fonaCAB Ulster Minor Football Tournament semi-final
Crossmaglen Rangers (Armagh) 3-9 Ballyholland Harps (Down) 2-8
A MAN-OF-THE-MATCH performance from goalkeeper Stephen Morgan helped Crossmaglen Rangers into the final of the fonaCAB Ulster Minor Football Tournament after a superb encounter against Ballyholland Harps at St Paul’s GAC, Belfast yesterday.
The sides served up a cracking game of football which remained in the balance until the closing stages when Crossmaglen tacked on three late points to confirm their place in the New Year’s Day decider.
However, Rangers can thank Morgan whose commanding presence in the Crossmaglen square frustrated the Ballyholland forward unit throughout the 60 minutes.
The Armagh men got off to a flyer, raising the game’s first green flag after just two minutes. A long ball in to Cian McConville saw the Rangers full-forward turn his man and fire to the net, and Oisin Doyle then added a point for the Armagh champions. In between, John McGovern forced the first save from Morgan before the Down side got off the mark with a Pearse Loughran free.
By the quarter-hour mark, the Down champions were ahead. Stephen Grant added their second point and after a driving run at the Cross defence by the pacey Luke Forster, Billy Campbell had the simple task of stroking the ball to the net for a 1-2 to 1-1 lead.
Crossmaglen responded with a run of four unanswered points, with Odhran Kieran’s 17th minute effort rising just over the Ballyholland bar. The Down side cut the deficit to two points just before the break when McGovern ended a jinking run with a fine score from play to leave Crossmaglen two to the good, 1-5 to 1-3, at the break.
A Loughran free reduced the gap to the minimum on 33 minutes but when Michael Kelly fouled Kieran in the small square, McConville converted the penalty to leave Cross five ahead, 2-6 to 1-4, on 40 minutes.
Ballyholland cut the gap with a point from Grant, who minutes earlier had been denied by another superb save from Morgan, and on 50 minutes the sides were level for the second time when Ryan Connolly blasted to the net after Morgan had saved McGovern’s initial shot.
As with Ballyholland’s first goal, Crossmaglen’s response was immediate. A swift move involving McConville and Kieran ended with James Teelan palming the ball to the Ballyholland net on 51 minutes to put Rangers back in the driving seat.
Back came Ballyholland. Forster and Loughran added points to leave one between the sides, 3-6 to 2-8, with five minutes on the clock but a late brace of frees from McConville and Kieran’s second of the day ensured victory for the Armagh champions who return to the decider for the first time since winning the title in 2015.
“It was a great game of football. We were well prepared coming into the game, and the boys didn’t stop till the end, they continued to play to the plan, they played the way we wanted them to play. It was manly, honest football and Ballyholland played their part right to the end also,” said manager Stephen Kernan whose side now face either Bellaghy Wolfe Tones or St Eunan’s, Letterkenny in the final.
Kernan will take in the St Stephen’s clash between the two sides but insisted Rangers will not be making too many changes ahead of the decider: “Generally it doesn’t make much difference what team we play against. We don’t necessarily change things up that much. The way we play football is fairly simple, everyone marks up and you go at your direct opponent.”
Ballyholland: D Sheridan; M Kelly, C Brady, E Hughes; S Campbell, R Mullholland, L Forster (0-1); D Vardy, B Campbell (1-0); C O’Reilly, P Loughran (0-3, 2f), R Connolly (1-0); J McGovern (0-1), S Grant (0-3, 2f), E Doyle
Subs: J Osbourne for R Mulholland (36), N Wray for E Hughes (40), B Mackle for E Doyle (41)
Crossmaglen: S Morgan; D Stuttard, R Duffy, T Cassidy; L Finnegan, T O’Callaghan, M Murray; O McKeown, E McMahon; O Kieran (0-2), P Finnegan, C Dooley; O Doyle (0-3, 2f), C McConville (2-4, 1-3f), J Teelan (1-0)
Referee: E McHugh (Tyrone)
