Armagh SFC quarter-final: Crossmaglen Rangers 1-15 Dromintee St Patrick's 1-5 (aet)
YOU'VE won it once, now go and win it again – that famous message from the 1966 soccer World Cup Final might have been repeated to Crossmaglen, who were forced into extra time but then comfortably disposed of neighbours Dromintee.
The Rangers seemed to have shrugged off the loss of Caolan Finnegan after just a quarter of an hour to a straight red card with a dominant second half display, outscoring the blue and whites by 0-5 to one point – until added time.
Then Dromintee scored twice to force extra time, but Cross' almost completely bossed that to run out victors by 10 points, victory sealed by a goal just before the end from substitute Daniel Cumiskey.
Crossmaglen go into the last four for a 13th consecutive season and will meet Maghery, their conquerors in the 2020 final, with Granemore taking on Killeavy in the other semi-final.
Cross' manager Stephen Kernan was delighted with how his 14 men responded in normal time, and then with their showing back at full strength in extra time, when midfielder Ronan Fitzpatrick returned to the fray, but in attack, after acknowledging that they had struggled initially:
"We didn't start well, didn't get into our groove, didn't play how we wanted to play – and then going down to 14 men didn't help us – when you've only five forwards against seven defenders, that stifled us."
Yet he noted that his players won 100 per cent of their kick-outs throughout, and also some of Dromintee's, commenting: "I would be over the moon about that – the boys stuck to the plan, and even with them having an extra man for over 40 minutes, we had 26 shots and they had 14."
Cross' were able to include Jamie Clarke at full-forward and also brought in Aidan Rushe at full-back, instead of Alan Farrelly, while Dromintee similarly brought in Peter Campbell to anchor their defence.
The St Patrick's started in very physical fashion, but Cross' are well used to such an approach, and still dominated possession early on. Still, it took them almost 10 minutes to open their account, through Ronan Fitzpatrick, although three minutes later Cian McConville doubled their lead.
However, the Rangers then suffered three blows in just over three minutes. First came the red card for Finnegan - scorer of a great late goal to see off Silverbridge in the first round, who was dismissed midway through the first half after an off-the-ball incident.
Then defender James Morgan was forced off after taking a knock to the head – and to cap it all off Shea McArdle sent a sweet kick-pass into the Cross' square and big full-forward Cathal McKenna rose above goalkeeper Miceal Murray to touch the ball into the net.
Crossmaglen tried to hit back but McConville only hit Aaron McKay in the face with a shot and Paul Hughes's follow-up was blocked.
Instead it was Dromintee who registered the next score, through midfielder Darren McKenna, to lead by 1-1 to 0-2 at the break, and dream about a first ever senior championship win over their south Armagh neighbours.
Yet Cross' took command in the second half, and were soon level for the first time in the match after a free and a long-range point from Rian O'Neill.
Dromintee did go back ahead through a lovely score from Jack McArdle, but the Rangers were soon on terms, and ahead the next minute, through cousins McConville and O'Neill.
Clarke's first point seemed to seal Cross's semi-final spot, but when he wasn't awarded a penalty for clear pull as the hour mark approached Dromintee's hopes remained alive.
They duly made the most of them, with sub Oran Loughran converting a free and McArdle finishing off a swift counter-attack to force an extra 20 minutes.
Dromintee's injury list meant they had to bring both Darren McKenna and Conor Martin back on in extra time, while Cross' were back to 15 with Fitzpatrick coming back on, in attack – and he immediately scored a point.
It was almost one-way traffic after that, with Crossmaglen repeatedly running towards the Dromintee goals, and Seanie McConville probably should have netted rather than firing over. Even so, they doubled their normal time tally inside the first period of extra time, to lead by 0-14 to 1-5.
After Campbell was black-carded for dragging down Rian O'Neill, Cian McConville converted the free, and then Cross swept through to set up a goal for young Cumiskey.
Crossmaglen: M Murray; T O'Callaghan, A Rushe, T Duffy; A Kernan, J Morgan, P Hughes; S Morris (capt.) (0-2, 0-1 free), R Fitzpatrick (0-2); D O'Callaghan, C Cumiskey, C Finnegan; C McConville (0-3, 0-1 free), J Clarke (0-2), R O'Neill (0-4, 0-2 frees, 0-1 '45').
Substitutes: C Crowley (0-1) for Morgan (17, inj.); D Cumiskey (1-1) for O'Callaghan (35);
O McKeown for Hughes (14, e-t); O Kiernan for Clarke (16, e-t).
Red card: Finnegan (16).
Dromintee: P McEvoy; R Quinn (capt.), P Campbell, P Martin; S McArdle, A McKay, R Gaskin; D McKenna (0-1), G Kilgallon; C O'Neill, A Boyle, R Hughes (0-1); C Martin, C McKenna (1-0), J McArdle (0-2).
Substitutes: O Loughran (0-1 free) for C Martin (45); A Markey for D McKenna (61)
D McKenna for S McArdle (2, e-t, inj.); C Martin for O'Neill (8, e-t); S McGenity for Quinn (14, e-t);
Yellow cards: Boyle (28); O'Neill (28); Campbell (42); Gaskin (49).
Black card: Campbell (11, e-t).
Referee: Tony O'Hare (Pearse Og).
