THE All Ireland B football final between Fermanagh and Longford ended in some controversy at Carrick on Shannon yesterday when the Ulster side were awarded a 13 metre free deep in injury time to tie the game.
The teams finished on 0-9 each and must meet again on December 8th. Longford manager Eamonn Coleman described referee Joe Woods's decision as a "free for a draw". Fermanagh's Rory Gallagher availed of the opportunity to keep his team in contention for a B title which has launched other counties on to greater things in previous years.
Meanwhile, the reigning All Ireland club champions Laune Rangers survived a somewhat improbable scare in Dungarvan when the Waterford champions Rathgormack held them to a draw, 1-5 each. The Kerry side were in trouble early on and failed to score in the first half - they even missed a penalty Rathgormack goalkeeper Pat Fahy making a fine save.
A second half revival left Laune four in front with 10 minutes left but a Francis Halpin goal and a Ger Power point two minutes from time gave Rathgormack a deserved draw.
The Cork champions Clonakilty await the replay winners in the Munster final having disposed of Doonbeg from Clare at home. It is Clonakilty's first foray into the club championship but they outplayed a more experienced Doonbeg outfit, 1-11 to 1-7. The Clare champions also missed a penalty that might have kept them in the hunt.
Both Leinster club semi finals were decided at a double header in Portlaoise. First time Dublin champions St Sylvester's struggled to overcome a battling Kilanerin team but the Wexford champions conceded 1-3 in the final five minutes as they ran out of steam. St Sylvester's will meet Leinster kingpins Eire Og in the final on December 1st.
The Carlow champions beat Round Towers from Kildare by a substantial 13 points in the end, having struggled to shake them off until the final five minutes.
In Ulster, the Armagh champions and underdogs, Crossmaglen, had a surprisingly comfortable win over Monaghan's Castleblayney in Clones. Their victory was marked by an outstanding individual performance from county player Oisin McConville, who racked up 10 points from a final tally of 1-19. They face the Derry champions, Bellaghy.
The Connacht club final between Knockmore of Mayo and Roscommon's Clann na nGael was postponed following the death of Liam Naughten, Cathaoirleach of the Seanad and a member of the Clann na nGael club. The game has been rescheduled for next Saturday at Ballina.
Meath's All Ireland campaign meant that their club competition was only finished yesterday. Kilmainhamwood had little difficulty in beating a Seneschalstown side deprived of suspended county stars Colm Coyle and Graham Geraghty, eventually winning by double scores, 2-12 to 1-6.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)