Ulster Senior Club Football Championship semi-final: Gweedore (Donegal) 4-11 Crossmaglen (Armagh) 0-16
CROSSMAGLEN being Crossmaglen, this game was still alive long after it should have been dead and buried but Gweedore were in charge yesterday and they wrapped up the win they deserved well before the end.
Daire O Baoill – making hay in the acres of space Cross allowed him - had already walked the ball into the back of the Rangers’ net far too easily twice when he completed his hat-trick with a penalty to leave the Donegal champions 3-5 to 0-5 in front.
The Armagh men answered with four points on-the-trot before the break – three of them from the outstanding Rian O’Neill – but the dismissal of Johnny Hanratty early in the second half scuppered any realistic chance they had of making a famous comeback.
They battled on gamely but never looked like turning the tide and now Mervyn O’Donnell, who became Gweedore manager two years ago when nobody else particularly wanted the job, is preparing to face Scotstown in the Ulster final.
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“All of these teams fight to the very end and you’d expect that of champions,” he said, referring to Scotstown’s last minute win over Coleraine in the first game yesterday.
“I would expect our team to keep going to the very end but Scotstown is going to be a different challenge and there won’t be the same space or anything else. We look forward to the occasion and it will be a massive game for the club and a massive game for these players.
“They’ll look forward to it. Scotstown will be favourites but we’ll see what we can do.”
Crossmaglen, as ever sticking to their footballing principals, set up without a sweeper yesterday. Their traditional gameplan was to play the game in their opponents’ half but Gweedore refused to allow them do it.
The Donegal men sucked the Cross half-back line into their territory and from the throw-in the gulf between the two-man Gweedore full-forward line and the midfield line suggested that danger was ahead. When the Donegal men turned the ball over, the road to the Cross posts was wide open and their athletic runners had the pace to exploit it.
Bang-bang-bang, O Baoill shot Cross down.
Jamie McEvoy had saved brilliantly from Eamonn O Colm early on but he was a bystander as O Baoill clipped the ball past him twice before converting a penalty late in the half after Garvan Carragher had pulled Cian Mulligan down in desperation.
Crossmaglen’s late four-point salvo gave them something to fight for as the second half began with them 3-5 to 0-9 in arrears and they were almost right back in the game.
Tony Kernan pumped the ball into the Gweedore square and David McKenna – just on – had the chance to cut the deficit to two points but hat-trick hero O Baoill dived in to block his goal-bound shot behind for a ‘45’.
It drifted wide and the restart went to Chris McFadden who was tackled high by Hanratty (who had already been booked). The Cross veteran – who should know better at this stage of his career – was sent off and, five points and a man down, his side faced what seemed an impossible task.
Kevin Cassidy stretched the Gweedore lead to six with his first point of the game before Rian O’Neill and Tony Kernan pulled scores back.
Cross had adjusted to a running, handpassing game that was looking effective but they were still wide open for counterattacks and Cassidy added another point before Odhran MacNaillais, outstanding in the first half with three points, hit the upright with a long range shot.
With the Crossmaglen defence watching on, 37-year-old Cassidy gathered the rebound and smashed the ball into the top corner of the Cross net to send his side into an impregnable 4-7 to 0-11 lead.
Cross continued to battle on regardless. They saw a lot of the ball but couldn’t get close and Rian O’Neill was shown a straight red card in the dying seconds for a needless swipe at Seamus O Baoill.
Eamonn O Colm, Mac Naillais, Niall Friel and Shane Ferry all raised white flags as Gweedore cantered home.
Cross never waved theirs but they were second best yesterday and Gweedore will take some stopping in their first provincial final as they bid to become the first side from the Tir Chonaill county to win Ulster since Brian McEniff and St Joseph’s managed it back in 1975.
Crossmaglen: J McEvoy; R Kelly, A Farrelly, G Carragher; A Kernan, J Morgan, P Hughes; S Morris, O O’Neill (0-3, 0-1 free); J McKeever, R O’Neill (0-8, 0-2 frees), J Hanratty (0-1); M McCabe, T Kernan (0-2, 0-1 free), K Carragher (0-2)
Subs: A Rushe for G Carragher (27), D McKenna for McKeever (HT), P Studdard for Hughes (48), C McConville for T Kernan (47), M Boyce for K Carragher (59)
Yellow: P Hughes (20), Hanratty (27&33)
Red cards: Hanratty (33), R O’Neill (64)
Gweedore: C Mac Suibhne; G McFaddenn, N McGee, C McFadden; N Friel (0-1), E McGee, O McFadden-Ferry; D O Baoill (3-0, 1-0 pen), O MacNiallais (0-4); C Mulligan (0-1), N O Baoill, D McBride; E O Colm (0-2, 0-1 free), C Cassidy (1-2), M Carroll
Subs: P McGee for McBride (43), S Carroll for O Colm (48), S O Baoill for O McFadden-Ferry (51), S Ferry (0-1) for N O Baoill (55), C McCafferty for E McGee (64)
Yellow card: N O Baoill (56), E McGee (60)
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan)
Attendance: 7,794
Star man
Daire O Baoill (Gweedore)
RACED through from midfield twice in the first half to beat Crossmaglen goalkeeper Jamie McEvoy with sliderule finishes. Completed his hat-trick with a penalty before half-time and at the start of the second half he denied Cross a route back into the game with a brave block to deny David McKenna.
Rian O’Neill (Crossmaglen)
HIS manager says he has “the world at his feet” and O’Neill finished with eight points (six from frees) yesterday. Carried the fight to Gweedore as Cross struggled to stay in the game and he is a joy to watch with the ball in his hands. Red carded late on, so he’ll need to improve his discipline.
