The victory secured a ninth Meath Senior Football Championship for Summerhill.
Summerhill are the 2025 Meath Senior Champions, after beating Ratoath by 0-16 to 0-13 in this afternoon's Final at Páirc Tailteann.
(Some happy Summerhill supporters soaking up the joy of their heroes’ victory)
The match got off to something of a slow start, but soon caught fire with Summerhill kicking five scores in a row, including two 'two-pointers' from Eoghan Frayne and Liam Shaw. That gave The 'Hill a 0-7 to 0-1 advantage.
Bobby O'Brien got his second point of the game, as Ratoath registered three of the next four scores. However, the outlier was a 'two-pointer' from Conor Freyne, wouuld go on to raise another white flag before half-time. Summerhill thus led by 0-10 to 0-4 at the interval.
Dave Clare's team continued as they left off in the third quarter, with five of the first seven scores in the second period. County captain Eoghan Frayne kicked four of them, with Kevin Ryan getting the other. It meant that Summerhill were looking good for victory, with 0-15 to 0-6 advantage after 48 minutes.
Ratoath wouldn't go down without a fight however, and they rallied in the final quarter. Gavin McGowan and Jack Flynn kicked 'two-pointers', Daithí McGowan and Flynn also raised white flags, while the 2022 champions were denied a goal with a dramatic goal-line block from Iarlaith Hughes.
Eamonn Wallace registered another score for Paul Galvin's team, which reduced the deficit to two. But it wasn't to be for Ratoath, as an eighth point of the day from Eoghan Frayne secured the Keegan Cup for Summerhill.
It was the fourth time since 2019 that Ratoath and Summerhill had met in the final, with the head-to-head now tied at two apiece. Ratoath had victories in 2019 and 2022, but Summerhill added today's win to the 2023 success.
Man of the Match Adam McDonnell gave his reaction to David Sheehan after full-time:
Summerhill manager Dave Clare also spoke to David:
Experienced campaigner David Larkin also reflected on his team's victory:
