McGill injured as Ratoath advance to last four

Ratoath had to work hard for this 0-14 to 0-11 SFC quarter-final victory at the expense of Summerhill at Pairc Tailteann today.

And victory had a price tag as the three-in-a-row-chasing champions lost full-back Conor McGill 10 minutes in the second-half.

There was a serious collision between McGill and Summerhill's Diarmuid McCabe following which both players required attention.

The clash was accidental, but McGill departed with an arm injury while McCabe continued briefly until the second water break when he was replaced by Conor Frayne.

McGill left Pairc Tailteann on Sunday evening with his arm in a sling.

The three-point winning margin was probably a fair reflection and the defending champions were always able to pull out a little bit extra, either defensively or in attack, when required.

Ratoath edged the opening half as they established a 0-8 to 0-6 interval advantage after the teams were level on five occasions in a fast-paced 30 minutes.

Wind-assisted Summerhill squandered a couple of late point chances ahead of the interval and that poor finishing cost them parity.

The Summerhill points were split equally between play and frees.

Conor Lyons was the marksman from placed balls while Adam McDonnell, Diarmuid McCabe and Eoghan Frayne sent over from play.

Gavin McGowan and Cian Rogers each claimed a brace from play for Ratoath while Joey Wallace managed one from play and the trio of Daithi McGowan, the hugely influential Jack Flynn and Bryan McMahon each converted a free.

Summerhill were always playing catch up in the second-half although they got the deficit down to the minimum on two occasions.

Crucially, however, they were unable to get back to parity despite some serious efforts and as was expected of the two-in-a-row champions, Ratoath finished strongest for a thoroughly merited victory.

Daithi McGowan sent over two frees and one fine effort from play for Ratoath with the remaining scores from a Wallace brace and one from Bryan McMahon.

Eoghan Frayne (three) and David Dalton (two) completed the tally for Summerhill who were also fortunate to avoid conceding goals near the end.

SCORERS

Ratoath - Daithi McGowan 0-4 three frees; Joey Wallace 0-3; Cian Rogers 0-2; Bryan McMahon 0-2 one free; Gavin McGowan 0-2; Jack Flynn 0-1 free.

Summerhill - Eoghan Frayne 0-4 two frees; Conor Lyons 0-3 frees; David Dalton 0-2; Diarmuid McCabe 0-1; Adam McDonnell 0-1.

TEAMS

Ratoath - Darragh McPartlin; Sean Brazil, Conor McGill, Ciaran O Fearraigh; Andrew Gerard, Gavin McGowan, Jack Gillespie; Ben McGowan, Keith McCabe; Daithi McGowan, Jack Flynn, Conor Rooney; Cian Rogers, Bryan McMahon, Joey Wallace. Subs - Pauric Byrne for McGill 39 mins, Darragh Kelly for McCabe 47m, Tom Fadden for Rogers 52m, Cian O'Brien for Rooney 55m, Jack McGowan for D McGowan 60m.

Summerhill - Tony McDonnell; John Lavelle, Ronan Ryan, Padraig Jennings; Adam McDonnell, John Keane, Padhraig Geraghty; Micheal Byrne, Ross Ryan; Conor Lyons, Diarmuid McCabe, David Larkin; Kevin Ryan, David Dalton, Eoghan Frayne. Subs - Paul Larkin for Lyons 39 mins, Conor Frayne for McCabe 46m, Liam Shaw for K Ryan 55m, Jamie O'Shea for D Larkin 58m.

Referee - David Coldrick (Blackhall Gaels).