Connacht Juvenile B FC Final

Rice College, Westport 2-7
Summerhill College 0-9

By Darragh Cox
At Charlestown

Summerhill College fell at the final hurdle of the Connacht Juvenile B Football Championship, as Mayo school Rice College pulled off a late recovery at Charlestown on Thursday last.
Having dominated play and possession for all bar five first-half minutes, Summerhill entered the final ten minutes two points to the good. But a late scoring spree from a rejuvenated Rice side saw them rattle off 1-4 to shock the Sligo side and take the win.
It was certainly harsh on Liam Og Gormley’s Summerhill squad, who looked the better team throughout, but, in truth, they were architects of their own demise.
The enjoyed all the possession in the opening quarter but failed to open the scoring until Niall Collery’s 14th minute point.
They trailed by 1-2 to 0-3 – Dylan Healy and Collery again on target - at the break after Rice College benefitted from a harsh penalty call against the Summerhill on 20 minutes.
But the boys in blue remained the dominant force in the second-half, and afforded Rice just one score in the opening 22 minutes of the second period.
The problem was that Summerhill added just two points themselves to their half-time tally by the 45th minute. They battled on however, and scores from Collery and captain Michael O’Hehir – an inspirational score – helped them pull level.
With their confidence high, Summerhill pulled ahead thanks to further scores from the excellent Healy and Collery, and it seemed a formality for the Sligo school to see the game out given the amount of possession they were enjoying.
But they had not reckoned with the fighting spirit of Rice College, who re-doubled their efforts in the closing stages to pull level again thanks to scores from George Chambers and man of the match Colm Higgins – who converted the first-half penalty.
Mark Barrett and Higgins edged Rice College back in front with another couple of inspirational points, before Summerhill worked their way back upfield for O’Hehir to narrow the gap to a single score.
As Summerhill went looking for an equaliser, however, Rice countered again and captain Shane Geraghty stroked the ball to the bottom corner of the net to end any lingering hopes for Summerhill.
For Summerhill, the back six were in complete control until the final minutes, with wing-back Hayden Cawley and corner-backs Cormac Doherty and Anthony Kelly impressing.
Collery and Healy were the best of the forwards, though Niall Murphy was a good target man at full-forward, and Cillian Sweeney was desperately unlucky not to get a deserved score in the opening half.

Best for Summerhill: Michael O’Hehir.
Summerhill: Vinny Cadden; Cormac Doherty, Michael O’Hehir (captain 0-2), Anthony Kelly; Hayden Cawley, Oisin Cox, Graham Kelly; John McGowan, Sean Peyton; Cillian Sweeney, Patrick Heraghty, Donal Brady; Dylan Healy (0-3), Niall Murphy, Niall Collery (0-4, 2f).
Subs used: Paul Logan for Heraghty (43).
Rice College: Shane Collins; Fergal Hughes, Liam Kettrick, Brian Fleming; James Walsh, John Shannon, Pat Kane; Shane Geraghty (captain 1-0), Niall Burke; Oisin Sweeney, Colm Higgins (1-3, 1-0 pen), Niall Duffy; Mark Barrett (0-1), George Chambers (0-3), Darren Hogan.
Subs used: Ronan Kelly for Sweeney (42), Daryl Hughes for Hogan (49).
Referee: John Niland.