Armagh SFC: Cross' bare their teeth / Madden march on

Crossmaglen's Cian McConville ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Crossmaglen powered through to an Armagh senior football championship quarter-final with an emphatic 5-27 to 0-13 dismantling of Clan na Gael.

The Rangers had been beaten in their previous two outings heading into Sunday afternoon’s preliminary quarter-final at the Athletic Grounds but the response with their season on the line was loud and clear.

Hitting goals and two-pointers for fun, the winners registered a dizzying 4-16 before the break, Aaron O’Neill with the first major after Chris Crowley, Cian McConville and Oisin O’Neill had struck from outside the arc. Oisin O’Neill, Pearse Blessing and Rian O’Neill added doubles, before Cian McConville slotted his first goal.

Another Oisin O’Neill two-pointer split the posts in advance of McConville’s second goal, and Aaron O’Neill’s second three-pointer meant there were 21 points between the sides at the interval. Aaron Haughey fired the fifth goal as the men in Black & Amber eased into the last four.

Meanwhile, Gerry Fagan Cup holders Madden also progressed as they defeated Granemore by 2-22 to 0-10 on the same bill. The defending champions slotted the first ten scores and Conor Grimley’s goal helped them to a 1-13 to 0-2 half-time advantage, with Niall Smith thereafter netting their second goal of the day.