Athy booked their place in the AIB Leinster Senior Club Championship semi-final at Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge after a dominant second half that held Summerhill to a single point, coasting to a 1-16 to 0-09 victory.
Summerhill, the reigning Meath champions, burst out of the blocks and went three points up before Athy finally got on the board through Brian Maher.
The game remained tight until midway through the opening half, when an excellent move ended with Maher firing into the top-left corner of the net to put Athy ahead for the first time.
The sides continued to trade scores, with Summerhill drawing level and edging in front again in the 25th minute.
Athy answered through a Kevin Feely point, and a late effort from David Hyland sent the Kildare men into half-time with a narrow 1-06 to 0-08 advantage.
After the break, the tone completely shifted. Athy ramped up their intensity, tackling with real bite and showing far greater urgency.
While the scores were slow to come, they eventually pulled clear thanks to points from Colm Moran (2), Sean Moore (2), and a brilliant two-pointer by Niall Kelly.
By the 43rd minute, Athy were up 1-09 to 0-08, and Summerhill had yet to score in the half.
Conor Lyons finally ended the drought for the visitors, but Athy never let up, tacking on seven more points to finish comfortable winners.
Athy captain David Hyland on the 'controlled aggression' that helped inspire the win over Summerhill in the Leinster Club SFC pic.twitter.com/f1crsm01RA
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) November 15, 2025
After overcoming Wicklow kingpins Baltinglass in the last round, Athy captain David Hyland was delighted to down the Meath champions, telling RTÉ Sport: "You just want to bring your best every day and we got a great feeling of success and a great sense of community once we won the county final, and we got that in Baltinglass last week and we craved that again today and we got it."
Maher's goal proved a turning point and Hyland said: "It was a brilliant goal. It was very much an outstanding individual goal from Brian Maher, top left – I don't know how many more of them he'll do – but I hope he hasn't spent them all!"
Conditions, while testing, were nothing like as bad as had been forecast, and the victorious captain added of Athy's first-half display: "Believe it or not, there is a bit of a wind there and it was kind of deadening the ball as you kind of kicked it into that end, probably it was reflected on the scoreboard when Summerhill only scored two points in the second half.
"Going in two or three points down was probably a good result and we went in one up so we were happy out, to be honest."
The Kildare champions brought a particularly strong physical presence in the second half, with Hyland opining: "I think what underpins this Athy team is a kind of controlled aggression, with a lot of work rate and if we bring that I think we have the spark to do damage at the other end.
"We were never lacking in that and long may it continue."
Athy's Sean Moore scoops the AIB Man of the Match award for his display in the win over Summerhill in the Leinster Club SFC pic.twitter.com/YHcNKjyaxv
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) November 15, 2025
RTÉ Sport Man of the Match Sean Moore added: "The crowd here made it 10 times better. It was a tough first half, but second half, we kicked on and thankfully got over the line.
"Delighted to get up the pitch. It's a lot easier going forward than it is running backwards on this ground."
