CROSSMAGLEN RANGERS 8-15
GARRYCASTLE 1-12
A draw felt like the right result of a brilliant match. Both teams had gone toe-to-toe throughout but Crossmaglen pushed Garrycastle back on to the ropes in the last quarter and they were just hanging on for a finish. In a more clinical analysis, Crossmaglen could have had 1-4 in the final six minutes, which entitles them to feel that they left the game after them.
You just have to hand it to Crossmaglen. When the game was threatening to get away from them, they took hold of it in such a manner that their dominance was scarcely believable given the game’s competitiveness up to that point. They managed it too without the goals which had bailed them out in equally demanding circumstances against Dr Crokes in the semi-final.
Garrycastle had signalled their intent from the start of the second half when winning the first five kickouts but Cross responded to that challenge with a vengeance. They won the kickout battle 12-2 afterwards, with 10 of those Garrycastle kickouts. They gobbled up the majority of the breaking ball in the middle third like a pack of ravenous wolves and the scores began to flow with that momentum.
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The charge began entering the third quarter when five successive points in seven minutes wiped out Garrycastle’s lead. When Garrycastle edged back in front again down the home straight, Cross engineered eight scoring chances afterwards. Their equalising score from David McKenna in the 57th minute was one of the scores of the match, an audacious effort from an acute angle that a midfielder had no right to attempt.
McKenna was gone to full-forward by that stage, where he made a significant difference. Crossmaglen’s long kicking game has been the foundation block of this team’s success but the genesis of their comeback began when they began taking on the Garrycastle defence, which resulted in a plethora of frees. As expected, Oisin McConville’s accuracy from placed balls was immense and four of Crossmaglen’s last five scores came from his boot.
Both sides ended with 14 men, after Tom McHugh and Paul Kernan were both sent off in the space of five minutes after the break. It’s possible that Garrycastle may have run out of gas but the red cards did have the greater impact on them because it opened up the pitch more for Cross. Aaron and Tony Kernan prospered in that space and finished as two of the four best players on the pitch.
The respective comparison between Dessie Dolan and Jamie Clarke also offers a neat synopsis of the match. Dolan made 19 plays, scoring 0-6, five frees, but he engineered three converted frees and was also involved in the creation of two more scores. Overall, he lost just three balls.
Clarke made 16 plays, ended with three points from play but was also fouled for two converted frees and had a hand in three more scores. McHugh’s second yellow card was for dragging back Clarke when he seemed set to pull the trigger as he bore down on goal. Clarke could have won the match when he was unlucky with two late goal attempts, one of which hit the post, while the other just sneaked outside it.
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Despite their inexperience on this stage compared to Crossmaglen’s, Garrycastle settled really well and were 0-4 to 0-2 ahead after 10 minutes. They were still ahead by 1-8 to 0-7 at the break, their goal in the 22nd minute superbly executed by Patrick Mulvihill who placed his shot along the deck beyond the diving Paul Hearty.
Crossmaglen had dominated the kickouts 11-6 in the first half but Garrycastle had competed well in midfield and were continuously turning over Cross’ possession before they could create any real incisive openings beyond the D.
Garrycastle were hitting hard on the break and their attacking threat hinged on them being able to create huge tracts of space in front of Dessie Dolan.
James Dolan and Mulvihill were also always busy in the engine room but the machine ground to a halt once Cross took over in the middle third. Garrycastle’s struggles in the last quarter were partly down to their difficulties in getting Dessie Dolan on the ball and they went 12 minutes without a score before Dolan edged them back in front with a free.
When Mulvihill tacked on another point three minutes later, it appeared that Garrycastle might have done enough. Then the onslaught began. McConville and McKenna levelled it before two wides from McConville and one from Tony Kernan were sandwiched between a Clarke goal chance and a shot which dropped short.
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Since 1996, Crossmaglen have lost just one final, the 2009 All-Ireland decider to Kilmacud Crokes. That innate belief sustained them again and with Stephen Kernan to return from suspension, they might feel that they learned enough about Garrycastle to deal with their threat in the replay. Yet Garrycastle will feel that they showed enough to believe that they can still win it. This game is still on.
Star man: Dessie Dolan (Garrycastle) Referee: R Hickey (Clare) Crossmaglen Rangers: P Hearty; J Morgan, P Kernan, P McKeown; A Kernan (0-2), D O’Callaghan, B McKeown (S Finnegan 24min); J Hanratty, D McKenna (0-1); T Kernan (0-2), K Brennan (K Carragher 28min, F Hanratty 56min)), A Cunningham; J Clarke (0-3), M McNamee (0-1) (M Aherne 54 min), O McConville (0-6, 5fs).
Garrycastle: C Mullin; M McCallon, J Gaffey, T McHugh; K Henson (A Fox 49min), D Harte, E Mulvihill; S O’Donoghue, D O’Shaughnessy; P Dillon (0-1)(A Daly 54min), D Dolan (0-6, 5fs), J Dolan (0-2); G Dolan (A Browne 0-1 47th min), P Mulvihill (1-1), J Duignan (0-1)(R McGowan (44min)