Crafty Crossmaglen Rangers survive Scotstown scare

Ulster Club SFC final - Crossmaglen (Armagh) 2-17 Scotstown (Monaghan) 2-12 (AET): The nature of this game thankfully didn’t tally with the chilly conditions in which it was played. At times, it was combustible, sometimes bordering on the dangerous, but always captivating.

For over 80 minutes, the 8,694 Athletic Grounds attendance were treated to a superb spectacle that belied the rain and wind that threatened to make it a damp squib. Darren Hughes may have been on the losing team and suffered the indignity of joining his brother Kieran in being red carded but he should be anything but unbowed after giving a performance in defeat that will last long in Scotstown GAA history.

But Crossmaglen’s cuteness shone through when it was needed most to win their 11th Ulster title. It helped that Scotstown lost Kieran Hughes to a red card five minutes into injury-time for a foul that was more of the black card variety and they went into the change-around 1-13 to 1-11 up, as substitute Jamie Clarke made his class tell.