Crossmaglen 1-8 Clontibret 1-7:Perhaps in future, to save energy, Crossmaglen's matches should be stripped back to five-minute affairs. Yet again in yesterday's AIB Ulster club football quarter-final at Clones the perennial Armagh champions found themselves in a match that was decided at the death.
How many times have we seen it? Oisín McConville alone in the opposition half and the balance of the team buzzing around like hornets to maintain their shrinking lead. And succeeding.
Clontibret had a 45 to force a draw, as the match wended its way beyond the announced four minutes of injury time. Paul McGuigan addressed the ball before tapping it sideways to team captain Dessie Mone. As soon as he met the first physical contact with a defender, referee Martin Sludden whistled it up - to the undisguised fury of the Monaghan champions, whose protestations led to a flare-up in the confusion of which red cards appeared to be shown to two players, one from each side - Cathal Short and Eoin Greenan.
Crossmaglen were held back from leaving the field with their opponents - a wise move with the rest of the championship ahead of them - but they may still be worried about the implications of the referee's report or any investigation the Ulster Council may care to launch.
Clontibret selector Damien Mone was unhappy afterwards: "If it was the last kick of the match it was bad form not to tell the player." But Mone was sufficiently clear-minded in the heated aftermath to acknowledge that the champions, reduced to 14 men after the first-half dismissal of centre back John Donaldson, had narrowly shaded the match as well as the fact that his team had cut their own lifeline by turning over possession and giving away key scores.
He could have added to the list of frustrations Clontibret's curious lack of urgency until the very end, when they set about attempting to dismantle a three-point deficit in injury-time, a feat they nearly accomplished.
Last year's tight encounter between the sides, also won by Cross on a single-point margin, set the tone.
Clontibret, still smarting at the setback, had the All-Ireland champions in Clones and were highly motivated at the prospect.
Unsurprisingly the match proved a grim affair, replete with niggling and foul play. The champions are well practised in riding out such adversity and once again defended as they had to and took scores at the other end with an economy that was beyond the challengers.
Clontibret will rue the number of times they gave away possession. In the opening quarter, as they worked the ball methodically out of the danger area, misplaced passes enabled Cross to nip in for their first two scores.
They also conceded a needless penalty in the 15th minute. Goalkeeper Paul McElroy raced out to intercept the ball and his lunging boot caught Tony Kernan. But McConville's shot came off the post and he was wide with his attempt at the rebound.
Donaldson's red card followed five minutes later after an altercation with Dessie Mone ("more a push than a thump," was Cross manager Donal Murtagh's considered verdict later). Not for the first time, Crossmaglen's opponents found no easy way to translate this numerical superiority into something more rewarding.
Martin Aherne clipped the first point of an energetic display to tie up the match at 0-3 each before Clontibret got sucker- punched just before the break.
Martin Corey brought down McConville, whose second penalty was pushed onto the post by McElroy but this time McConville rifled the rebound to the net from a tight angle.
That gave Cross something to defend in the second half - even if spare man Pádraig Duffy trimmed the deficit - and this they did. Michael McNamee dropped back into the half-back line and earned his manager's praise - "by far our best player" - for his emergency service.
By dropping back they were able to squeeze Clontibret and create space for their own attack to strike on the counter, a game plan that kept them in the lead for the entire second half.
Vincent Corey had looked likely to cause problems with two smart first-half points and his surging run five minutes into the half opened up a goalscoring chance, which he took after an initial rebound off the well rattled woodwork at the town end.
That cut the margin to a point, 1-4 to 1-5, but Clontibret couldn't generate decisive momentum and Cross restored the lead to three. In the 50th minute Fergal Mone was straight through on goal but blazed over the bar.
Corey, brought out to the half forwards in an attempt to harness his influence more effectively, was followed by Paul Kernan, who helped prevent the switch from having its desired impact.
Murtagh praised his side for their "never-say-die" attitude and expressed puzzlement over the end-of-match fracas - "I'm not sure what triggered it" - as well as Clontibret's relative inertia - "I'm surprised they didn't really force the game because they caused us problems when they ran the ball towards the end."
But Clontibret aren't the first side to learn the difference between causing Cross problems and beating them
CROSSMAGLEN RANGERS: P Hearty; S Finnegan, T McEntee, P Kernan; B McKeown, J Donaldson, A Kernan (0-1, free); D McKenna, S Clarke; M Aherne (0-2), J McEntee (0-1), M McNamee; T Kernan (0-1, 45), J Hanratty, O McConville (1-3). Subs: P McKeown for Finnegan (42 mins), C Short for Hanratty (43).
CLONTIBRET O'NEILLS: P McElroy; M Corey, E Greenan, E Ward; D Mooney, D Mone (capt; 0-1), P Duffy (0-1); D McKeown, JP Mone; R Gorman, P McGuigan, C McManus (0-2, frees); B Óg Magennis, V Corey (1-2), F Mone (0-1). Subs: R Murphy for McGennis (40 mins), M Hughes for Gorman (43 mins), J Golden for D McKeown (48 mins), J McGuigan for Ward (53 mins), D Mulligan for Hughes (55 mins).
Referee: M Sludden (Tyrone)
