Dunboyne win Keegan Cup
Dunboyne won the Keegan Cup for the third time at Pairc Tailteann today when they edged out Summerhill by 1-11 to 0-9 in a tight final.
Stuart Lowndes hit the crucial goal with six minutes remaining and that was good enough to finish off a gusty Summerhill side.
There was plenty of movement on and off-the-ball in the opening 10 minutes but only one point on the scoreboard for Dunboyne.
During those early exchanges the Summerhill rearguard seemed a little bit jittery and that was evidenced when goalkeeper Tony McDonnell conceded a '45' when he fumbled a pass.
Summerhill were struggling to make any sort of an impact and had what looked like a good effort from Barry Dardis, that
was initially white-flagged, but then disallowed after referee Colm McManus consulted with linesman David Coldrick.
It left Dunboyne with a 0-3 to 0-0 first-quarter advantage from Robbie McCarthy's fifth minute free, and one each by Liam Byrne and David McEntee, a poor return for all the possession they enjoyed and energy they expended.
All that changed in the second-quarter as Summerhill took a gradual stranglehold of the game and established a thoroughly deserved 0-5 to 0-4 interval advantage.
Two Barry Dardis pointed frees and one each by Sean Dalton, David Larkin and Michael Byrne gave them that narrow margin as Dunboyne hit a series of wides and only managed one further point by McCathy (free).
The pattern was similar for the start of the second-half, but the only difference was that Dunboyne sent over five third-quarter points from McCarthy (four frees) and Donal Lenihan to lead by 0-9 to 0-7 going into the final quarter. Summerhill tagged on points from Larkin, a great individual score, and Dardis (free).
The 'Hill got back to parity through Padraig Geraghty and another Dardis free with 11 minutes remaining, but crucially, they didn't score again.
Dunboyne substitute Cathal Lacey pointed his side in front again and then Stuart Lowndes finished a loose ball to they net for what was a match-winning score.
WATCH THE PRESENTATION