was inevitable some stage that some player would pick up a second yellow and it was Summerhill’s Kevin Ryan who was shown the line when he picked up second yellow card in the 17th minute of the half.

In the 24th minute of the half Summerhill had finally got the scoreboard moving again when good link up play between substitute David Dalton and Liam Shaw so David Larkin fouled in in the small square resulting in a Summerhill penalty. Barry Dardis stepped up to coolly dispatch the penalty to the back of the net to put a little bit of daylight between the teams. In the 28th minutes of the half Summerhill were awarded a second penalty. This time a good pass from Jack Bannon found Jack Davis who was bundled over in the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Again, the spot kick was again expertly dispatched by Barry Dardis to finally settle the game as a contest.

Final score Summerhill 2-9 Trim 0-7. Next up for Summerhill as a home game against Skryne on Tuesday evening.

Team: Sean Muddiman, Willie Ryan, Iarla Hughes, Jack Bannon, Padhraig Geraghty, John Lavelle, Jamie O’Shea, Kevin Lyons, David Larkin (0-1), Liam Shaw (0-1), Conor Lyons, Kevin Ryan (0-1), Eamonn McDonnell (0-2, 1 f 1mark), Conor Frayne (0-2), Barry Dardis (2-2, 2 pen, 1f).

Subs: Jack Davies or Willie Ryan, David Dalton for Eamonn MacDonnell, Conor Ryan for Kevin Lyons, Darren Chapman for Conor Lyons.