Late O"Reilly point paves the way for Summerhill

FURTHER, conclusive evidence that Summerhill are an emerging force in local football circles was provided at Dunshaughlin on Sunday evening when they defeated Dunboyne to set up a meeting with Wolfe Tones in the SFC semi-final. It"s a long time since Summerhill made it to the last four of the SFC, but there was a time when they were certainties to be in the shake-up. They endured a long barren spell out of the limelight and this victory could constitute a sharp turning point in the club"s fortunes. Mark O"Reilly has been one of Summerhill"s most committed performers for quite a while now. He was one of the heroes again on this occasion popping up with the injury-time point that clinched the narrowest of wins for the team managed by Mattie Kerrigan and Paraic Lyons. Summerhill had absorbed considerable pressure before they broke downfield. The industrious Brian Ennis, Gary Rispin and Maurice Kennedy were involved in creating a chance for O"Reilly who made no mistake, slotting the ball firmly between the posts. Unlike previous years, this Summerhill side has a steely determination and robust morale and they needed to be resolute to overcome Dunboyne on this occasion. Both sides were guilty of missing scoring opportunities with Dunboyne throwing away a series of good chances for points, particularly in the opening half. Summerhill will reflect on a spell during the second-half when they created at least two clear-cut opportunities to find the net. Then there was the third-quarter penalty incident which was also spurned. Rory Donnelly and Conor Gillespie put together a move that ended with Bobby Lyons powering his way into the Dunboyne square. The Summerhill player was deemed to have been fouled by referee Seamus McCormack and Stephen Kennedy stepped up to the plate. Kennedy"s shot was firmly struck and low to the right. Dunboyne"s netminder Johnny O"Connor was equal to the task diving to make a superb save and holding onto the ball in the process. It was no surprise that Donnelly was involved in that move as he was part of most good things engineered by Summerhill. Donnelly has inter-county experience with Clare and he won a lot of good possession in this contest popping up all over the field. There were other good goal chances missed by Summerhill. Lyons spurned a great opportunity for a goal or at least a point, spooning his effort wide early in the second-half while Paul Larkin split the posts soon after when a goal looked on. Those incidents underlined the good and bad elements of Summerhill"s evening. Excellent approach work was all too often spoiled by wayward shooting. Underpinning the Summerhill performance was a ferocious workrate. They hunted in packs to close down opponents with Maurice Kennedy excellent in midfield. Summerhill had three points on the scoreboard from Stephen Kennedy, Lyons and Byrne before Dunboyne registered their first score on 15 minutes when Stephen Moran pointed from a free. That good start helped Summerhill lead by 0-4 to 0-2 at the end of a scrappy first-half. The tempo of the game picked up on the resumption with plenty of excitement generated in the closing minutes. At no point did Dunboyne lead. The sides were level three times in the second-half with Moran, Craig Berrigan and David Gallagher equalising at various stages for Dunboyne. Gallagher drew the sides level three minutes from time with a well hit '45" to leave the sides at 0-8 apiece. The same player had another chance two minutes later from a free. The ball sailed wide. Dunboyne pressed forward in the closing stages, but in injury-time Summerhill broke and O"Reilly conjured up the winning point. SCORERS Summerhill - S Kennedy 0-3, one free; M O"Reilly 0-2; R Donnelly 0-1; M Byrne 0-1; B Lyons 0-1; P Larkin 0-1. Dunboyne - S Moran 0-3, one free; G Watters 0-2, one free; D Gallagher 0-1, '45"; N Crawford 0-1; S McGarrell 0-1. THE TEAMS Summerhill - T McDonnell; C Young, G Rispin, A Kenny; M Gorman, B Ennis, C Malone; M Kennedy, M Byrne; B Lyons, M O"Reilly, P Larkin; C Gillespie, R Donnelly, S Kennedy. Sub - M McNally for Larkin 51 minutes. Dunboyne - J O"Connor; S McKenna, David Gallagher, J Moffett; C Brennan, S Hogan, G Watters; N Crawford, C Berrigan; D Clarke, S McGarrell, A O"Connor; Denis Gallagher, C O"Donoghue, S Moran. Subs - G Gallagher for O"Donoghue 39 minutes; P Fagan for Denis Gallagher 50m. REFEREE Seamus McCormack (Walterstown).