AIB All-Ireland Club Football Championship quarter-final: Crossmaglen Rangers 1-18 Tir Chonaill Gaels 0-8
A TALE of two brothers and two dismissals dominated this entertaining All-Ireland club championship quarter-final played in near perfect mid-winter conditions at Ruislip yesterday. Armagh star Oisin McConville was the undoubted man of the match.
He scored nine points with exemplary accuracy from both frees and play and was at the hub of everything that was creative about Crossmaglen.
His brother Jim too made a significant contribution. But he was the victim rather than the protagonist of the game’s turning point.
Crossmaglen had just begun to dominate after a closely-contested first-half but any prospect of a home victory evaporated within five minutes of the restart.
Tir Chonaill Gaels’ midfielder Andy Carr was sent off for a crude challenge on Jim McConville. McConville lay on the ground for several minutes though he later recovered. Crossmaglen seized the initiative from there to the finish by which time a fading Tir Chonaill side had suffered another reverse with 10 minutes to go. Dermot Gordon, a regular on the London inter-county team, was sent off for a high tackle on Crossmaglen substitute Michael Moley.
The Tir Chonaill challenge had been robust but never cynical and the dismissals undermined a very credible performance.
The entire Crossmaglen forward line revelled in the space afforded by the extra men. A superb goal in injury time from Anthony Cunningham was as inevitable as it was irrelevant at that stage.
Crossmaglen Rangers: P Hearty, M Caliss, D Murtagh, C Dooley, F Shields, F Bellew, J Fitzpatrick (0-1), J McEntee (capt), A Cunningham (1-1), K Donnelly, T McEntee (0-2), O McConville (0-9, 0-5 from frees, 0-4 from play), J McConville (0- 1), G Cumiskey (0-1), C O’Neill (0-1). Subs: C Short (0-2) for K Donnelly (25 mins), M Moley for G Cumiskey (42 mins), O McEntee for J McConville.
Tir Chonaill Gaels: D Kelly, P Finnelly, C Gilhooley, M Donohoe, B McDonagh, D Gordon, C McGovern, S McLaughlin, A Carr, K Hickey (0-1), T Maguire (0-4, 0-3 from play, 0-1 from free), J Grimes (0-1), G Burke, M Somers (0- 1), P Coggins (0-1).
Referee: Michael Collins (Cork)
ooooooooooooOOOOOoooooooooooo
IT was a great weekend all round for Belfast and Irish boxing – amateur and professional – with two of Ulster’s rising stars complimenting Damaen Kelly’s superb Commonwealth title success.
Lightweight Patrick Taylor (St Agnes) and Star Club welterweight Gerard McAuley both scooped gold in the finals of the UK Boys and Girls Clubs Championships in county Durham.
This is the second year running that five-time Irish champion Taylor has hit the UK heights and McAuley’s impressive performance during the competition earned the north Belfast lad the ‘Most Stylish Boxer’ award.
The five-strong NI squad also picked up three silver medals at the Peterlee leisure centre with Martin Linday (Immaculata) narrowly losing out in the flyweight final.
Down duo Owen Gribben and Mark Casey, both from Hall’s Mill, Laurencetown ABC, were the other NI hopefuls.
There was some bizarre judging in the Casey contest said team manager Harry Cunningham.
One judge awarded Casey all three rounds while another scored all three for his opponent and the deciding official making it two rounds to one against the HML lad.
The NI coaches at the event were Tommy Quinn (Immaculata) and Sean McKay (HML)
