Summerhill travelled to Trim on Tuesday evening the 11th of July to take on Ratoath in the final of the Premier Division 6 championship. Ratoath had won their previous meeting in the group stages but hopes were high after a good semifinal win against Trim the previous week.
Ratoath started the game well and there pace and direct running was causing Summerhill all sorts of trouble. The Summerhill cause was not helped by the loss of experienced defender John Comey, who was replaced by Jack Regan, to an arm injury in the 10th minute. By the 20th minute Ratoath led by seven points to three with the Summerhill points coming from two Ross Tallon frees as well as an excellent point from Conor Ryan. In the 21st minute of the half Ratoath struck for their first goal to extend their lead. Summerhill added another point from Conor Summerville before the break to leave the halftime score Ratoath 1-8 Summerhill 0-4.
Summerhill started the second half well and within two minutes had scored a goal to bring them right back into the game. Quick thinking by Ross Tallon who played a free to the in running Conor Ryan who fired an unstoppable shot to the net from the 21-metre line. Summerhill with their tails up dominated play for the next period but missed several good chances to cut the lead further. In the 10th minute of the half Ratoath intercepted a Summerhill kickout and broke forward and scored their second goal with a shot from a tight angle to re-established their comfortable lead. Summerhill continued to attack and added a point from Ross Tallon. In the 23th minute of the half Luke Byrne got on the end of a knockdown from Connie McGrath to fire to the back of the net to narrow the gaps but Summerhill couldn’t built on this to get the scores they needed to get back into the game. In the final play of the game Ratoath scored their third goal to leave them deserving winners albeit on a slightly flattering scoreline of Ratoath 3-12 Summerhill 2-6.
While this was a disappointing result this team can be very proud with their progress throughout the year. This team was backboned by some very experienced players but provided great opportunity for many of our younger players to get valuable game time which will stand to them in the future.
Team: Sean Hughes, Paddy Troy, John Comey, Mark Donoghue, Donal Matthews, Gary Rispin, Darragh McVann, Eoghan Jennings, Paddy Mulligan, Luke Byrne (1-0), Conor Ryan (1-1), Conor Summerville (0-1), Connie McGrath, Ross Tallon (0-3, 3f), Ray Comey.
Subs Jack Regan for John Comey, James Gray foray Comey, Kevin Mulligan for Donal Matthews, Paddy McGrath (0-1) for Jack Regan, Stephan Husband for Conor Summerville.
