ST. BRIGID’S OF Roscommon and Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh will contest this year’s All-Ireland senior football club final after both sides recorded memorable wins in their respective semi-final clashes this weekend.
St. Brigid’s earned the honour of a first-ever Croke Park appearance after pulling off a shock 0-13 to 1-8 victory over seven-time champions Nemo Rangers.
Although the South Cork side were strongly tipped to prevail in yesterday’s clash at Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds, Brigid’s battled bravely in the second half, restricting their opponents to just four scores as they recorded an historic win.
It was the Roscommon men who dominated the opening exchanges, although Nemo drew first blood when Sean O’Brien bagged an early goal after just 12 minutes.
That goal was good enough to give them a 1-4 to 0-5 lead to take into the break, but the game changed after just six minutes of the second half when midfielder David Niblock was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Despite Nemo’s reduced numbers, they defended resiliently and still led by a single score with three minutes left on the clock.
However, points from Gerard Cunniffe and a free from Senan Kilbride – one of six points he scored on the day – were enough to edge the Connaught champions over the line and into the St. Patrick’s Day showpiece.
A despondent Nemo finished with just 13 men as Aiden O’Reilly was shown a straight red seconds before the referee brought the game to a close.
Rangers
Meanwhile, in today’s second semi-final, Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh pulled off a marvellous second-half comeback to see off the challenge of Dublin side Kilmacud Crokes, triumphing by 2-11 to 1-12 after a close encounter in Navan.
A strong start from Crokes saw them slot six points without reply in the opening 11 minutes before Crossmaglen sharp-shooters Oisin McConville and Aaron Kernan began to reel them back in.
The Ulster champions were given a welcome boost on 23 minutes when Kevin Nolan was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
However, any momentum which Crossmaglen might have hoped to gain was abruptly halted just three minutes later, Crokes midfielder Craig Dias marking his return from injury with the opening goal of the game.
Despite being down to 14 men, Crokes boss Paddy Carr would have hoped that his side could preserve their 1-08 to 0-05 half-time lead. Crossmaglen sprang out of the traps following the restart, however, Francis Hanratty and Jamie Clarke scoring the goals which brought them firmly back into contention.
The game’s numbers were further reduced mid-way through the second period. Crokes’ Brian McGrath and Crossmaglen’s Danny O’Callaghan were dismissed within minutes of each other following separate off-the-ball incidents.
Just three minutes remained when the Armagh side pulled ahead for the first time, Kyle Carragher picking up the all-important score, before Martin Aherne doubled their advantage late on.
Crossmaglen now move on to their sixth All-Ireland final, hoping to pick up a fifth title when they square off against the underdogs from Roscommon in less than three weeks’ time.
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