Leinster ambitions come crumbling down in Newbridge

LEINSTER CLUB SFC QUARTER-FINAL

Athy...............................1-1-14 (19)

Summerhill........................0-1-7 (9)

Ultimately it was a bridge too far for Summerhill and without one of their strongest pillars in Meath captain Eoghan Frayne that bridge couldn't withstand the incessant pressure applied by Kildare champions Athy in Saturday's Leinster Club SFC quarter-final at Newbridge's St Conleth's Park.

Frayne suffered a calf tear in a training session last week and could be out of action for three months. That news is a huge blow for Meath and it was also a devastating strike to Summerhill's plans for taking down Athy.

For the opening 10 minutes Summerhill looked capable of surviving without their talismatic attacker and one of their strongest leaders. Liam Shaw filled Frayne's boots as an unerring free taker, while around him others stepped up to the plate to cause Athy problems early on.

However, once Athy settled they were a different animal and Summerhill couldn't find a way to assert enough pressure and they came up short when it came to creativity and providing ammunition for Conor Frayne, Barry Dardis and Shaw.

Athy recovered from the whirlwind start Summerhill enjoyed and that saw the Meath champions race into an impressive, and deserved, 0-4 to 0-1 lead. Once the Kildare champions got on top they were lethal.

They outscored Summerhill by 1-15 to 0-5 for the remaining 50 minutes. For the entirety of the third quarter they pinned Summerhill inside their own 45-metre line. Short kickouts were swallowed up and turned over, long kickouts were spoiled and second balls swept up with ease.

Summerhill had two wides on top of their eight points in the opening half. They only had three more wides in the second-half and barely managed to muster an attack after the break with only a couple of long balls into the danger zone by Shaw causing Athy any undue worry.

Credit must go to Athy, they were superb. Sean Moore wore the number two on his back, but as expected he operated in a half-forward role and was untouchable. Inside schoolboy forwards Conor Moran and Ronan Kelly also caused Summerhill serious problems, while in midfield Kevin Feely and David Hyland got to grips with Adam McDonnell and Adam Flanagan after a shaky start and lorded that sector.

Former Tyrone player Cathal McCarron used his huge physical presence to shore up the middle of Athy's defence and force Summerhill out wide where they had little joy.

It was a chastening experience despite the promising start.

Shaw got the ball rolling for the Meath champions with a brilliant point from the right inside 45 seconds and two minutes later he kicked a free from almost the exact same position to double his side's lead.

David Larkin won the next kickout and fed a quick ball into Dardis who made it 0-3 to 0-0 - it was a dream start for Summerhill.

Even Moore's first contribution, a superb score from the left, didn't knock Summerhill out of their stride as Shaw converted another free from close range to make it 0-4 to 0-1.

That three point advantage was maintained when Niall Kelly converted a free after a defensive error by Jamie O'Shea and then O'Shea made amends with a fine score from a near impossible angle.

The following five minutes turned the game on its head and gave Athy the belief that Summerhill tried to starve them of.

Feely sold a dummy and kicked a point before Brian Maher rifled a brilliant goal to the top corner on 16 minutes to make it 1-3 to 0-5. James McGrath doubled that lead with a fine point, but then Diarmuid McCabe wiped out that advantage with a booming two-pointer for Summerhill.

Shaw converted another difficult free after Conor Frayne was fouled to edge Summerhill ahead again, but that was their last score for 23 minutes of play and they only managed one more point in the contest.

Feely and Hyland both landed points to ensure the hosts went into the break with a slender 1-6 to 0-8 lead.

After the resumption Summerhill couldn't get out of their half. Athy were wasteful too in that spell as they kicked five wides, hit the upright, squandered a couple of half decent goal chances and dropped a few efforts short.

It was the 38th minute before Moran stretched their lead to two and he added another score three minutes later to make it 1-8 to 0-8.

The game was slowly slipping away from Summerhill and without Eoghan Frayne they lacked that calm head in possession, that play maker capable of creating something out of nothing.

Moore clipped over his second point before Ronan Ryan did well to block a goal bound shot from Padraic Spillane.

Conor Lyons added Summerhill's only score of the half in the 49th minute to make it 0-9 to 1-9, but Athy kept turning the screw.

Niall Kelly kicked a two-pointer three minutes later. Ben Purcell fisted over two points in 30 seconds. Feely, Moore and Cian Keaveney all added to Athy's tally as Summerhill ran out of ideas and legs and saw their journey come to a disappointing conclusion.

Athy - Shane Jackman; Sean Moore (0-3), Michael Spillane, Darren Lawler; Padraic Spillane, Cathal McCarron, James McGrath (0-1); Kevin Feely (0-3), David Hyland (0-1); Brian Maher (1-0), Barry Kelly, Conor Doyle; Ronan Kelly, Colm Moran (0-2), Niall Kelly (0-3 one two-pointer, one frees). Subs - Mark Hyland for Maher 42m, Ben Purcell (0-2) for B Kelly 49m, Conor Kelly for D Hyland, Kieran Farrell for Moran both 58m, Cian Keaveney (0-1) for N Kelly 60m.

Summerhill - Sean Muddiman; Ben Moran, Ronan Ryan, Iarla Hughes; Jack Bannon, Ross Ryan, Jamie O'Shea (0-1); Adam McDonnell, Adam Flanagan; Diarmuid McCabe (0-2 two-pointer), Kevin Ryan, David Larkin; Conor Frayne, Barry Dardis (0-1), Liam Shaw (0-4 three frees). Subs - Conor Lyons (0-1) for Bannon, John Lavelle for Moran both 42m, Padhraig Geraghty for O'Shea 48m, Sean Dalton for Dardis 55m, Kevin Lyons for McDonnell 60m.

Referee - Anthony Nolan (Wicklow).