THE enduring guirkiness of the AIB club championship was on full view yesterday as both semi-finals ended with unexpected winners. In itself, that would be mundane but the fall of All-Ireland champions underlines the achievement of Crossmaglen Rangers, a club hitherto best known for the fact that the British Army squats on its premises.
The Ulster and Armagh champions were deserving winners. They played better against the wind and then made more effective use of it, created more chances and ultimately took enough of them to advance.
So for Laune, the end came surprisingly but it came. The champions were in trouble from the early stages of this All-Ireland football semi-final, before 8,000 people in Portlaoise, but having weathered the storm, they entered the closing five minutes a point ahead of their challengers.
It is the chief irony of this absorbing match played to the accompaniment of a howling wind that just when the Killorglin team looked to be in the clear, the road to Croke Park on St Patrick's Day came to a sudden halt.
In a conclusion that resembled Laune's late show in the Munster final, Crossmaglen reeled off three points that left the champions trailing with insufficient time to recover. More to the point, it amplified the signature theme of Crossmaglen's season: the match isn't over until the final whistle.
This was a match between two clubs with not only a flair for resurrection in common but also long, unbeaten records in knockout competition. Laune's went back two and a half years and yesterday was Crossmaglen's 45th match without defeat.
It was a tight, competitive match and consequently reflects great credit on the winners.
Manager John Evans was eloquent and gracious in the aftermath.
"They were hungry and played good football. The players are very disappointed and I'm glad to see that, glad to see players who gave their all but when you go down to a fighting team like Crossmaglen, you accept it. I think it shows that a team can't come back in the modern club championship and win back-to-back titles."
In the winners' dressingroom he was, however, quick to rebut Ulster secretary Mickey Feeney's jubilant assurance that Crossmaglen would beat the pick of the other two semi-finalists.
"It's not easy to win an All-Ireland," said Evans.
The wind played a large role in proceedings. Crossmaglen won the toss and elected to face it. "It takes teams a while to settle down in a match," was manager Joe Kernan's reasoning. In the event, playing with it also proved fairly difficult.
Crossmaglen tackled the elements with gusto and drove into the wind with a quick, fast-ball game that ran Laune ragged in the opening minutes. The Armaghmen were, however, experiencing difficulties in converting the possession and fell two points behind in the first 10 minutes.
They were using the customary tactic of deploying the towering corner forward Colm O'Neill in the middle where he worked well with the industrious John McEntee and Anthony Cunningham. O'Neill was shadowed by Laune's centre back Tommy Byrne who had another of those outstanding displays that deepen the curiosity at his exclusion from Kerry's county plans.
In general, though, the Crossmaglen forwards buzzed menacingly around with Cathal Short giving Billy O'Shea a hard time with his speed onto passes in behind the defence. Centre forward Tony McEntee made the early running with a point and in the 12th minute the incision that led to a penalty, expertly banged away by captain Jim McConville.
Leading 1-1 to 0-2, Crossmaglen looked like stopping Laune early but the pace of the match flagged a little and an unproductive spell followed during which the ball was given away freely and attacks fizzled out.
Then, three minutes before halftime, the Armagh team fumbled the ball once too often when Patrick McKeown and Donal Murtagh got their signals crossed and Michael F. Russell nipped in to slip the ball into an unguarded net.
One point seemed pitifully small insurance cover against the wind but it was impossible to write off the champions with their experience of tight spots and range of options on the bench. In addition, it wasn't clear how well Crossmaglen would do with the wind at their backs.
Caution was justified when the third quarter of the match went with Laune. They maintained their lead and acquired a grip on the middle where Timmy Fleming - who made a conspicuously good return - and Pierce Prendiville were ably assisted by Liam Hassett who had switched to the 40 from full forward and Byrne whose muscular influence was even greater than in the first half.
Despite some excellent marking by the Crossmaglen defence Russell had given Laune a lead with a sparkling solo effort and the Kerry champions appeared to have taken control. Unfortunately for them, key opportunities to settle the match went for nothing and their prospects would depend on restricting the opposition.
Evans tried to persuade his forwards to spread out for the concluding stages but they could add nothing to their score. At the other end, Crossmaglen perked up and Short and the McConville brothers began to stretch the Laune defence until it broke.
Firstly a 56th-minute effort from Oisin McConville came back off the post and Short equalised in the ensuing passage of play. With a minute to go, McConville again distinguished himself by taking on a hard shot for a point when an attack looked to be running out of steam. Tony McEntee swiftly added another point.
Fleming put the second-last kick of the match over the bar but it wasn't enough as the goalkeeper's kick-out sailed into the air to the piercing notes of John Bannon's whistle and the ecstatic roars of the large Crossmaglen contingent.
