Crossmaglen Rangers pass Kileavy test

Crossmaglen Rangers remain on course for yet another Armagh senior football championship title but only just after they were given a huge scare by a gallant Kileavy side in last night’s second semi-final at the Athletic Grounds.

The Rangers led by 0-10 to 0-5 at half-time despite having been reduced to fourteen men but it was Killeavy who seized the initiative after the break.

Rian O’Neill, Cian McConville and Oisin O’Neill had helped to put Rangers in a strong position but when Caolan McConville, Ciaron O’Hanlon and Ronan McGuinness cut loose for Killeavy in the second-half the gap was narrowed.

Killeavy, more inventive and lively, had trimmed the deficit to the minimum but when the sides traded further points, it was a late, late second point from Darragh O’Callaghan that sealed victory (0-15 to 0-13) for a Rangers side that was stretched to the limit by Killeavy’s potent fusion of youth and experience in a thrilling encounter.

Meanwhile, 2016 champions Maghery shrugged off a sluggish start to terminate the aspirations of Armagh city side Pearse Og in the other semi-final.

Pearse Og looked to be heading into the ascendency when they led by 0-5 to 0-3 at the end of the opening quarter but a scoring blitz that yielded an unanswered 1-3 immediately after the water-break eased Maghery into the driving seat where they remained until the final whistle.

Stephen Cusack’s well-taken goal from a penalty and Oisin Cushnahan’s accurate free-taking underpinned the winners’ pre-interval revival and having established an 1-8 to 0-5 lead, there was never any danger that they would surrender their advantage.

Paul Duffy, Chris Rafferty and James Freeman along with the consistently accurate Cushnahan tried hard to stem the tide but the experience of the Forker brothers Aidan and Stefan coupled with the opportunism of Brian Fox helped to usher Maghery to a 1-12 to 0-10 victory.