Clontibret make their Exit in Controversial Finish

Clontibret’s dream of an Ulster senior football club championship title lies in ruins now following their defeat by Crossmaglen in Clones on Sunday 4th November.

The end result was a repetition of last year’s semi-final meeting between these sides when the Armagh champions edged home by the minimum margin and then went on to take the All Ireland title on St Patrick’s Day. Going into the game Clontibret were regarded as having at least a 50-50 chance of victory based on the fact that they had put Monaghan titles back-to-back and had improved as a team since their demise at the Ulster semi-final stage in 2006. On the day though that was not how it worked out as Clontibret failed to live up to pre-match expectations and overall never really did themselves justice. Crossmaglen on the other hand used their vast experience to good effect and even though they were forced to play for almost three quarters of the game with 14 players they were still largely in control.

That is not to say they won the bulk of the possession in the match particularly out around midfield because they did not but what they did do was to use the possession won and the chances created to much better effect. Their assertion at the end of the game that they could have won by more was not an exaggeration as they missed one penalty and saw another effort from wingback Brendan McKeown come off the crossbar. Crossmaglen were reduced to 14 players in the 19th minute of the match when John Donaldson was sent all for a striking offence on Dessie Mone after Mone and John McEntee had clashed as they struggled for possession. The personal battle between these two was one of the features of the game as was the battle between Vincent Corey and Tony McEntee with Corey shading that one when the supply in to him was of the quality that he needed. Unfortunately the quantity was at times lacking and as Vincent Corey was delegated a different role further out field later in the gear Clontibret’s threat nearer to goals diminished.

Clontibret went in for the half-time break though in a good enough position. They were trailing by just two points when they could have been in deeper trouble but for that missed penalty and the intervention of the woodwork although they too saw chances denied by the woodwork at the other end. Within six minutes of the restart though they found themselves in deeper trouble as the deficit had grown to four points but a brilliant solo goal by Vincent Corey brought them right back into the game. Earlier in the first half a point by Corey had put Clontibret into the lead for the only time in the match but that one point deficit proved to be an insurmountable barrier in the second-half as each time they threatened Crossmaglen were able to respond. It all ended controversially though and that is sure to be the subject of a fairly in-depth examination by the powers that be. Clontibret mounted a late rally when they pushed their extra man forward and pulled back two points in stoppage time to bring the margin down to the minimum.

At that stage Crossmaglen were hanging on and it looked as if it would take a second meeting when Clontibret were awarded a ’45 six minutes into stoppage time. Paul McGuigan stepped up to take the kick but instead of going for broke and a possible draw he opted to play the ball short to Dessie Mone and when Mone collected possession the referee blew the full-time whistle. It was a controversial ending by any standards as the kicker had not been informed that it was the final passage of play but referee Martin Sludden had been a little controversial in a number of decisions during the match.

This one though sparked a fairly heated scene at the finish with players from both sides becoming involved. Crossmaglen manager Donal Murtagh was openly critical of Dessie Mone at the end stating that he had overreacted when he was struck by Donaldson earlier. He had little cause for complaint though as Donaldson had struck from being behind with the closes fist in sight of both the referee and the linesman and Martin Sludden had no option but to issue a straight red card. He issued a further red card to Cathal Shortt after the final whistle for an alleged to kicking offence that could see him miss the remainder of the Ulster club championship and his report is certain to lead to a deeper examination of the post match scenes. For Clontibret it was a disappointing ending to what so far had been a brilliant season.

Last year they had gone out at the semi-final stage and making their exit at the quarter-final stage this year is something of a setback. That said though they can learn valuable lessons. They were caught in possession too often and at times their short passing game saw them rather easily turned over and it was only in the latter stages when they used the long ball in to good effect or alternatively ran directly at the Crossmaglen defence that they caused major problems. That will be of little consolation in the short term as an Ulster club title is now a year further away at least and getting back to the position to challenge again next year will take a lot of hard work.

AIB ULSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP.
Crossmaglen Rangers (Armagh) 1-8
Clontibret (Monaghan) 1-7.
Despite playing for almost three quarters of the game with 14 players Ulster and All Ireland at club champions, Crossmaglen Rangers, got their 12th consecutive Ulster club championship campaign off to a winning start when they held out for the narrowest of victories in a somewhat controversial finish to this tough, hard-hitting and at times rugged quarter-final in Clones on Sunday 4th November.

In the final analysis it was their hugely experienced players like Tony and John McEntee along with Oisin McConville who carved out this victory, John McEntee showing great leadership and Oisin McConville picking off some inspirational scores despite missing a penalty in the first half.

Crossmaglen were awarded two penalties in the opening period as well as having John Donaldson sent off in the 19th minute for a striking offence against Dessie Mone but they were able to compensate by digging into their huge reserves of hunger and commitment to survive. Crossmaglen led at half-time by 1-3 to 0-4 and within six minutes of the restart had extended their lead to four points with strikes from Oisin McConville and Martin Ahern.

By the 10th minute Clontibret were right back in the game when Vincent Corey tore through the heart of the Crossmaglen defence for a goal that brought the margin down to the minimum but before they could capitalise Aaron Kernan and Oisin McConville had restored the champions to a three points lead. With just one further exchange of scores in normal time Crossmaglen held a three points advantage going into stoppage time with Clontibret mounting a late rearguard action to pull back two points by Dessie Mone and Padraig Duffy to leave the minimum between the sides. Referee Martin Sludden had indicated four minutes of stoppage time but six and a half minutes had elapsed when Clontibret were awarded a ’45.

A direct strike might have salvaged a draw but Paul McGuigan opted to go short to Dessie Mone who appeared to be fouled when he won possession but the whistle was for full time with the champions home by the minimum margin. Following the final whistle a fairly serious incident involving a number of players from both sides erupted with Crossmaglen’s Cathal Shortt being issued with a straight red card and the referee needing a Garda escort from the pitch.

Teams and Scorers:
Crossmaglen: Paul Hearty, Stephen Finnegan, Tony McEntee, Paul Kernan, Aaron Kernan 0-1, John Donaldson, Brendan McKeown, David McKenna, Stephen Clarke, Michael McNamee, John McEntee 0-1, Martin Aherne 0-2, Tony Kernan 0-1, Johnny Hanratty, Oisin McConville 1-3. Subs: Paul McKeown for S Finnegan, Cathal Shortt for J Hanratty.

Clontibret: Paul McElroy, Martin Corey, Eamonn Ward, Padraig Duffy 0-1, Darach Mooney, Dessie Mone 0-1, Paul McGuigan, John Paul Mone, Eoin Greenan, Rodney Gorman, Conor McManus 0-2, Brendan Og Magennis, Daithi McKeown, Vincent Corey 1-2, Fergal Mone 0-1. Subs: Ronan Murphy for B Og Magennis, Michael Hughes for R Gorman, John Golden for D McKeown, Shane Mulligan for E Ward, Darren Mulligan for M Hughes.

Referee: Martin Sludden (Tyrone).