Following the way of the Cross

ONE thing that can be said with some certainty about Crossmaglen Rangers is that they won’t lack motivation when they play Monaghan champions Clontibret in the AIB Ulster Club SFC in Clones on Sunday.

However, while they are most successful team in Armagh over the last decade — and have the distinction of winning all four All-Ireland finals they have appeared in — their record in the province isn’t quite as impressive.

One of the teams that beat them during their current dominance of the county championship — 12 straight wins in a row since 1996, unbeaten in a total of 51 games — was Castleblaney, who lost to Clontibret in the championship decider last Sunday week. Crossmaglen made no secret in advance that they would prefer to be playing ‘Blaney. They haven’t forgotten that they got a bit of a hammering from them a few years ago.