SFC Preview: Familiar foes lead the field in Keegan Cup race

Defending champions Summerhill tipped to go back-to-back

Last year's renewal of the Meath SFC was unpredictable, exciting and entertaining to say the least.

Summerhill incredibly lost two group games and qualified for the knock-out stages by the skin of their teeth before they peaked and for the ninth time in their history were crowned champions.

Ratoath under the guidance of Kerry legend Paul Galvin fell just short of their fourth SFC title in seven years. Meath Hill were relegated but they left their mark when they inadvertently kept the then champions Dunshaughlin in the competition with a late point against Rathkenny.

Plucky Ballinabrackey qualified for their first-ever senior quarter-final.

This year's Meath SFC will surely throw up as many, if not more, moments of joy, despair and shock as clubs are now well adapted to the ‘new rules’ which have, by all accounts, levelled the playing field.

It is certainly the case on the inter-county scene, when you look at what Westmeath, Roscommon, Wicklow and of course Mayo achieved this year. On the club scene there is no reason to suggest why a hungry, determined and collaborative side could not go under the radar and achieve greatness in the race for the Keegan Cup.

However, it is often the case in sport that those who have reached the peak of the mountain find the journey back up again much smoother. While there was nothing smooth about Summerhill’s incredible run to glory in 2025, it would be remiss and dismissive when looking for serious contenders to not start with David Clare’s side.

Summerhill’s recent success in the FL Div 1 sets them up perfectly for a tilt at back-to-back Meath SFC titles, something that the club haven’t achieved since they did four-in-a-row in the mid '70’s. The aforementioned adjectives, hungry, determined and collaborative, can all be used to describe the resolve and resilience of the men in blue and yellow.

In the likes of Eoghan Frayne, Adam McDonnell, Ross Ryan and Ronan Ryan, Summerhill have a spine to their team that is unmatched in the county and surrounding those special talents is a hardworking squad of players that on their day come out on top in the majority of their individual battles.

Summerhill supporters themselves will admit that on several occasions over the last 18 months they have got what is known as ‘the rub of the green’. However and not to sound too cliché but you make your own luck, fortune favours the brave, yada yada yada. Whether luck is on their side or not, Summerhill will surely be there or thereabouts again come the business end of the championship.

So who is the biggest challenge to that of Summerhill’s hopes of going back to back? Well, of course, it is the beaten side in the recent FL final and last year's SFC final and the team that they have met in three of the last four Meath SFC deciders, Ratoath.

Between the pair of them, Ratoath and Summerhill have won five of the last seven Meath SFC titles. Three of those titles belong to the club based close to the Dublin border.

Not many people will argue the fact that Ratoath are stacked with incredible individual talents. To give you an idea of the depth available for selection to manager Kevin Daly, the panel named for their league decider with Summerhill two weeks ago included eight players who have represented Meath at senior football level and an additional seven players who have been part of Meath football u-20 set-ups.

They also have a former u-20 Dublin footballer and a former u-20 Kerry goalkeeper. Jack Flynn, their current Meath senior representative, was not named on that league final match-day panel. So there are 18 players with inter-county experience at senior or u-20 level within the Ratoath ranks.

For the last eight years, Ratoath have won three championships and in the other five have been knocked out by the eventual champions. They have become the definition of the team to beat.

On paper, Ratoath and Summerhill are the top two dogs in the Meath SFC but there is one team that you can never rule out. In fact, they thrive when you do and that's Wolfe Tones. The man who guided Meath Hill up to the senior ranks, Shane McCoy has taken over the reins of the 2021 champions.

Even though they got knocked out at the quarter-final stage last year, there certainly will be a feeling within Wolfe Tones that for them, that that championship was there for the taking. In the group stages they were by far the most impressive side and at one stage were many people’s warm favourites to go all the way. One bad day at the office against Dunshaughlin cost them dearly.

What was true then and what is still true today is that there is no other team in Meath that the new rules suit better than Wolfe Tones. The more chaos, the better for McCoy’s squad. They are a dogged, hardworking team and are all about that phrase that Kieran McGeeney made famous earlier in the year, piggery. They have as many if not more two-point kickers than any club in the county. The Tones are going to be a major contender again this year and have the additional motivation of putting right what went wrong for them 12 months ago.

On their day, the aforementioned Dunshaughlin are of course huge contenders in the race for the Keegan Cup. During Meath’s rise on the county scene over the last two years, no club has contributed more players to Robbie Brennan’s squad than this talented Dunshaughlin generation.

Their 2024 SFC winning manager Richie Kealy is back at the helm so that is obviously a big positive for them. However, Ruairi Kinsella’s ACL injury is a massive blow to Dunshaughlin’s hopes of regaining the title. There was a theory that this Dunshaughlin side could dominate the Meath SFC for years to come and they still possibly could do but since they got over the line two years ago they just have not kicked on to the next level.

Summerhill, Ratoath, Wolfe Tones and Dunshaughlin appear to be that bit ahead of the rest and the likelihood is the Keegan Cup winner will be one of that quartet. There are several teams in the chasing pack who may not win the Meath SFC but are very much capable of causing upsets and claiming big scalps.

St Peter’s are perennial contenders and in Charlie Gallagher they have one of if not the most exciting young talent in the county but they are just not consistent enough to be at the level of the big four. Just up the road from them are in a club in a similar position. Donaghmore/Ashbourne have some fantastic young talents in the likes of Michael O’Sullivan, Evan Kelly and Zach Thornton. They will eventually come of age and become serious contenders but they are just not quite there yet.

Trim have two of the brightest talents in the county in Ciaran Caulfield and Aaron Lynch but they don’t quite have the depth to contend. A semi-final appearance is probably their ceiling. One team that has reached the semi-finals in the last two years is Skryne but they will struggle to get back there this year.

Gaeil Colmcille did very well to reach the semi-finals of the FL but in truth they're not real contenders for the championship. There is more positivity around St Colmcille’s this year than there was last year. Themselves, Seneschalstown and Ballinabrackey are all in the same group and are all certainly on an upward curve but it will be a bit of a surprise to see any of them still in contention at the business end.

If Simonstown, Rathkenny, Na Fianna or Kilbride were to lift the Keegan Cup it would be a massive shock. Those four in particular are all in danger of potentially getting involved in what will be an interesting relegation battle.

Summerhill are fancied to go back-to-back, but there are so many twists and turns in the journey ahead. Strap in and enjoy what is sure to be a thrilling race for the Keegan Cup