AIB Leinster Club SFC First Round

Summerhill 1-9 Tullamore 1-7

A late goal from Summerhill substitute Kevin Ryan proved to be the crucial score as the Meath champions advanced to the last eight of the Leinster club championship with a win over Tullamore in Glenisk O’Connor Park.

Tullamore had been the better side in terms of possession and territory for long stretches of this game, particularly in the first half, but they failed to make it count on the scoreboard and allowed Summerhill to stay in contention, largely on the back of accurate freetaking from Eoghan Frayne and Barry Dardis.

In contrast, Tullamore went through several freetakers over the course of the hour, though they seemed to pose a much greater threat from open play. Club and county captain Declan Hogan opened the scoring with a point and also added a superb goal late in the first half to make it 1-5 to 0-4 in favour of the home side, though Summerhill’s response to this setback ultimately was the winning of the game.

They halved the deficit by half-time thanks to two dead ball scores, drew level after the restart through Jamie O’Shea and Frayne, and also kept in touch when Ronan Ryan cleared a Ciarán Egan effort off the goal line.

Nigel Bracken kicked Tullamore back in front with two frees, but after an attempt on goal from Dardis ricocheted off goalkeeper Corey White and rebounded off Kevin Ryan into the net, Summerhill added the last score of the game to lead by two points deep into stoppage time.

It was then that matters got really dramatic, kicking off when a high ball into the Summerhill goalmouth was fielded, and ultimately handled on the ground by a defender.

From the resultant free, Tullamore tried to squeeze the ball past 13 Summerhill players on the line, but the Meath outfit prevailed. Summerhill now advance to a Leinster quarter-final meeting with Naas, scheduled for a fortnight’s time.

Scorers for Summerhill: Eoghan Frayne 0-4f, Kevin Ryan 1-0, Barry Dardis 0-2f, Conor Frayne 0-1, Diarmuid McCabe 0-1, Jamie O'Shea 0-1.

Scorers for Tullamore: Declan Hogan 1-1, Nigel Bracken 0-2f, Diarmuid Egan 0-1, Cormac Egan 0-1, Harry Plunkett 0-1, Michael Brazil 0-1f.

Summerhill: Sean Muddiman; Iarla Hughes, Ronan Ryan, John Lavelle; Jamie O'Shea, Ross Ryan, Padhraig Geraghty; Adam Flanagan, Micheal Byrne; David Larkin, Eoghan Frayne, Diarmuid McCabe; Conor Lyons, Conor Frayne, Barry Dardis.

Subs - Padraig Jennings for O'Shea (44), Kevin Ryan for McCabe (47), Davy Dalton for Lyons (51), Eamonn McDonnell for C Frayne (55).

Tullamore: Corey White; Declan Hogan, Paul McConway, Daire McDaid; Nigel Bracken, John Furlong, Oisin Keenan-Martin; Aaron Hensey, Ciaran Egan; Michael Brazil, Diarmuid Egan, Luke Egan; Harry Plunkett, Luke Plunkett, Cormac Egan.

Subs: Dan Fox for L Plunkett (half-time), Mike Fox for Ciaran Egan (42), Niall Furlong for H Plunkett (47), Jay Sheeran for Hensey (60+3), L Plunkett for Keenan-Martin (60+3).

Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).