Club Football/All-Ireland Semi-finals Portlaoise 0-8 Crossmaglen 0-7: Even by the standards of semi-finals this was a utilitarian affair. After an hour of tense, edgy football at Parnell Park it was Leinster champions Portlaoise who fell over the line and into next month's AIB All-Ireland club final. Scalping Crossmaglen is a hard enough achievement, but doing it in the manner the Laois side did only added to the task.
Had anyone been told in advance that this match would be won on a tight margin and off a miserly scoreboard by the side that had overwhelmingly lost the second-half possession count, the cast-iron assumption would have been in favour of the Armagh club.
But on this occasion their minimalist credentials were confiscated by a Portlaoise side that conceded vast amounts of possession, yet still managed to slip past their opponents with six minutes on the clock and incredibly defy a barrage of opportunities for a Crossmaglen equaliser.
"We'd huge respect for them coming into this match," said centre forward Ian Fitzgerald after the match.
"My fear was that we'd too much respect. They're a huge physical team and if they'd taken their chances they'd have beaten us."
Three glaring chances to level the match in the dying minutes came to nothing. Michael McNamee's right-hand free went wide - had it not Cahir Healy would never have forgiven himself for fouling the ball. John McEntee and Aaron Kernan did the same from play.
It was the story of the match. Although it was seen as one of Crossmaglen's assets, place kicking in general let them down with six kickable frees going unconverted, compounding the sense that Oisín McConville wasn't himself after ongoing injury problems.
"Fair play to Portlaoise," was the reaction of Cross's Cathal Short, a veteran of the club's three All-Ireland wins.
"They got stuck in, worked hard and ran the legs off themselves. I thought our tackling was good in the second half and we were pressurising them into over-playing the ball.
"Paddy Russell still gave a couple of frees against us. But you're going to get that in all games and you can't be blaming referees.
" It's down to the 15 men on the field at the end of the day. Frees, or no frees, we still had the chance to equalise at the end."
Nothing went right for the Ulster champions as the clock ran down. Not alone were they squandering precious chances but they also lost two men. Stephen Kernan was red carded for a reckless foul on Craig Rogers and the captain Tony McEntee was carried off with a suspected ankle fracture in the last minute.
The match was so tight that apart from a five-minute period in the first half, there was never more than a point between the teams. Portlaoise's defence was their strong suit yesterday, covering tirelessly and spoiling effectively in the face of some relentless attacks.
Up front the winners moved impressively at times but too often the distribution of the ball going forward was poor and simply gave away possession. They did have goal chances in both halves with Peter McNulty hitting one too high for a point and Paul Hearty saving well from the same player in the 51st minute.
By half-time Portlaoise had recovered from a 0-2 to 0-4 deficit to lead 0-5 to 0-4.
In the second half inaccuracy was again a problem for Crossmaglen and they posted eight wides as against just one for Portlaoise. But the winners weren't the soul of economy themselves and it was Colm Parkinson, their best player on the march through Leinster, who wasted most conspicuously - misplacing passes and taking wrong options.
One of these turnovers resulted in Gareth O'Neill popping up to finish a passing movement with the lead point on 45 minutes, 0-7 to 0-6. It was to be Crossmaglen's last score. It was to Portlaoise's credit in the second half that they responded quickly to scores and McNulty kicked the equaliser within two minutes.
Cross switched tactics by substituting Colm O'Neill for Short at full forward. O'Neill's huge presence had been a distinctive aspect of the All-Ireland wins during which he played as a third centrefielder and he was obviously going to be a target for early ball. Despite a couple of good catches he was unable to turn the key in the Portlaoise defence.
It appeared incredible that the Laois side had managed to edge in front through a McNulty free in the 54th minute given the pressure Crossmaglen were exerting. But that was to be the final word on an intense afternoon.
PORTLAOISE: M Nolan; T Fitzgerald, C Byrne, E Bland; B Mulligan, C Healy, A Fennelly; M Delaney (0-1), E Coleman; B McCormack, I Fitzgerald (0-1), K Fitzpatrick; P McNulty (0-5, four frees), C Parkinson (capt), C Rogers. Subs: B Fitzgerald (0-1, a free) for Coleman (22 mins).
CROSSMAGLEN RANGERS: P Hearty; J Donaldson, F Bellew, C Dooley; A Kernan, T McEntee (capt), G O'Neill (0-1); S Clarke, A Cunningham; S Kernan, M McNamee (0-1), J McEntee (0-2); O McConville (0-3, all frees), C Short, J Murtagh. Subs: C O'Neill for Short (46 mins), G McShane for T McEntee (70 mins).
Referee: P Russell (Tipperary).
