All-Ireland club football final; Kilmacud Crokes 1-09 Crossmaglen 0-07:The thing about records is they are bound to broken at some stage. That time came for Crossmaglen today when, after 26 finals undefeated, they came up second best to Kilmacud Crokes at headquarters, as the Dublin side bridged a 14-year gap in winning the All-Ireland club football championship.
There wasn’t a hint of a fluke about the five point win either. The underdogs took the lead with Brian Kavanagh’s opening score of the game and never relinquished it, their dogged defending from the front restricting Cross to just four points in the first half and three in the second.
Mark Vaughan’s role was predicted to be pivotal and though he shone, his points haul of four was nowhere near what was expected of him in the event of Crokes upsetting the Ulstermen.
His contributions were timely though. Two points after Kavanagh’s effort ensured an excellent start for the Dubliners, but this was a team effort, and when Mark Davoren received from Niall Corkery, blasting low into Paul Hearty’s net in the 10th minute, Crokes led by the eventual winning margin.
A brilliant effort from Oisin McConvillle was all Cross had to show for their exertions at that stage but the goal sparked them into action.
Tony Kernan doubled their tally and McConville added two frees before the break, but after Kavanagh got his second, it was Davoren’s contribution that separated the teams at halftime.
Kernan closed the gap immediately after the restart and Crokes wobbled for the first time as Vaughan dropped a free short and a number of openings were wasted.
It proved a temporary blip and Crokes kept Cross at a distance thanks to a point from Darren Magee and a Vaughan free.
The Kernan brothers, Aaron and Stephen, combined for the latter to score and when McConville registered his fourth with eight minutes remaining, the gap was closed to two.
Again, Vaughan's timing was perfect as he thwarted the comeback wtih a crucial score.
Some aggressive but calm defending then denied Cross as they desperately went in search of a goal and Corkery and Magee added a deserved gloss to the scoreline.
The Andy Merrigan Cup will now move from St Vincent’s on Dublin’s northside to Stillorgan on the south.
Crossmaglen go home empty-handed.