HAIL glorious McConville, the saint of Crossmaglen.

Ois�n the great came to the rescue of the Rangers once again in a dramatic finish to the All Ireland Club SFC decider at Croke Park. His stoppage-time equaliser earned the Ulster champions another crack at winning a fourth title, but there was more than a hint of suspicion about the validity of the score that denied Dr Crokes a second triumph.

Not only did the Armagh star appear to over-carry, but there were also hints from TV replays that the ball may have tailed narrowly wide. And Crossmaglen's saviour admitted that he is somewhat fortunate to have got away with it.

"Maybe there was a suspicion that I might have carried it a couple of steps extra, but I think they'll forgive me on this occasion, " he said. "I just had a potshot. Sometimes they go over, sometimes they don't."

A riveting second half appeared to have gone irretrievably in the Kerry side's favour when they opened up a three-point lead, but you can never rule out the men from south Armagh, who have never lost a club final in five appearances in the past decade.

A somewhat uneventful first period offered not a hint of the drama that was to unfold after the break, with McConville and Shane Doolan cracking in goals in the space of a minute. Colm 'Gooch' Cooper, with 6-16 in the series to date, was the man the Ulster champions had to watch, but it was his creative genius that shone like a beacon at Croker. He finished with just two converted frees to his credit yesterday, but had a hand in virtually every Crokes scoring opportunity.

Both sides will want to get more from most of their players in the rematch, but Crossmaglen manager Donal Murtagh will be delighted and encouraged by the form of midfielder David McKenna, who capped a tireless performance with two excellent second-half points.

Cooper and Brian Looney eased the Munster champions into a two-point lead by the eighth minute, but they were grateful for the razorsharp reactions of goalkeeper Kieran Cremin, who pulled off a point-blank save from Martin Aherne, after full-back Luke Quinn had spilled John McEntee's lofted free kick.

The Ulster men had nothing to show for the territorial advantage they enjoyed in the opening 10 minutes, and a quarter-of-an-hour had elapsed before Michael McNamee accepted Stephen Clarke's long delivery to fire over their opening point.

McNamee was Crossmaglen's most dangerous attacker throughout the opening half, the threat of Ois�n McConville competently dealt with by Keith McMahon, despite his early booking.

Cross were level by the 23rd minute when Aaron Kernan steered over a free from 35 metres, and now it was Crokes, with Ambrose O'Donovan and Eoin Brosnan profiting from the assistance of James Fleming in midfield, who were guilty of profligacy.

Over-elaboration was their biggest problem, and they were made to pay when a needlessly complicated passing movement saw Cooper offload to O'Donovan when he should have had a go himself.

The midfielder's effort was superbly blocked by Tony McEntee, and within seconds, Crossmaglen's swift counterattack had them in front for the first time, off the boot of McNamee.

Kernan, from another placed ball, stretched the lead, and by this stage Dr Crokes had lost centre-back Brian McMahon to an ankle injury and were beginning to look somewhat shaky. But Gooch steadied the ship in the final minute of the half when his sublime crossfield pass sent O'Donovan in to score. And they could have had a goal, Cooper again threading the pass, but Paul Hearty was swiftly off his line to smother Shane Doolan's snapshot.

Crossmaglen led by 0-4 to 03 at the break, and in a sensational start to the second half, both teams netted in the space of a minute. John McEntee's long ball picked out McNamee, who cleverly spotted McConville's run. The former All Star, who had been an anonymous figure all afternoon, rounded keeper Cremin before planting the ball in an empty net.

The Crossmaglen fans were still celebrating when Gooch's creative brilliance instantly brought his side right back into it, Shane Doolan receiving the killer pass to blast home from close range. And three points on the spin from Fleming, Looney and Doolan had Crokes back in front at the end of a breathtaking 10minute spell of football Going into the final quarter, they led by 1-6 to 1-5, and should have been further ahead, but for some poor finishing. Cross midfielder David McKenna raided for a couple of well taken scores, but Cooper's second converted free regained the lead for the Crokes, and despite losing Eoin Brosnan to injury, they powered further ahead with a wonderful Kieran O'Leary effort.

David Moloney made it a three-point game with eight minutes to play, and at this stage, the Kingdom was preparing to add the club crown to the Sam Maguire, won so handsomely last September. But the great battlers that they are, the Rangers dug in, and John McEntee and McConville set up a gripping finish with late scores, before McConville showed all his class and experience to curl over a majestic leveller in the third minute of stoppage time.

DR CROKES K Cremin; K McMahon, L Quinn, M Moloney; B Moriarty, B McMahon, E Kavanagh; A O'Donovan (0-1), E Brosnan; B Looney (0-2), S Doolan (1-1), J Fleming (0-1);

C Cooper (0-2, frees), D Moloney (0-1), K O'Leary (0-1) Subs J Cahillane for B McMahon, K Brosnan for E Brosnan, V Cooper for Doolan CROSSMAGLEN P Hearty; F Bellew, T McEntee, S McNamee; A Kernan (0-2, frees), J Donaldson, B McKeown; D McKenna (0-2), S Clarke; M Aherne, J McEntee (0-1), J Murtagh;

M McNamee (0-2), J Hanratty, O McConville (1-2, 0-1 free) Subs S Kernan for Aherne, P Kernan for Clarke, C Short for Hanratty, T Kernan for McNamee Referee S Doyle (Wexford)