Summerhill prevail after extra-time thriller

SFC SEMI-FINAL

Summerhill................. 0-5-9 (19)

Dunshaughlin ............0-4-10 (18)

After extra-time

For what it lacked in quality this SFC semi-final certainly made amends in excitement and drama as Summerhill held on to book their place in the final following a narrow victory over the fallen champions Dunshaughlin at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday.

On the verge of defeat Summerhill were gifted a reprieve nine minutes into injury-time and almost two minutes after the hooter had blown when Dunshaughlin were adjudged to have breached the three-up rule.

Referee Patrick Coyle awarded a free on the 20-metre line, but trailing by two points, Eoghan Frayne had no choice only to bring it back out to the edge of the arc and go for a two-pointer.

With raucous noise reverberating around the old stadium Frayne held his nerve and stroked the free between the posts to force extra-time.

He repeated the feat again five minutes into extra-time to wipe out Dunshaughlin's good start to the additional period and when Adam McDonnell landed another two-pointer two minutes into injury-time at the end of the first period in extra-time it stretched Summerhill's lead to four, 0-19 to 0-15.

However, Dunshaughlin never went away and after Summerhill lost Diarmuid McCabe to a second yellow card (his first yellow was dished out just before play resumed for extra-time), the champions launched their recovery.

They got back into the game with a Tadhg Dushlaine point after a Ruiairi Kinsella free and when Conor Duke fired a decent goal chance over the bar it left the minimum between the sides with just over two minutes still left on the clock.

However, in a conclusion that was in keeping with what preceded both sides made errors galore until Summerhill won possession and retained it until the final hooter went before lashing it into the terrace to spark euphoria.

The joy of the result will paper over the disappointment of the performance, but semi-finals are only about winning and Summerhill never gave up, even when all seemed to be going wayward early on.

Both sides were guilty of serious wastefulness. Summerhill kicked 14 wides in the opening 60 minutes, Dunshaughlin managed 10. There was also at least 10 other efforts dropped short between the two sides as well as countless unforced and basic turnovers.

It was poor quality throughout. Both sides seemed intent on scoring only from two-point attempts, but the execution was poor.

They tried enough chances between them that eventually some of them had to go over and after Aaron Murphy opened the scoring for Dunshaughlin inside 30 seconds the next three scores were all two-pointers.

McCabe landed one from over 50 metres before Dunshaughlin finally found their range with Luke Mitchell scoring on the loop from outside the arc and then Murphy did likewise to make it 0-5 to 0-2.

Dunshaughlin took advantage of poor Summerhill play to stretch their lead with Kinsella on target, but two frees from Frayne dragged Summerhill back into the game while McDonnell hit the upright from a two-point attempt.

After clawing their way back Summerhill fell asleep defensively and allowed Mathew Costello the freedom of Pairc Tailteann to kick a two-pointer before Adam Kealy fisted over. Kevin Ryan responded a minute into injury-time to give Summerhill hope, just 0-5 to 0-9 adrift at the break.

A Mitchell free and a super score from Niall Byrne stretched Dunshaughlin's lead to 0-11 to 0-5 within five minutes of the restart, but the champions didn't score again until the 65th minute as Summerhill edged their way back.

McCabe got the comeback going with a fine score before the outstanding David Larkin landed a magnificent two-pointer to make it 0-8 to 0-11.

A swift counter attack put two between the sides as Frayne pointed, but when he missed a straightforward free from just 20 metres it seemed like it wouldn't be Summerhill's day.

A two-point attempt from Kevin Ryan was touched going over the bar by Tim O'Sullivan, so only one was registered as Summerhill closed the gap to the minimum, but as the time ticked past the hour mark Larkin showed his class to kick the equaliser.

Dunshaughlin thought they had won it when Kinsella kicked a brilliant two-pointer after a patient build up. Summerhill had their chances, but missed, that was until Frayne stood up and showed nerves of steel to force extra-time.

The drama continued into extra-time with O Dushlaine and Kinsella edging Dunshaughlin ahead, but Summerhill rallied well and then held on to secure their place in the final against Ratoath.

Summerhill - Sean Muddiman; Ben Moran, Ronan Ryan, Iarla Hughes; Jack Bannon, Ross Ryan, Jamie O'Shea; Adam McDonnell (0-2 two-pointer), Micheal Byrne; Diarmuid McCabe (0-4 one two-pointer), Kevin Ryan (0-2), David Larkin (0-3 one two-pointer); Conor Frayne, Eoghan Frayne (0-8 two two-point frees, two frees), Liam Shaw. Subs - John Keane for Byrne 34m, Conor Lyons for Shaw 40m, John Lavelle for Bannon 45m, Padhraig Geraghty for O'Shea 52m, Barry Dardis for C Frayne 59m. Extra-time - C Frayne for K Ryan, Kevin Lyons for Ross Ryan.

Dunshaughlin - Tim O'Sullivan; Niall Byrne (0-1), Fursey Blake, David Fildes; Adam Kealy (0-1), Darryll McKenna, Ben Duggan; Conor Gray, Charlie O'Connor; Conor Duke, Ruairi Kinsella (0-5 one free, one two-pointer), Mathew Costello (0-2 two-pointer); John McDonagh, Aaron Murphy (0-3 one two-pointer), Luke Mitchell (0-3 one free, one two-pointer). Subs - Tadhg O Dushlaine (0-2) for Mitchell, Fiach Hartigan for Duggan both 49m, Ryan Robinson for Byrne 54m, Adam Hanley for Murphy 67m. Extra-time - Mitchell for Hanley, Sean O'Neill for McDonagh.

Referee - Patrick Coyle (Curraha).