AIB Ulster Club SFC: Crossmaglen win thriller

AIB Ulster Club SFC Quarter-Final

Crossmaglen Rangers 1-22 Gowna 2-18

By Kevin Egan at Kingspan Breffni

Crossmaglen Rangers is a club where every young player grows up listening to tales of heroism from past stars who won six Andy Merrigan Cups, but future players will now hear about the great heist of Kingspan Breffni of 2026, where this generation came from 11 behind to snatch a most unlikely win against Gowna, setting up a tilt with either St. Brigid’s or Edendork in the AIB Ulster Club semi-final.

Even in the modern era, where 11-point leads are anything but safe, this was a comeback that felt incredibly unlikely, such was Gowna’s dominance in that opening 25 minutes.

It wasn’t just that the Cavan champions were 2-13 to 1-5 in front when Ryan Donohue added the finishing touch to Fionán Brady’s strong run, delicately rolling the ball past Miceál Murray for a corner-forward’s goal. They were full value for that lead, having lorded matters in every sector of the field up to that point.

An injury to Cillian Brady in the warmup was an early blow, but Cormac Brady, Ryan McGahern and Fionán Brady were superb in the full back line against Crossmaglen’s stars, while further up the pitch, Daire Madden and Conor Casey were excellent on the wings and Conor Madden overwhelmed all opponents with his power and ball-winning ability.

Madden got a touch on a high shot from Casey for the opening goal and while Cian McConville replied with a route one green flag for the Armagh side, but two-pointers from Daire Madden and Fiachra Brady made it 1-13 to 1-5 at the turnaround and the roar of approval from the home crowd made it clear that they earned every bit of it.

Identifying why Crossmaglen worked their way back into the game was easy. Rian O’Neill and Oisín O’Neill may have landed some excellent kicks from distance, with Pearse Blessing joining the party late on, but it would have been hard for the black and amber attack not to score, such was the constant flow of good possession heading their way.

While there were plenty of misses, gradually the scoreboard started to move.

Team captain Callum Cumiskey led the way with a fine curling left footed kick in between doubles from Blessing and Oisín O’Neill, and then Seamus Teelan won a ball between two defenders and hooked over the lead score heading into stoppage time.

Had that been the final act, the defeat would have stung Gowna – but more pain was coming.

First, there was hope – Ryan Donohue splitting the posts with a monster kick to put them back in front. Then the despair, as a free gave Oisín O’Neill a two-point free, at a 45 degree angle to the posts.

O’Neill had been in sensational form, scoring 0-7 out of his 0-8 tally in the second half, but with Gowna backing off and expecting the shot, he dinked the ball into the middle and Rian O’Neill delivered a stunning strike under pressure to secure the win.

Scorers for Crossmaglen Rangers: Oisín O’Neill 0-8 (1tpf, 1tp, 0-1f), Rian O’Neill 0-5 (1tpf, 1tp), Cian McConville 1-1 (0-1f), Pearse Blessing 0-3 (1tp), Keelan McEntee 0-2, Odhran Carraher 0-1, Callum Cumiskey 0-1, Seamus Teelan 0-1.

Scorers for Gowna: Ryan Donohue 1-3 (1tp), Cian Madden 0-4f, Conor Casey 0-4 (1tp), Conor Madden 1-0, Fiachra Brady 0-2 (tp), Daire Madden 0-2 (tp), Conor Brady 0-1, Seánie Hartin 0-1, Odhran Madden 0-1.

Crossmaglen Rangers: Miceál Murray; Harry Cumiskey, Christopher Crowley, Caolan Dillon; Odhran Caraher, Stephen Morris, Eugene McEntee; Callum Cumiskey, Rian O'Neill; Ryan Martin, Pearse Blessing, Aaron Haughey; Aaron O'Neill, Oisín O'Neill, Cian McConville.

Subs: Keelan McEntee for H Cumiskey (28), Pádraig Stuttard for Caraher (37), Seamus Teelan for McEntee (53), Paul Hughes for Dillon (57).

Gowna: Mark Brady; Ryan McGahern, Cormac Brady, Fionán Brady; Fiachra Brady, Conor Brady, Tiarnan Madden; Ryan Brady, Ryan Donohue; Seánie Hartin, Conor Casey, Daire Madden; Oisín Pierson, Conor Madden, Cian Madden.

Subs: Eoghan Hartin for McGahern (34), Odhran Madden for S Hartin (47), Robbie Fitzpatrick for Pierson (58), Caolan Fitzpatrick for Fionán Brady (60+2).

Referee: Paul Faloon (Drumgath, Down).