Summerhill 0-22 Ratoath 1-13 (AET)
Meath Manager Colm O’Rourke was an interested spectator among the 3,000 attendance at Pairc Tailteann where he saw Summerhill regain the Meath SFC championship after an epic battle that needed extra time to prise the two teams apart.
If anything Ratoath looked the more likely for most of regulation time when it seemed they might repeat their victory of last year’s final against the same opposition.
Having been out in the cold for a decade though, Conor Gillespie's men found that something extra to land their eighth title thanks to their superior fitness in extra time when they scored at will against a visibly wilting opponent.
For the first hour of play, it was tit-for-tat as the sides were level on no less than eight occasions before heading into the extra 20 minutes where the winner tacked on seven points to a solitary reply from the holders.
Summerhill went into added time ahead and it took a kick from the next parish by Daithi McGowan on 66 mins to force the game into extra time
A neutral looking in might have seen this score as something to uplift the champions and deflate their opponents; instead it had the opposite effect as Summerhill came out with renewed energy to get the job done while that McGowan score turned out to be virtually the final sting of a dying wasp.
The winners had scoring heroes across the forward line with Man of the Match Eoghan Frayne annexing half a dozen white flags, followed closely by class corner forward Barry Dardis who ended his day’s work with five to his credit. And the management will be delighted with their decision to hold
Conor Lyons back until the second half. As well as scoring two points, he won a huge amount of possession and set up vital scores for his team who now face Offaly champions in Round 1 on the Leinster Club Championship on October 21/22.
Erins Own, Cargin 2-10
Dunloy Cuchullains 0-11
Cargin showed their mettle at Corrigan Park to retain their Antrim SF crown with 18-year-old wonder boy Conhuir Johnston the hero as his goals in either half proved the difference between the sides.
Dunloy came on a mission to bridge an 87 year gap on the football front and it took all the nous that Cargin had on board to see them over the line.
Their system was suffocating on their opponents while their ability to counter and sting with deadly effect was ultimately the difference between the two sides.
The fact that the winners could absorb a first-half red card on 21 minutes when Eunan Quinn, booked just six minutes earlier, was shown red for taking out Dunloy goalkeeper Sean Doherty in an aerial tussle showed how their process worked so well.
They regrouped and then when the opportunity arose six minutes later, the clever Sean O'Neill found deadly goal assassin Conhuir Johnston inside and he calmly rolled the ball home.
Still the game was up from grabs at the interval with Cargin leading by the minimum 1-3 to 0-5 and when Conal Cunning found an equalizer shortly after the resumption before putting the well-known hurling club to the fore, a surprise looked on.
Cometh the hour, cometh the leaders and once Tomás McCann landed a free to level, the pendulum swung the other way again. Recently introduced subs Michael McCann and Pat Shivers added impetus with the latter converting a free with McCann an asset in gaining possession for his teammates.
After O’Neill had pointed, it was McCann who showed clever reading of the play which saw him transfer a free quickly into Johnston and the 18-year-old wonder boy struck again to break Dunloy hearts.
They didn’t give up and both Cunning and Sean Elliott raised defiant white flags placed balls, but Shivers and Tomás McCann responded with interest to see their side easily claim victory in the end.
Cargin: J McNabb; R Gribbin, K McShane, K O'Boyle; J Crozier, P McCann, S O'Neill (0-2); J Carron, G McCann; J Laverty (0-1), C Johnston (2-0), D Johnston; J Gribbin, E Quinn, T McCann (0-4f) Subs: M McCann for G McCann (36), P Shivers (0-3, 0-1f) for D Johnston (36), B Kelly for R Gribbin (44), M Kelly for J Gribbin (60+2), C Donnelly for S O'Neill (60+4).
Dunloy: S Doherty; C Kinsella, E McFerran, J Scally; C McMahon, D Smith (0-1), O Quinn; K Molloy (0-3, 0-2f), R McGarry; S Elliott (0-1, 45), C Cunning (0-4, 0-2f), E O'Neill (0-1); K Fitzpatrick, K McQuillan (0-1), N Elliott Subs: M Smith for K McQuillan (40), A McGarry for K Fitzpatrick (40), E McGrath for J Scally (60)
Ref: C McDonald (St Gall's)
