Ulster SF Final: Clinical football and plenty of physical exchanges were the potent ingredients that ensured Crossmaglen climbed back onto the Ulster throne yesterday, and from that the vantage point the south Armagh side can see the whole of Ireland before them again this morning.
Once the traditional flexing of muscles had subsided, a game of skill and majesty followed with scores raining down throughout a bruising but often beautiful encounter.
Crossmaglen, in their inimitable style, set the tone in a thunderous opening quarter. The pivotal moment arrived when Francie Bellew almost decapitated Mickey Linden with a shuddering, full-frontal challenge.
After several minutes of medical attention, a heavily concussed Linden stumbled off the pitch, his mouth dripping blood. Such was the impact, the 41-year-old player-manager had to be taken to hospital where he underwent X-rays last night.
Bellew was not even cautioned, although Mayobridge forward John Quinn was for retaliation. But referee Michael Hughes did flash a yellow card at the Armagh full back moments later for clattering into Benny Coulter.
It was a far from fitting end to yet another ground-breaking season for Linden, but Ulster football isn't designed for happy endings.
It is a ruthless, ultra-competitive environment which Crossmaglen have now ruled for nine years: they have won all 15 of their final appearances in all competitions. What's significant about this year is their latest crop of talent has also evolved into match winners.
"When the young guys coming in have the same amount of heart as we had coming in it makes for a great recipe in the team," said captain Tony McEntee. "We have a lot faults. We're not a perfect team, but what we have is heart, which makes up for a lot of our problems. We could be a force to reckon with in the All-Ireland series."
By that stage, McEntee's hugely influential twin brother, John, will be back from his honeymoon.
With their talisman gone, Mayobridge's expectations shifted onto the shoulders of the 22-year-old Coulter, but he was constantly corralled by the half-back line of McEntee, Aaron Kernan and John Donaldson, who restricted his input to long-range efforts from which he did manage to post three points.
"There was a lot of emphasis in the match on Benny Coulter being a one-man Mayobridge team but that wasn't the case," said McEntee. "Benny had a good game, he was carrying an injury so he wasn't as fit as he could be. We had to focus on stopping as much ball as possible getting to Benny. If he has as little ball as possible he would have less effect on the game. That was the plan today."
Up the other end, a clearly unfit Oisín McConville still managed to contribute five points from dead balls, four coming in vital periods in the second-half, but several others shared the load.
John Murtagh was scoring from outrageous distances and angles. He landed five from play in the opening half, two of which could only be managed by a handful of players in the country.
Cathal Short really should have found the net on 19 minutes after Stephen Kernan glided past two challenges before supplying him with time and space.
It seemed like Crossmaglen would soon envelope their opponents, but a decent Coulter point and two frees from his cousin Robbie Coulter kept them in touch at the interval, 0-8 to 0-5.
It seemed to get better for Mayobridge before the break as Crossmaglen corner back Gareth O'Neill was sent off for an innocuous strike on Paul Cunningham, who dropped to the ground like a sack of peas. But the dismissal seemed to galvanise the Armagh men.
McConville calmed the nerves with two frees in succession to stretch the lead to five points. However, scores from the Coulters and Noel Sexton pulled the deficit back to a goal.
Thereafter, it came down to will. Would the Down men have the hunger to go where their club has never gone before, or would the wily nature of the Armagh side prevail?
Little things made the difference. McEntee's brilliant one-handed theft from Benny Coulter and Sexton's crowd-silencing wide from dead in front of the posts were the incidents that such games hinge on.
Mayobridge are a stubborn lot though. Coulter was responsible for another glorious effort - in a game of many magnificent scores - that kept it interesting, but the extra gear seemed to have departed with Linden.
The younger of Joe Kernan's sons, Aaron, gave his side the essential four-point cushion in the final minute as those who felt Crossmaglen were not good enough to win a fourth All-Ireland title in eight years were left to think again.
CROSSMAGLEN: P Hearty; G O'Neill, F Bellew, C Dooley; A Kernan (0-1, 1f), T McEntee (capt), J Donaldson; S Clarke, S Kernan; M McNamee (0-1), C O'Neill, O McConville (0-5, 5f); J Murtagh (0-6), C Short (0-1), A Cunningham.
MAYOBRIDGE: S Featherstone; G Barry, K O'Hare, R O'Hare; B Grant, F Poland, D Tighe; D Rooney, E Woods (capt); N Sexton (0-3), B Coulter (0-3), A Barry; J Quinn, M Linden, R Coulter (0-3, 2f). Subs: P Cunningham for M Linden (13 mins), C Quinn for P Cunningham (38 mins), B Garvey for R Coulter (60 mins).
Referee: M Hughes (Tyrone).
