PATRICK Osborne's last-gasp point secured a replay for Sean McDermott's, who had earlier gone 33 minutes without a score in what was a dreadful second semi-final in Ardee last Saturday.

The timing of Osborne's leveller ensured it was Glen Emmets who felt robbed of victory, but the Tullyallen men were so poor in the first half that perhaps a draw was the fairest outcome.

Kevin Carroll provided the pass for Declan Carroll to kick a good point on the run for Seans in the first minute, but sadly that bright start wasn't a sign of good things to come.

Mark Noone dragged an ambitious goal attempt well wide for Glens in the sixth minute when perhaps he should have settled for a point, before Eamonn Mullen finally opened their account from a free.

Seans replied instantly as James Woods sprinted away from two defenders to leave it 0-2 to 0-1, and Glens then had an escape as Eric McDonnell somehow fisted Tony Kelly's delivery wide of the posts from close range.

At the other end, Eamonn Taaffe and Noone combined to set up a goal chance for Keith Rooney, but his powerful shot was brilliantly pushed away by Seans keeper Damien Curran.

Mullen hit the resulting '45' wide after earlier dropping another one short against the breeze, and instead it was Derek Walshe who burst forward from Seans' half-back line to kick a fine score on 22 minutes.

Seconds later the Mountrush side took a firm grip of proceedings when Daniel Woods bore down on goal and his low shot ricocheted off Daniel Grimes and crept inside Fergus Barnett's left-hand post – 1-3 to 0-1.

Mullen finally found his shooting boots to hit Glens' second point – their first from play – on 25 minutes, but Seans nearly conjured another goal through Kevin Carroll, only for Barnett and his full back Andrew Mooney to scramble the ball clear.

Rooney saw a point effort strike the outside of the post for Glens, and so Sean McDermott's went in with a handy four-point interval lead.

The lacklustre fare didn't improve at the start of the second half as both sides struggled to string any passing moves together.

However, Gordon Healy reduced Glens' arrears to a goal on 35 minutes when he pointed after latching onto Ronan Grufferty's wayward effort, and Daniel Grimes edged the Tullyallen side closer with a good score off his left foot – 1-3 to 0-4.

At this stage Sean McDermott's seemed to have gone into hibernation as they got no change out of the excellent Glen Emmets full back line and failed to get anywhere near their opponents' posts for a 15-minute spell.

Mullen could have goaled for Glens mid-way through the half when Tom Grimes' delivery towards the square landed at his feet, but the number 12 failed to make any connection and the ball drifted harmlessly wide.

Nevertheless, Glens were beginning to sense that a place in the final was up for grabs, and Grufferty kicked a long-range score to leave Seans just a single point ahead.

Rooney was then denied a goal for the second time by Curran, but Mullen's successful conversion of the resulting '45' was accompanied by a loud roar from the stand to signal parity at last for the Tullyallen outfit.

Substitute Keith Lynch then hit a fine point to edge Glens ahead for the first time on 53 minutes – 0-7 to 1-3 – but that advantage was quickly cancelled out by a David O'Neill free, Seans' first score since the 22nd minute.

Twice more in the closing stages the boys in green – Seans were wearing their white change strip – nosed a point in front through Noone and then Mullen. But successive wides by Lynch and Grufferty with the score at 0-9 to 1-5 would prove costly for Glen Emmets.

At the other end Kelly registered his only score of the day in reply to Noone's effort, and two minutes into stoppage time Osborne was teed up by James Woods and managed to squeeze over the equalising point.

That flurry of late scores failed to disguise the poor quality of this semi-final, but perhaps a replay will suit both teams as neither looks ready to contest the Christy Bellew final just yet. GLEN EMMETS: Fergus Barnett; Frank Carolan, Andrew Mooney, Colin Carolan; Stephen Murphy, Stephen Healy, Daniel Grimes 0-1; Ronan Grufferty 0-1, Gordon Healy 0-1; David Bracken, Paul McGroarty, Eamonn Mullen 0-4 (0-1f, 0-1 '45'); Keith Rooney, Eamonn Taaffe, Mark Noone 0-1. Subs: Tom Grimes for F Carolan (1), Keith Lynch 0-1 for Taaffe (44). SEAN MCDERMOTT'S: Damien Curran; Danny Reilly, Ciaran McMahon, David O'Neill 0-1 (f); Kevin McMahon, Sean McMahon, Derek Walshe 0-1; Declan Carroll 0-1, Patrick Osborne 0-1; Eric McDonnell, Kevin Carroll, Lorcan Ludden; James Woods 0-1, Tony Kelly 0-1, Daniel Woods 1-0. Subs: Darren McEneaney for D Reilly (17), Brendan McGahon for Ludden (39), Glynn Callaghan for McDonnell (47), Mark Duffy for Walshe (59). REFEREE: Paul Kneel.

- Marcus CAVAROLI at Pairc Mhuire