Summerhill get back on track

SUMMERHILL DULEEK/BELLEWSTOWN 1-16 0-9

WHAT started as a bad weekend for Duleek/ Bellewstown just got worse as their fight against the SFC relegation play-off suffered another blow at Dunsany on Sunday.

St Patrick’s shock victory over Dunboyne was bad news for the combined outfit as it left them adrift at the bottom of Group B.

The east Meath outfit now face into a mustwin clash with fellow strugglers Ratoath in their final group match.

This latest display won’t have done anything for Graham Geraghty side’s morale either. It was a game they never looked like getting anything from despite a spirited display.

Summerhill showed they were no world beaters as they got their Keegan Cup ambitions back on track and assured themselves of a preliminary quarter-final at the very least. Ten points separated the sides at the finish but it would have been double that tally had the ‘Hill brought their shooting boots.

They scored five points in the opening 18 minutes before John Flood got Duleek/Bellewstown off the mark on 21 minutes.

At half-time it was 0-8 to 0-4 with Duleek/ Bellewstown showing promise as Flood hit two further scores and Stephen McArdle also off the mark. Micheál Byrne and Barry Dardis both notched a brace of points for the ‘Hill in that opening half as six different players contributed to their scoring.

By the time Duleek/Bellewstown got on the scoring in the second half from Stephen McArdle, Summerhill had added three further points courtesy of Byrne, Dardis and Sean Dalton.

As the game entered the final quarter the ‘Hill had extended their lead 0-15 to 0-6. John McDonnell (two) and Stephen Nolan responded with points to close the gap to six entering the closing stages.

Summerhill were denied a couple of goal efforts, but they eventually made the breakthrough five minutes from the finish when substitute Bobby Lyons drilled a shot low past Anthony Dowling.