AIB Leinster Club SFC Quarter-Final

KILMACUD CROKES (DUBLIN) 1-13 WOLFE TONES (MEATH) 1-9

By Paul Keane at Pairc Tailteann, Navan

Paul Mannion underlined his star quality yet again for Kilmacud Crokes with another Man of the Match display to help secure their AIB Leinster club SFC semi-final spot.

Absent from the Dublin setup this year, Mannion continues to thrive at club level and he struck 0-6 in Navan, a haul that included three of Crokes' last four points as the three time All-Star stood up when truly required.

Mannion also played a terrific pass in the buildup to Ben Shovlin's early goal.

Robbie Brennan's side will continue their quest for a fifth Leinster title on December 18 when they play Portarlington in a double header of provincial semi-finals at Croke Park.

As for Tones, their season is over and the poor record of Meath representatives in the Leinster championship continues with 10 losses from Royal County clubs in their last 13 provincial outings.

Micheal McDermott's host team battled gamely and bounced back strongly after a poor start though were rocked by the dismissal of star man Cian Ward shortly after the second water break for a second booking.

Tones hadn't played a competitive game since the Meath final on November 7 - a fortnight earlier than the Dublin decider - which perhaps explained their slow start.

Padraic Diamond did open the scoring for the Kilberry outfit but they didn't score again until the 18th minute.

In the meantime, Crokes racked up the scores themselves with an unanswered 1-3 between the fifth and 15th minutes to take firm control of the game.

Tom Fox, Mannion and Dara Mullin all pointed before Shovlin grabbed a fortuitous Crokes goal.

Mannion was involved in the buildup to the goal with a defence splitting pass to Hugh Kenny who quickly fed Shovlin and while the forward's initial shot was saved, he got lucky with the rebound which struck his heel and flew past the 'keeper.

Already trailing by five points, it looked ominous for Tones but they rallied superbly to get back to level terms at 1-3 apiece by the 28th minute.

Ward, who'd earlier miscued a close range free, belatedly got among the points but the score that really pulled Tones back was Cian O'Neill's 18th minute goal.

Ward was also involved in that, accepting a pass from the hard working Thomas O'Reilly on the right and holding his composure to pick out the onrushing O'Neill with a precise pass across goals, leaving a simple palm in.

Fox and Mannion countered with points for Crokes to leave the visitors 1-5 to 1-3 ahead at half-time but it was a genuine contest again and Tones would have the stiff wind behind them in the second-half.

Crokes began brighter in the third quarter and three points in a row from goalkeeper Conor Ferris, Mannion and Craig Dias nudged them five clear but they were made to fight all the way by a determined Tones.

O'Reilly and Ward struck important scores but Ward's sending off was a significant blow and Mannion stepped up with some beautiful scores to set the seal on victory for four-time Leinster winners Crokes.

Scorers for Kilmacud Crokes: Paul Mannion 0-6 (1f), Ben Shovlin 1-0, Tom Fox 0-2 (0-2f), Dara Mullin 0-1, Conor Ferris 0-1 (0-1 45), Craig Dias 0-1, Shane Cunningham 0-1, Dan O'Brien 0-1.

Scorers for Wolfe Tones: Cian O'Neill 1-0, Cian Ward 0-3 (0-3f), Padraic Diamond 0-2, Thomas O'Reilly 0-2 (0-1f), Saran O Fionnagain 0-1 (0-1m), Tom Gavigan 0-1.

Kilmacud Crokes: Conor Ferris; Dan O'Brien, Rory O'Carroll, Micheal Mullin; Cian O'Connor, Cillian O'Shea, Andrew McGowan; Craig Dias, Ben Shovlin; Shane Horan, Paul Mannion, Tom Fox; Dara Mullin, Shane Cunningham, Hugh Kenny.

Subs: Ross McGowan for A McGowan 2, Aidan Jones for Horan 41, Callum Pearson for Kenny 45, Conor Casey for Dias 48, Conor Kinsella for Fox 55.

Wolfe Tones: Cian Farnan; Brughach O Fionnagain, Adam O'Neill, Shane Glynn; Niall O'Reilly, Daniel O'Neill, Conor Sheppard; Padraic Diamond, Alan Callaghan; Stephen Sheppard, Cian Ward, Oisin Martin; Thomas O'Reilly, Cian O'Neill, Saran O Fionnagain.

Subs: Fiachra Ward for Callaghan 48, Caolan Ward for C O'Neill 49, Tom Gavigan for Martin 56, Eanna O'Kelly Lynch for N O'Reilly 58.

Referee: Patrick Maguire (Longford).