Crossmaglen Rangers cruise to victory
Donegal champions St. Eunan's were unable to fully test Crossmaglen Rangers in today's AIB Ulster Club SFC quarter-final encounter.
Rangers, the reigning All-Ireland champions, cruised to a 3-11 to 1-7 victory with Kyle Carragher bagging a brace of goals and Aaron Kernan also finding the net.
St. Eunan's scored a goal of their own through John Haran, however some wasteful shooting early on - Caolan Ward missed a gilt-edged goal chance - along with the second half dismissal of Mark McGowan left them out of contention.
Cross laid the groundwork for this win with Carragher raising his first green flag after good approach work by Oising McConville and Aaron Kernan.
St. Eunan's were back level by the quarter hour mark, aided by points from McGowan, Lee McMonagle and Ross Wherrity.
The Donegal side defended in numbers and tried to outmuscle Cross in the physical stakes, but the hosts used their experience to ride out a roof patch and retake the lead.
Points from McConville and Aaron Kernan got them back on track and they added three more on the cusp of half-time - David McKenna, McConville and corner back Paul Hughes were all on target.
Haran fought off Paul Kernan to gather a long delivery in and flash a shot past goalkeeper Paul Hearty to give St. Eunan's the ideal start to the second period.
That strike only served to spark an improvement in Crossmaglen's general play though and McConville and McKenna both pointed quickly to almost cancel out the goal entirely.
McConville provided the assist for Kernan's goal, flicking on a through ball from Stephen Kernan. St. Eunan's leaked the second goal while down to 14 men - McGowan saw red for his involvement in an off-the-ball incident.
Carragher's second goal of the afternoon added a final gloss for Rangers who will tackle Tyrone champions Errigal Ciaran in the last-four of the provincial Championship next Sunday.
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