CRISP RISPIN FINISH BRINGS HILL ALIVE
SUMMERHILL booked a place in the Leinster club SFC semi-finals thanks to a second-half purple patch that saw them hit 1-5 without reply. Having trailed by three points at half-time in Drogheda, the Meath men managed to turn the match on its head inside 11 minutes, courtesy of three superb points from Michéal Byrne and a goal from Paul Rispin. The home side hit the front on five minutes when Brian Kermode slipped a shot past Tony McDonnell to leave it 1-1 to 0-1. Brian Ennis and Colm Judge then exchanged further scores before Summerhill scored
SUMMERHILL
1-2 without reply inside five minutes. Rispin set the ball rolling when he flicked over an Adrian Kenny shot, while Kenny found the net on 17 minutes from a Conor Gillespie pass. A free from Ennis had the Meath men leading by 1-4 to 1-2, but the Blues finished the half the stronger with five points, including a Colm Judge double, to give them a 1-7 to 1-4 lead at the break. Two Michéal Byrne points within four minutes of the restart closed the deficit back to the minimum, while Seán Dalton brought the sides level on 38 minutes before further points from Barry Dardis and Byrne. A poor Blues kick-out was worked into the path of Rispin, who fired past Conor Barton to leave it 2-9 to 1-7 after 41 minutes. Judge finally opened the Drogheda men’s secondhalf account with a free a minute later and chipped in with two further points. Gillespie and Ennis scores were cancelled out by Hugh McGinn before a further point from Carr helped the Blues close the gap to two. But Summerhill held out with Ennis securing victory with a late free.
SUMMERHILL: T McDonnell; P Jennings (R Hatton HT), C Young, W Ryan; P Geraghty, A Lyons, S Husband (D Dalton 56); C Gillespie, M Byrne; D Larkin, B Ennis, A Kenny; P Rispin (K Ryan 61), S Dalton, B Dardis.
Scorers: B Ennis 0-5 (4f), P Rispin 1-1, A Kenny 1-0, M Byrne 0-3, S Dalton 0-2, C Gillespie, B Dardis 0-1.
NEWTOWN BLUES: C Barton; A Tinley, T Costello, N Costello; S Moonan, E Judge (C Branigan 37), J Murray (D Moore 26); K Lynch, J Kermode (D Kierans 53); B Kermode, H McGinn, A McDonnell; C Judge, B Sharkey, R Carr.
Scorers: C Judge 0-6 (4f), B Kermode 1-0; H McGinn, R Carr 0-2; K Lynch, S Moonan (f), J Kermode 0-1.
Referee: F Kelly (Longford).
JAMES ROGERS