Ruthless Wolfe Tones stun wasteful Summerhill

Final spot secured in devastating fashion

Wolfe Tones ...........................1-3-11 (20)

Summerhill .............................0-3-8 (14)

While Wolfe Tones' SFC semi-final win wasn't a massive shock it was the comprehensive nature of their victory that surprised many as they sat patiently in their cars when trying to get out of a packed Devenish Park Dunganny on Sunday.

Summerhill were marginal favourites. Their experience of big semi-finals was expected to give them a slight edge, but they rarely got to the levels Wolfe Tones pitched and were a long way second best - especially in the shooting stakes.

Wolfe Tones kicked seven wides over the hour, four in the opening quarter, but once they settled into their game plan and weathered the early storm that Summerhill threatened, they looked composed and controlled.

In contrast Summerhill shot 16 wides, 12 in the second-half when they rushed at their shots and panicked more and more the closer the clock ticked to 60 minutes.

It was an off day for Summerhill, but a lot of that uncertainty and discombobulation was as a result of the intensity, hard work and diligence of a Wolfe Tones side that kept plugging away, that kept the scoreboard ticking over and defended like their lives depended on it.

Wolfe Tones scored 13 points from their half-forward line, with nine of them coming from play as Summerhill struggled to gain any control around the middle eight.

The loss of Iarla Hughes, who picked up a dead leg in Kiltale's SHC semi-final win over Ratoath, Ross Ryan who suffered a calf injury in the same game and Diarmuid McCabe who was forced off inside six minutes with a hamstring issue left Summerhill short of key men in vital positions, and Wolfe Tones took full advantage with Caolan Ward, Thomas O'Reilly, Oisin Martin and Kyle Moran enjoying field days.

It wasn't quite death by a thousand cuts, but Wolfe Tones were methodical and ruthless. Once they had their foot on the Summerhill throats they held it, smothering space ofr the Summerhill attack to work in and dominating around loose ball before breaking at lightning speed through Sean Penny, Adam O'Neill and O'Reilly.

Playing with the aid of the crossfield breeze that sometimes blustered in their favour Wolfe Tones started well with Ward firing a brace of points before Eoghan Frayne, who was Summerhill's biggest threat throughout, responded with a pair of excellent points to restore parity.

In between Frayne's scores Wolfe Tones had a goal chance which Moran and Penny couldn't finish after Conor Sheppard's good work, but Wolfe Tones continued to create chances.

A brilliant block by Ronan Ryan to deny O'Reilly fell kindly to Martin to fist over, but that lead lasted just three minutes as Frayne kicked his third point for Summerhill.

O'Reilly with the first two-pointer of the contest made it 0-5 to 0-3, but Summerhill stayed in touch against the wind with David Larkin and Frayne (free) levelling it up for the third time in the 19th minute.

Quick, close quarter passing between O'Reilly, Fiachra Ward and Ross Gallagher set up Moran for a goal and he made no mistake to put three between the sides for the first time and when O'Reilly (free) and Martin added points Wolfe Tones found themselves in the driving seat with a 1-7 to 0-5 lead after 23 minutes.

Liam Shaw kept Summerhill within arm's length with a superb two-pointer and when Barry Dardis burst through to add another point the deficit was down to two points, but Wolfe Tones didn't panic.

Martin landed a super score five seconds into injury time and with the last kick of the half Moran blasted over a brilliant two-pointer to ensure a 1-10 to 0-8 interval lead for Shane McCoy's charges.

Penny stretched that lead within 15 seconds of the restart, but when Jack Bannon galloped forward to land a two-pointer, Summerhill briefly looked like getting back into the game.

Caolan Ward settled Wolfe Tones with a couple of points (one free), but Summerhill didn't lie down as Adam McDonnell drove forward for a fine point to make it 0-11 to 1-13 at the three-quarters stage.

As the intensity rose Wolfe Tones rose with it. Moran and Martin made it 1-15 to 0-11 before a massive two-point free from Caolan Ward put nine points between them with six minutes of the hour remaining.

Larkin saw his two-point attempt tipped over the bar by Ciaran O Gallachoir and Frayne kicked a free to close the gap back to six, but Summerhill didn't have their shooting boots as they kicked wide after wide and as each effort sailed off target their heads dropped a little more.

Adam Flanagan was denied a goal by O Gallachoir's legs and as Summerhill's frustrations grew John Lavelle picked up a straight red card, but it mattered little as the Tones march on to a novel final clash with Donaghmore/Ashbourne.

Wolfe Tones: Ciarán Ó Gallachóir; Conor Sheppard, Shane Glynn, Andrew Crawford; Saran O Fionnagain, Ross Gallagher, Sean Penny (0-1); Adam O’Neill, Eoin Donegan; Caolan Ward (0-6 one free, one two-point free), Thomas O’Reilly (0-3 two-pointer, one free), Oisin Martin (0-4); Tom Gavigan, Fiachra Ward, Kyle Moran (1-3 one two-pointer). Subs: Cian O'Neill for Gavigan 46m, Adrian Crawford for Penny, Ben Reilly for F Ward both 55m, Padraic Diamond for Donegan 57m.

Summerhill: Seán Muddiman; Ben Moran, Ross Ryan, Jack Bannon (0-2 two-pointer); Padraig Geraghty, Adam McDonnell (0-1), Jamie O’Shea; Adam Flanagan, Diarmuid McCabe; David Larkin (0-3 one two-pointer), Barry Dardis (0-1), Conor Frayne; Liam Shaw (0-2 two-pointer), Eoghan Frayne (0-5 two frees), Kevin Ryan. Subs: Declan Byrne for McCabe 6m, Conor Lyons for K Ryan 40m, John Lavelle for O'Shea 43m, Jack Regan for Byrne 46m.

Referee: Kieran Olwell (Moynalty).