Former Comrade Had Huge Praise For Paul Galvin After Overcoming Him In Meath Final

Paul Galvin's quest to win a county title in his first season at Ratoath manager came up short yesterday, with his team falling to a 0-16 to 0-13 defeat to Summerhill in the Meath county final.

Ratoath entered the game hoping to win the Meath title for the first time since 2022, although Summerhill were always likely to provide a stern challenge in the final. Those two clubs previously met in the 2023 decider, a game that went all the way to extra-time.

Galvin's men were fighting an uphill battle right from the outset of this year's edition, with their opponents racing into a six-point lead at the interval. That lead was eventually extended to nine points, and while Ratoath would battle back in the closing stages, it was not enough to overturn such a sizeable deficit as Summerhill won a second county title in three seasons.

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Paul Galvin came up against a familiar face in the opposite dugout for this fixture, with Summerhill being managed by David Clare. That pair had worked alongside each other in the Kilmacud Crokes coaching setup in 2024 before joining their respective Meath clubs ahead of this season.

Speaking after yesterday's game, Clare said that he knew Galvin would take this defeat 'to heart' despite what he felt was a great coaching performance.

As I keep saying, he’s a terrific coach and great on the skills, right hand to left hand.

And you could see how they were moving the ball, that’s his forte. He’s brilliant at that. He’s a great lad.

And look, he’ll take that to heart. He’ll really personalise that. But it’s just on the day, it’s fine margins.

Summerhill will now prepare for a tilt at a Leinster title, while Ratoath will be left to regroup after what was sure to be a massively disappointing end to their season.

Having helped the Meath club improve from a quarter-final berth in 2024, it will be interesting to see if Paul Galvin attempts to go one step further with the club next season.