Football

The Irish News Archive: Aug 9 1998: Late brawl mars win for Crossmaglen

TWO second half goals masterly engineered and clinically executed keep holders Crossmaglen in line for the three-in-a-row championship dream.

Sadly an injury time free-for-all marred this splendid encounter at sunny Athletic Grounds yesterday.

Quite amazingly nobody walked.

Clans led slenderly at the break but quickly surrendered their minimum advantage on the resumption to two Oisin McConville points. They also lost confidence and direction and lady luck wasn’t too kind to them.

They also found Crossmaglen keeper Paul Hearty right on top of his game.

The sides were level on five occasions but the turning point came at the end of the third quarter when veteran Jim McConville side stepped the Clans’ keeper Stephen Lavery for the decisive score, set up by his younger brother Oisin.

Four minutes from time full0forward Gavin Cumiskey grabbed Rangers second goal to make victory safe just after Diarmuid Marsden had been denied an equalising goal. Clans only scored once in the remaining 22 minutes, a dramatic late Diarmuid Marsden goal.

The holders, spurred on by the Jim McConville goal, finished the strongest side and were deserving winners.

Crossmaglen: P Hearty, M Califf, D Murtagh, C Dooley, F Shields, F Bellew, G McShane, J McEntee (0-1), A Cunningham (0-1), C Short (0-1), T McEntee, O McConville (0-5), J McConville (1-0), G Cumiskey (1-0), C O’Neill.

Subs: O McEntee for O’Neill (39 mins), J Fitzpatrick for McShane (50 mins). Clan na Gael: S Lavery, C Treanor, N Morrow, Dominic Marsden, P O’Hagan, K O’Hagan (0-1), M O’Hagan, P Oldham, B J O’Hagan (0-4), J Campbell (0-2), Diarmuid Marsden (1-1), J French (0-1), M Lavery, B Campbell, S Boyd.

Subs: J P O’Hagan for M Lavery (48 mins), N McStravick for B Campbell (51 mins). Referee: J McKee (Pearse Og)

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BUBBLY Brian Roper bounced from the bench and hit 1-2 as county champions Ballyshannon edged out Kilcar in a tense quarter-final clash at Ballintra last night.

Three players were sent off as darkness fell – Aodh Rua’s Paul O’Louchlin and Kilcar’s Enda McHugh were given their marching orders in the last five minutes of an otherwise tough but sporting encounter.

ut, it was player manager Sylvie Maguire’s triple substitution that effectively swung the match after Kilcar lead by 0-4 to 0-3 at half time.

Maguire hit 0-2 and Roper tormented the Gaeltacht men’s defense in the second-half. Kilcar had the better of the opening half and their young star Michael Hegarty hit some superb points – but it looked curtains for Ballyshannon when Kilcar’s maestro Martin McHugh converted a penalty in the 50th minute. (Kilcar led by 1-6 to 0-5).

However, Roper’s introduction and some tremendous play from Niall McCready and Maguire ensured a memorable come back. Martin McHugh and James McHugh were key figures for Kilcar and young Hegarty is a star of the future – but Ballyshannon’s greater balance proved crucial.

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A BOGEY at the last hole cost Padraig Harrington dearly at the German Open yesterday, the Dubliner finishing joint runner-up, one stroke behind winner Stephen Allan.

Harrington came from nowhere with four birdies in eight holes from the 10th and needed a par four at the last to go in on 280, which proved to be Allen’s winning total. But the Irishman came up short of the green in the left rough and could only pitch and two putt for a five.