Jubilant Summerhill return to the Meath summit

Summerhill overcome terrible start to end wait for another Meath title

Summerhill players celebrate winning the Meath senior football title

Meath SFC final: Summerhill 0-22 Ratoath 1-13 (After extra-time)

You could argue that 10 years hardly constitutes a famine but it felt a lot like that for Summerhill who are finally Meath SFC champions again.

It took four final losses, and a bout of extra-time here, to eventually get their hands on the Keegan Cup again and no doubt they will savour this one.

To really set Summerhill's wait in context, consider that their last title in 2013 came exactly half a lifetime ago for 20-year-old Man of the Match Eoghan Frayne.

Fresh onto the inter-county scene with Meath this year, Frayne booted six points across the 80 or so minutes and was among the scorers in extra-time when Summerhill turned the screw with surprising ease.

The sides had been level eight times in regular time with Ratoath's Daithi McGowan striking a 63rd minute point to send the game to extra-time at 1-12 to 0-15.

It turned out Ratoath had dug as deep as they could at that stage as they added just one more score in extra-time compared to Summerhill's seven.

That is not to suggest that Ratoath tossed in the towel. If the holders were that way inclined they wouldn't have battled back from six down at one stage against Dunshaughlin in the quarter-finals to win that game. And they wouldn't have hung on like they did in the semi-final to also beat Wolfe Tones by a single point.

They simply ran into a superior force on final day and having previously beaten Summerhill in the 2019 and 2022 deciders, they can't quibble about who deserved to win this one.

Summerhill shot nine wides in normal time and failed to take advantage of three decent goal chances so they were value for the eventual win which has also secured them a Leinster club SFC Round 1 clash with Tullamore, in Tullamore, on October 21/22.

Asked if Summerhill just had to win, by hook or by crook, manager Conor Gillespie nodded.

"There was definitely an element of that, there's no doubt," he said. "We felt with the profile of our team, we had a few experienced lads that were still contributing, we had a bunch of lads right in the middle and then our young guys are big personalities. So we felt the profile of the team was right and we came into the final with nobody injured.

"We'd had a good year, everything was lining up in our favour so there was an element of we kind of had to do it or there would have been a sense of will you be as prepared to do it again, ever?"

And yet they got off to a terrible start, leaking 1-1 in the opening five minutes as Ratoath got succour from a Bryan McMahon goal when he rose up over the full-back and goalkeeper to fist in a delivery from Joey Wallace.

As it turned out, Summerhill got better as the game wore on and appeared to be licking their lips at the beginning of extra-time as they ate Ratoath alive in the additional 20 minutes.

The strength of their squad was apparent as four of Summerhill's seven points in extra-time came from substitutes; Conor Lyons, Davy Dalton and Padraig Jennings.

For ex-Meath midfielder Gillespie, twice a county title winner as a player, it was a special success.

"We lost three finals in a row (2017-2019) and then another last year obviously and look, if we'd lost here today we still would have come back again next year and given the same again but it would be a tough one to take."

Wallace's inclusion for Ratoath was notable. The former Meath forward only returned from a cruciate knee ligament injury when he came on against Wolfe Tones.

He delivered the ball in for McMahon's early goal, won a free that led to a point and scored himself later but the man who broke Gaeil Colmcille's hearts in the 2020 decider came up short this time.

Summerhill twins Ronan and Ross Ryan impressed for the victors and with the Frayne brothers, Eoghan and Conor, excellent in attack, alongside Dardis, they fought back to lead 0-10 to 1-6 at half-time.

Ratoath bossed the third quarter with four points to take a 1-10 to 0-11 lead but, save for McGowan's late equaliser, it was all Summerhill from the final quarter onwards as they rose to the occasion superbly.

They might have even won it in normal time with corner-back John Lavelle putting them ahead in the 65th minute before the McGowan equaliser.

Summerhill scorers: E Frayne (0-6, 3 frees); B Dardis (0-5, 2 marks, 1 free); D Larkin, C Frayne, C Lyons (0-2 each); D McCabe, A McDonnell, J Lavelle, D Dalton, P Jennings (0-1 each).

Ratoath scorers: B McMahon (1-1); D McGowan (0-4, 3 frees); C O'Brien, J Flynn (0-2 each); J Wallace, C Rogers, E Wallace, C O Fearraigh (0-1 each).

SUMMERHILL: S Muddiman; I Hughes, Ronan Ryan, J Lavelle; A McDonnell, Ross Ryan, P Geraghty; A Flanagan, J Keane; D Larkin, D McCabe, K Ryan; C Frayne, E Frayne, B Dardis.

Subs: M Byrne for Keane (17); C Lyons for Kevin Ryan (40); P Jennings for Hughes (43); J O'Shea for McDonnell (45); D Dalton for McCabe (56); E McDonnell for Dardis (60-62 blood). McDonnell for C Frayne (68); B Moran for Geraghty (h/t e/t); S Dalton for E Frayne (72).

RATOATH: S Duffy; C McGill, B Wyer, C O Fearraigh; A Gerrard, G McGowan, E Wallace; J Flynn, B McGowan; K McCabe, D McGowan, C O'Brien; C Rogers, B McMahon, J Wallace.

Subs: B O'Brien for McCabe (48); B Daly for Gerrard (49); P Byrne for B McGowan (53); C Rooney for O'Brien (62). C O'Farrell for Duffy (e/t); L Kelly for G McGowan (66); T Fadden for J Wallace & R Byrne for McMahon (69).

Ref: D Coldrick.