Hi °C | Lo °C Any notion that Clan na gael might have been capable of upsetting the formidable Crossmaglen Rangers applecart had been savagely dispelled long before half-time had been reached in this Armagh senior county championship semi-final at Carrickcruppen last night.
Rangers, going for their 13th county crown on the trot, will now meet Harps in the semi-final with Pearse Og facing Killeavy.
Indeed, by the half-way stage last night Rangers had built up a 2-11 to 0-2 lead and there was simply no way that Clans, despite their honest endeavour, were going to recover.
They eventually went under by 3-15 to 0-4, with Rangers veteran Cathal Short grabbing two of their goals and Tony Kernan grabbing the other.
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Ronan Clarke proved the architect of a hard-earned Pearse Og victory over Granemore (2-9 0-11) in the Armagh senior football championship quarter-finals.
The gifted full-forward scored his team’s first goal, then earned a penalty from which Sean Moore fired over a point and did all the spadework to allow Christopher Rafferty to fire in the Ogs’ second goal.
Clarke, though, shared top billing with the hugely influential Kieran Toner who turned in a powerhouse performance for Granemore in midfield and the majority of their scores emanated from his ability to win primary possession. Tony McClelland was also impressive for the losers.
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Killeavy booked their place in the Armagh semi-finals by virtue of a solid if unspectacular 0-19 1-8 win over Clan Eireann.
Not surprisingly, Stevie McDonnell proved the ace in their pack with seven points from frees while Louth player Mark Stanfield contributed two.
Clan Eireann were missing three key players, including scoring dynamo Ryan Henderson because of a US wedding, and this impacted on their performance. Killeavy led by 0-12 to 1-2 at half-time but Clans battled grimly for the most part.
Killeavy scorers: S McDonnell (0-7, all frees), A O’Hare, G Byrne (0-3 each), M Stanfield (0-2), G Reel, C Byrne, D O’Hanlon, R Teggart (0-1 each).
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Despite being without two key players in Collie Holmes and Charlie Vernon, Armagh Harps managed to squeeze into the county football championship semi-finals at the expense of a gallant Mullaghbawn side (0-11 1-6) for whom Gareth Smith was outstanding.
Holmes, of course, is in the Tyrone squad for Sunday’s All Ireland final against Kerry while Vernon is carrying an injury.
Donal Ferris appeared to have provided Mullaghbawn with the momentum to push for victory when he drilled home a penalty – his team were actually four points down at one stage - but Harps staged a strong performance in the final quarter during which they registered the last three points of the game to seal their victory.
