Ulster Club SFC Semi-finals/Crossmaglen 2-6 Dromore 0-11:Some day this mightn't work for Crossmaglen. The defending champions kept their campaign on track with their umpteenth one-point win over opponents, who were coming at them hot and heavy when time ran out.
Dromore had a couple of good chances to tie the match in the dying minutes but shot wide on each occasion.
On a lovely November afternoon in Clones with the winter sun projecting spidery silhouettes across the pitch the champions of Armagh and Tyrone put on an absorbing contest. It was intense without subsiding into peevish asides - physically given and taken for the most part within the rules and without complaint or recrimination.
Referee Joe McQuillan helped by officiating decisively and with authority despite the tightly balanced match and its high stakes.
Both sides' anxieties were visible in the final quarter when with scores level, and despite a lot of good movement and opportunity, just one point was scored. Tony Kernan's deliberate and careful 45 was watched with intent foreboding by the Dromore defence as it plopped narrowly over the bar and onto the roof of the net.
There can be few more sinking feelings in football than the concession of a one-point lead to Crossmaglen with remaining time measured in seconds rather than minutes. But, to Dromore's credit, they battled back and Barry Collins had a good chance, created for him by Colm McCullagh, in open play but shot wide and the last significant play of the afternoon was a kickable free Shaun O'Neill failed to convert.
There was some surprise that he had been entrusted with the kick instead of McCullagh or the other regular free-taker Seán O'Neill but the latter had been having an off-day with placed kicks, having earlier put three wide.
Given Cross's preference for the tight finish they must have found the first half disorientating. They looked more comfortable going forward and translated that greater menace into a healthy scoreboard total. It was noticeable however that Crossmaglen had a broader repertoire. Aaron Kernan and John McEntee had the priceless asset of time when in possession and the ability to look up and pick out a telling ball.
Kernan's delicious, hanging pass gave Martin Aherne the chance to get a fisted connection for the first goal in the 13th minute. The score wiped out the narrow lead Dromore had maintained in the opening minutes and put the holders in front, 1-2 to 0-3. The match was still close 13 minutes later when Aherne struck again, his run beating the defence and his shot drawing a good save from Peter Ward. But to the Dromore 'keeper's dismay the ball simply ballooned up into the air and Aherne reacted quickly to claim his second goal.
Despite the half-time lead of four, 2-4 to 0-6, at times the champions must have been concerned at the ease with which Dromore managed to put players in space and ghost into scoring positions.
Shane McMahon and Kevin O'Brien got points with no marker near them, Eoin McCusker finished with a fisted point a move that had run its way through the Cross defence and Shaun O'Neill left Paul Kernan for dead (to be fair to the full back, an isolated occurrence) to swing over another of Dromore's points.
If the champions were disturbed at being so far ahead at the break they soon got Dromore where they wanted them by allowing the Tyrone club to wipe out the lead in the first 10 minutes after the break.
Pushing up on top of Crossmaglen, who were already starting to yield territory, Dromore dominated the kick-outs and the breaks, using the possession to reel off the four points - among them Ryan McMenamin availing of the opposition's deep lying half forwards to get forward and score - that levelled the match.
The first sign that Crossmaglen had steadied was a fascinating move out of defence through a sequence of hard tackles and lunging challenges - reminiscent of Indiana Jones getting out of that cave - despite which the champions instinctively moved the ball at the right time to a supporting player before finally romping to freedom on the other side of centrefield.
Aaron Kernan kicked a free a short while later - one of only two for the winners in the second half - to reclaim the lead.
Tony McEntee - having started in the suspended John Donaldson's position at centre back before moving to the wing - had been switched to the middle to try to steady the ship and the move largely worked. McMenamin equalised and the long countdown began.
A succession of chances went astray for both teams.
Even seasoned campaigners such as John McEntee and Oisín McConville drifted shots wide but Dromore couldn't take advantage. Eventually Crossmaglen did what they always do.
The final is only a week away when Crossmaglen take on their predecessors as champions, St Gall's, in Newry.
CROSSMAGLEN RANGERS:P Hearty; S Finnegan, P Kernan, P McKeown; A Kernan (0-1, free),T McEntee, B McKeown; D McKenna, S Clarke; M Aherne (2-0), J McEntee (capt; 0-1), M McNamee (0-1); T Kernan (0-2, 45),J Hanratty, O McConville (0-1, free). Subs:S McNamee for McKenna (38 mins), J Murtagh for Hanratty (43 mins), K Carragher for Aherne (49 mins), S Kernan for M McNamee (55 mins).
DROMORE:P Ward; F O'Neill (capt.), C McCarron, R McNabb; Seán O'Neill, R McMenamin (0-2), S McMahon (0-1);B Collins, M Garry; E McCusker (0-2), C McCullagh (0-3, all frees), K O'Brien (0-1); S McDonnell (0-1), Shaun O'Neill (0-1),S Fitzpatrick. Subs:C O'Neill for Fitzpatrick (40 mins), E O'Neill for O'Brien (59 mins).
Referee: Joe McQuillan(Cavan).
