All-Ireland Club Football Championship Semi-finals/ Salthill-Knocknacarra 1-9 Kilmacud Crokes 1-7:It was a bravura second-half salvo of four points in 12 minutes from Seán Armstrong that proved the decisive intervention in Salthill-Knocknacarra's AIB All-Ireland club football semi-final win at Pearse Park, Longford, yesterday.
But in reality the Galway team shouldn't have been relying on that to encompass the difference between them and a fitful Kilmacud Crokes.
The narrowness of the margin owes something to the Dublin team's battling qualities but also to the somnolent fashion in which the winners contrived to do enough on the scoreboard to stay in control but seemed disinclined to put the pedal down.
If there was a single moment at which Kilmacud's challenge cracked it was six minutes from the end when the volatile Mark Vaughan got a straight red card for swinging wildly at Cian Begley. Vaughan was frustrated after an afternoon of heavy challenges, not all spotted by referee Joe McQuillan, and more immediately a quickly taken free that had gifted possession to Salthill.
It was generally felt he had been slightly harshly treated by the straight red but given he was on a yellow and his 54th-minute foul deserved another, any excessive rigour had no impact on the afternoon's conclusion.
Although the match climaxed in the second half it was the first half hour that did most damage to Kilmacud. They played with the wind to start but failed to harness its advantage and shot nine wides before half-time. To make bad worse Salthill managed about four sorties into the opposition half over the half hour and bagged three scores, 1-2.
After less than five minutes the score was 1-1 to 0-0. Firstly Michael Donnellan banged over a point and from the restart wing back Marty O'Connell attacked and a swift movement ended with full forward John Boylan cracking home an unstoppable goal. That score wasn't the extent of the damage done by Boylan, who played deep and contributed to the Galway team's successful early stymieing of their opponents' expected centrefield superiority.
In response all Kilmacud could manage were wides, some the result of inaccuracy and others blatantly poor shot selection.
It took 15 minutes for the Dubliners to get on the scoreboard, through a Vaughan free and when Maurice Sheridan replied almost immediately things looked bleak for Crokes. They generally over-reacted to the wind advantage by pumping high ball in on top of their opponents' defence only to see these attacks being skilfully defused and cleared with Finian Hanley seldom troubled at full back.
Matters changed a little in the second quarter when the Magees, Darren and Jonny, began to strike up a rhythm at centrefield and bring off some good catches .
Nonetheless, it was a stroke of good fortune that really reinvigorated the Kilmacud challenge.
Vaughan's long-distance free was tentatively pushed out by goalkeeper Cathal McGinley - a veteran of the club's only previous All-Ireland final 15 years ago - and Conor Murphy was on hand to punch the ball into the net for the equaliser, 1-2 each.
The half ended well for the Dubliners with two points, the second a fine, flowing move culminating in Darren Magee pointing. By this stage both defences were on top. While Salthill had more to do, Kilmacud were steady enough in covering and Paul Griffin added pace and urgency to their attempts to move the ball.
The Dubliners' lead had stretched to three, 1-5 to 1-2, shortly after the restart but that triggered the Armstrong show. The under-21 All-Ireland winner has had a subdued season with his club but he delivered in some style yesterday.
It was suggested that Kilmacud were slow to switch markers but the points Armstrong curled over were majestic. The third in particular, picked off after he had drifted to the right corner, was unbelievable - screwed over from the most acute of angles.
It pushed Salthill into a lead they were never to lose. By now they had made centrefield a far more tightly contested area and made good use of the steadied platform while their defenders kept their concentration in the face of Kilmacud's attempts to create space.
The margins were so tight that it seems merely wise after the event to maintain that the Galway champions were always in control but for the final quarter they responded whenever threatened.
After Vaughan's last point cut the deficit to a minimum, Sheridan responded with two 45s and although Jonny Magee's similar score took the Dubliners to within two points. A final, frantic manoeuvre ended with Michael Donnellan snaffling a misplaced handpass and the referee's whistle sounding a shrill blast that cut through the cold, sunny afternoon and sent Salthill into the final.
SALTHILL-KNOCKNACARRA: C McGinley; C Begley, F Hanley, R McTiernan; M O'Connell, G Morley, B Geraghty; M Sheridan (0-3, one free, two 45s), D Gilmartin; A Kerins, M Donnellan (0-2), S Rabbitte; S Crowe, J Boylan (1-0), S Armstrong (0-4). Subs: A McDermott for McTiernan (37 mins), F McCann for Rabbitte (47 mins), D Burke for Crowe (56 mins), N Tyrrell for Kerins (63 mins).
KILMACUD CROKES: D Nelligan; C Kelleher (capt.), C Flanagan, N McGrath; B McGrath, L Óg Ó hEinneacháin, P Griffin; D Magee (0-1), J Magee (0-1, a 45); L McBarron, C Murphy (1-0), R Cosgrove; P Burke (0-1), M Davoren, M Vaughan (0-4, four frees). Subs: D Kelleher for McBarron (42 mins), N Corkery for Davoren (54 mins), D Walsh for Murphy (61 mins).
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).
