Crossmaglen 1-17 Madden 0-14
Crossmaglen qualified for their sixth county final in a row as they saw off Madden by six-points in the end.
In an extremely tight affair, the Rangers pulled clear in the final quarter to set up a finale with Clan na Gael.
Crossmaglen hit the opening two scores of the game inside three minutes. Daniel Cumiskey and Odhran Kieran, two late additions to the starting line-up, raising white flags.
Conor Grimley set up Joe Sheridan for Madden’s first but that was cancelled out by a Rian O’Neill free after older brother Oisin had been fouled.
Two-points in as many minutes from Darragh McMullen and Ciaran Rafferty levelled things up before Madden took the lead.
A Grimley shot dropped short and caught out the Cross defence. Niall Smith snuck in the back and fisted the bouncing ball over.
Cian McConville fired over an equaliser from a free while Grimley (free) and Kieran exchanged scores.
Grimley then slotted over a brace, matched by scores from the O’Neill brothers to tie things up at the break. That left the sides level on 0-7 apiece after 35 minutes of action.
The Raparees raced ahead at the start of the second period with the first two scores from Niall Grimley and Oisin O’Hara.
It was long before Anthony Cunningham’s side got back on level terms. Rian O’Neill and McConville (free) kept Cross in touch.
Oisin O’Neill’s second of the day split two more from the dead ball by Grimley as Madden edged one-point up heading into the final quarter.
Rian O’Neill tied things up as he showed great strength to gather an Aaron Kernan pass and composure to split the sticks.
Oisin O’Neill and half-time substitute Aron McKenna scored before McConville nudged the Rangers back in front.
Cross had a chance to land the game’s first goal as McConville played through Harry Cumiskey. But his flicked effort bounced back off the bar.
Donal Rafferty tied things up but two huge scores from Oisin O’Neill and Jamie Clarke gave Cross the lead.
Grimley added a point, but an expertly taken Cian McConville goal, followed by another free, saw the Rangers through.
