WITH his teeth chattering from the biting cold, man-of-the-match Tony Kernan took refuge under the stand at the Athletic Grounds and expressed his surprise that Crossmaglen had conquered the Ulster Club Championship again.
The Crossmaglen marksman, who top-scored with 1-6 to help sink Monaghan champions Scotstown in last Sunday’s pulsating final, thought it might have taken another year or two for the south Armagh club to rise again. But Kernan noted positive changes in the camp at the semi-final and final stages of their county championship that boosted their confidence heading into the provincial series.
Last season, ‘Cross crashed and burned the first round stage of Ulster, losing to St Enda’s, Omagh, but were back on top in 2015: “There was huge disappointment last year,” Kernan said, “and we didn’t know whether our time of winning Ulster clubs was over.
“We were just going to win a few Armagh Championships maybe and be happy with that. To be honest, we didn’t really believe we would get back to this stage until the Armagh county final this year, or perhaps the semi-final.
“The young lads came into the panel and they really lifted the atmosphere. It was fun again and there was competition for places and everybody was enjoying it and I guess we got the buzz back.”
Played in woeful conditions, Crossmaglen and Scotstown served up a memorable decider that was only settled after extra-time. Despite being pinned back for most of the second-half, Kernan never felt the game was slipping away from them.
“We would never feel a game is slipping away from us, no matter how bad it got,” Kernan added.
“We always believe we can grind something out because we’ve had so many positive experiences - being behind by six points in games and getting back. So we knew we were in a bit of bother, but we just had to up our intensity and try and get our hands on the ball in midfield and work a handy score or work a free-kick and, thankfully, we did.
“In the second-half, we didn’t really have the same intensity as the first-half. They got all the momentum and they were moving forward and we had to really scrap to really get anything out of the game… Conditions were tough, but we’ve been used to those kind of conditions in the Ulster Club. I remember in my first Ulster Club, we played Ballinderry at Casement Park [in 2006] and it finished 0-5 to 0-3 or something like that, so we know what Ulster Club finals are going to be like.
“It was a good tough game. We knew Scotstown would come out and try and get in front of us and keep the lead. We wanted to make sure we stayed with them or stayed in front. When they got the goal, we thought ‘Christ, are they going to do this again?’ but we were fortunate enough to get our own goal and we stayed in it.”
It was Kernan’s brilliant three-pointer just before half-time that provided the springboard for victory. Jamie Clarke heaped praise on Kernan after his man-of-the-match display.
“I thought Tony was brilliant,” said Clarke, who was sprung from the bench in the second-half in last Sunday’s epic decider.
“He took his goal brilliantly. He’s been working a lot on that run through the middle and he hit with his left foot today. So I’ll slag him about that. He was brilliant and deserved man-of-the-match.”
Clarke, who returned to ‘Cross just before the Ulster semi-final showdown with Kilcoo, added: “I’m just delighted for everyone. You see what it means to the people of ‘Cross.
"We made it tough for ourselves. Looking in the new year, we know that’s not going to be good enough in the All-Ireland. But this is the first part and we had to get over the line today.”
