Crossmaglen 0-4 Trillick 0-9
Crossmaglen crashed out of the Ulster Senior Championship with a five-point defeat to Tyrone champs Trillick.
The Rangers failed to score in the second period, with their hosts hitting seven unanswered points, while they were reduced to 14 men late in the game.
Some wayward shooting from the Armagh winners didn’t help their cause, as they kicked nine wides on the night.
Clarke opened the game after eight minutes of play, after Aaron Kernan made a good challenge in midfield.
Trillick then picked up a black card, with Daniel Donnelly blocking Thomas Og Duffy’s path to the ball.
Rian O’Neill doubled their lead with a free after Paul Hughes had been upended on the 21-metre line.
James Garrity finally broke the Trillick deadlock with a point after 21 minutes of play. But it was cancelled out by a superb Clarke effort from a tricky angle.
Richie Donnelly fired over a great score following a powerful run, but O’Neill cancelled it out with his second.
That put Anthony Cunningham’s men ahead by two points when the short whistle sounded. Crossmaglen ahead 0-4 to 0-2.
The Tyrone champions tied things up straight after the turnaround with the first two points of the second period.
Ciaran Daly clipped over a huge effort from near the sideline while Lee Brennan tapped over a free in front of the posts.
Garrity put them ahead for the first time before they raced into a three-point advantage with a Ryan Gray brace.
A massive score from Lee Brennan accompanied by another from Donnelly stretched the margin to five.
Crossmaglen’s woes worsened when captain Jamie Clarke was red carded for an off the ball tackle on Sean O’Donnell.
