Meath SFC Group B – Round 5: Summerhill 4-23 Longwood 0-8

Saturday evening saw the concluding round of fixtures in Group B of the 2019 Meath Senior Football Championship take place.

Longwood made the short journey to Clonard where they faced perennial championship contenders, Summerhill in what was always going to be an incredibly difficult game. And so it transpired; the combination of Longwood being short a host of regular starters due to injury and Summerhill needing to register a wide margin of victory to ensure their passage to the quarter-finals, made for a largely one-sided affair.

True to form, Longwood battled resolutely and never dropped their heads. Indeed, they picked off some excellent scores, particularly a fantastic left-footed effort from midfield dynamo Niall Mulvey.

Ultimately the pace, power and movement of Summerhill proved too much to overcome. They are a strong, seasoned team that have played at a higher level for many years from juvenile football right through to the senior ranks.

But we can be proud of our boys. They have showed at times during the group stage games, particularly against Rathkenny and Moynalvey, that they possess the required level of skill to compete at the top table. Sustaining this over a full 60 minutes is incredibly difficult, even more so when we factor in that the players have to alternate between football and hurling every other week.

All is not lost as we still have a championship relegation play-off with Senchalstown on the horizon. Victory in this one-off fixture would secure our Senior Championship status for another year.

Longwood: Kevin Maguire, Jacob Baldwin, Enda Dixon, Ross Kerrigan, Johnny Furey, Joey Stenson, Mickey Burke (0-1), Niall Mulvey (0-1), Anthony Healy (0-1), Coran Byrne, David Rowley (0-1), Thomas Coloe (0-2), Evan Coyle, Sean Sheridan (0-2), Dean Keogh. Subs: Gary Heneghan for Keogh

A big thank you to our neighbours from Clonard for extending such a warm welcome to both teams. The club grounds looked resplendent in the evening sunshine and are a credit to all involved.