Crossmaglen comeback seals place in final

Crossmaglen Rangers (Armagh) 2-11 Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 1-12

Crossmaglen Rangers battled back from a six-point deficit to book their place in the AIB All-Ireland Club SFC final today.

Rangers had to dig deep after Brian Kavanagh helped Kilmacud take a 1-8 to 0-5 half-time lead.

Crossmaglen’s Danny O’Callaghan and Crokes duo Kevin Nolan and Brian McGrath were dismissed during a tense tie in Navan.

Cross took the lead for the first time with a 57th minute point from Kyle Carragher, with Martin Aherne’s brace of points sealing the win.

In the build-up to the game, Crokes manager Paddy Carr had highlighted the importance of his side making a strong start and so it panned out, as the Dublin and Leinster champions broke into an early lead.

A third point from Longford forward Brian Kavanagh saw Crokes go 0-6 to 0-0 in front in the 11th minute, with Carr's charges deservedly ahead. Pat Burke was a huge influence, winning a number of high balls.

Crossmaglen came storming back into contention with the experienced Aaron Kernan and Oisin McConville to the fore.

Kernan claimed his side's first score after 13 minutes and a McConville effort cut the gap to four points, just a minute later.

Crossmaglen poured forward in search of further scores, putting the Crokes defence under serious pressure. Half-back Kernan popped up in an advanced role time and again.

He made a trademark burst out of defence in the 17th minute. McConville and Aaron Cunningham were also involved in the move before Cunningham was dragged down by full-back Kevin Nolan.

Nolan earned his first yellow card for the offence, and Kernan slotted over the resulting free. Aaron's brother Tony added a fine score from play from an acute angle, before Nolan saw yellow for the second time inside a five-minute spell.

Crossmaglen continued to press hard following Nolan's dismissal and Aaron Kernan's third point reduced the deficit to the minimum in the 23rd minute.

Crokes responded well with midfielder Craig Dias breaking through for the first goal of the contest, three minutes later. Dias did well to link up with Burke and bulge the net with a shot off the ground, after his initial effort was repelled.

Dias' green flag helped Kilmacud Crokes take a six-point lead after an action-packed opening 30 minutes. But Rangers roared forward on the restart and collected two vital goals.

Conor Lamb saved Jamie Clarke's goal-bound effort, only for Francis Hanratty to fist home the rebound. Cross' second goal was finished off by Clarke after poor handling from Crokes goalkeeper David Nestor.

Straight red cards followed for both McGrath (42nd minute) and O'Callaghan (45), who got involved in separate off-the-ball incidents.

Crokes reopened a two-point lead thanks to good work by Kavanagh, but points from McConville and Hanratty helped level the contest.

Cross pulled ahead for the first time with three minutes left on the clock. Carragher's score edged them ahead, before substitute Aherne made certain

Crossmaglen now march on to their third All-Ireland Club SFC decider in five years. St. Brigid's of Roscommon, who stunned Nemo Rangers yesterday, will provide the opposition at Croke Park on St Patrick's Day.