Revenge for mighty Rangers

A CRAZY and intense afternoon in Navan yesterday. This All-Ireland semi-final had it all but ultimately only victory for Ulster champions Crossmaglen Rangers.

After pushing ahead 0-6 to 0-0 after 13 minutes, Kilmacud Crokes looked to be on their way to a second St Patrick’s Day showdown in three years.

Instead, it was Tony McEntee and Gareth Swift’s Crossmaglen who fought back from six points down then and again at the break to get back to Croke Park for the first time since losing to Crokes in the 2009 final.

Revenge was sweet and it will be recorded here that points from substitutes Kyle Carragher, which put Crossmaglen ahead for the first time, and Martin Ahern (two) in the closing four minutes was the difference.

And yet those facts seem almost redundant without explaining what had happened before. Having had full-back Kevin Nolan sent off in the 22nd minute for a questionable second yellow card foul on Tony Kernan, Crokes were on the back-foot for the majority of the game.

They coped extremely well after that setback, but having lost midfielder Paddy Deegan to a groin injury a minute before Nolan’s departure they no longer dominated the centre.

Worse was to follow in the 42nd minute when referee Maurice Condon deemed centre-back Brian McGrath had tripped Aaron Kernan and showed him a red card.

They were offered some reprieve when McGrath’s opposite number Danny O’Callaghan was harshly dismissed for nudging Rory O’Carroll three minutes after but by then there had lost all their shape.

That became blatantly obvious in the 47th minute when corner-back Ross O’Carroll, who had been superb throughout along with Cian O’Sullivan in keeping Crossmaglen at bay, raced forward and found his brother and fellow defender Rory only for Paul Hearty to deny his shot at goal.

Kilmacud, having lost two men, had sacrificed their system in the hope of extending their lead instead of keeping it.

“The sending offs, I’m not sure had they an acute impact on the match,” argued Crossmaglen joint-manager McEntee. “I think late on the main turning point was that Kilmacud abandoned their system of play, they started to move the ball across the pitch, started soloing up the field and running into the tackles. Our boys had a huge work rate at that stage. Kilmacud abandoned the first ball into the full forward line which was giving them dividends, particularly in the first half. That was the changing of the match.”

Even though he had seven points to his name by the end, Crokes’ Brian Kavanagh was certainly guilty of dwelling on the ball too long at times in the second-half.

His free two minutes after Hearty’s save from O’Carroll made it 1-11 to 2-6 in Crokes’ favour but they were struggling. Craig Dias, the bulwark who had been lethal in the first-half, appeared to have picked up an injury and O’Sullivan in defence eventually crippled under his enormous work-rate.

Johnny Hanratty’s 51st minute score was the first of five unanswered Crossmaglen points as the Armagh club, in true tradition, squeezed the opposition when it mattered most.

Jamie Clarke then won a contentious free, which Oisín McConville converted, before replacements Carragher and Aherne took over.

Crokes manager Paddy Carr was left to lick his wounds but also curse some of Condon’s decisions — even if he wasn’t blaming them for his team’s demise. “People have been saying to me since the end of the game that a lot of decisions went against us but I’m not so sure,” said Carr. “It’s just very hard to go through a campaign like that. The fussiness of refereeing is quite ridiculous but early on in the year these things seem to happen. It was a real, honest, tough game of football.”

Carr agreed Crossmaglen’s 40th minute goal was a real kick in the teeth for his side. Three points up (1-9 to 1-6), goalkeeper David Nestor looked to have gathered a McConville free only to let it slip from his hands. Clarke needed no invitation and slotted the ball home. But coming just three minutes before Clarke’s goal, Francis Hanratty had acted quickest to find the net after Ciarán Lamb had kept out Clarke’s shot following Stephen Kernan’s long delivery.

All of Crokes’ work appeared undone in those three minutes. They had goaled themselves just before the break when Dias kicked onto Pat Burke and ran from midfield to collect and have his first shot saved before finishing it soccer-style. It was a terrific piece of athleticism by Dias and meant Crokes went into the break 1-8 to 0-5 ahead, a deserved lead especially in the absence of Nolan for the last 10 minutes of it. They couldn’t keep it, though. Crossmaglen, aggrieved by a lot of Condon’s decisions against them, drove on and onto a sixth All-Ireland final.

Scorers for Crossmaglen: J Clarke 1-1; A Kernan 0-3 (three frees); F Hanratty 1-0; O McConville 0-2 (frees); M Ahern 0-2, T Kernan, J Hanratty, K Carragher, 0-1 each.

Sent off: D O’Callaghan (45)

Scorers for Kilmacud Crokes: B Kavanagh 0-7 (five frees); C Dias 1-2; L Óg Ó hÉineacháin, D Kellegher, M Vaughan 0-1 each.

CROSSMAGLEN: P Hearty; J Morgan, P Kernan, S Finnegan; A Kernan, D O’Callaghan, P McKeown; J Hanratty, D McKenna; T Kernan, A Cunningham, F Hanratty; A Clarke, S Kernan, O McConville.

Subs: J McEntee for McKenna (18); McKenna for Cunnigham (h-t); K Carragher for Hanratty (43) M Aherne for Finnegan (56); F Bellew for Clarke (61). Sent off: K Nolan (second yellow 22); B McGrath (42)

KILMACUD CROKES: D Nestor; R O’Carroll, K Nolan, C Lamb; R Ryan, B McGrath, C O’Sullivan; P Duggan, C Dias; L Óg Ó hÉineacháin, D Kellegher, A Morrissey; P Burke, B Kavanagh, M Coughlan.

Subs: B Hanamy for Duggan (inj 21); M Vaughan for Coughlan (38); R O’Carroll for Kellegher (43); B O’Rorke for O hEineachain (56); E Culligan for O’Sullivan (inj 58).

Referee: Maurice Condon (Waterford).