Feis Cup for Summerhill

 There was some compensation for Summerhill this afternoon when they won the Feis Cup with a hard-earned 2-12 to 1-12 victory against Gaeil Colmcille.

The win might not have been achieved if Gaeil Colmcille had managed to keep 14 men on the pitch, but they were reduced to 14 late in the opening half when James Reilly was red-carded.

Summerhill also finishd with 14, but that was due to a late second-half second yellow card for Ross Ryan that possibly had the referee checking that he had the right player as he cautioned both Ross and Ronan (twins) early in the second-half.

Ryan's departure had no impact on the outcome, but for Gaeil Colmcille it was slightly different as they had to play for about 35 minutes with only 14.

Gaeil Colmcille trailed by 0-6 to 2-3 at the interval with the Summerhill goals scored by Barry Dardis and Sean Dalton.

To their credit, the 14 Gaeil Colmcille players were tremendous in the second-half  and were ahead by 1-12 to 2-8 with 10 minutes remaining.

Brian Hanlon converted a penalty in the 37th minute (see video clip) for Gaeil Colmcille.

PENALTY GOAL FOR GAEIL COLMCILLE

The tackle that conceded the penalty earned a yellow card for Ronan Ryan - his brother had picked one up a few minutes earlier.

The numerical advantage was important in those crucial closing minutes for Summerhill as they survived the determined Gaeil Colmcille bid for victory.

Summerhill were a little flattered by the three-point winning margin.

Gaeil Comcille didn't score after the 50th minute and if they could only keep 15 on the pitch they would be so much more effective. 

Summerhill captain David Dalton commended Gaeil Colmcille on a tremendous performance in his acceptance speech.

"We always get a tough game from Gaeil Colmcille, it's always hard and physical, but we can shake hands when it's over," he said.
"This isn't the trophy either of us wanted at the sart of the year, but it's not too bad to finish with some silverware and Gaeil Colmcille won the A FL title, so we both got something," he added.

SCORERS
Summerhill - Barry Dardis 1-4; Sean Dalton 1-2; David Larkin 0-3; Padhraig Geraghty 0-1; Conor Frayne 0-1; William Ryan 0-1.

Gaeil Colmcille - Brian Hanlon 1-5; Seamus Mattimoe 0-5; Johnny Quigley 0-1; Martin Barrett 0-1.

SEE THE CLOSING MINUTES OF FEIS CUP FINAL