Kildress just came up short by 0-9 to 0-11 in a gripping Championship Quarter-Final with neighbours Gortin, in the wonderful match setting of Loughmacrory on Saturday. The Tones had to play with 14 men for two-thirds of this game but, in the last quarter especially, did enough to deserve at least another day. A well-drilled and strong Gortin however were that bit sharper up front and able to weather all that Kildress could throw at them. The game was influenced by a strong breeze and with it behind them Gortin led by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break. Wind or not, Gortin took the first two points of the second half to open up what seemed to be an insurmountable five-point lead. From there to the finish however, Kildress were the team, reeling off four points in a row and, crucially, missing at least as many more. Gortin broke out to score one final point, a fine effort from Ruairi Keenan, and whilst Kildress pressed hard for the goal that would change the result, it was just not to be. In a game well-refereed as always by Sean Hurson, Kildress were well-served by their entire team but had particularly good performances from Dean McNally, Philip McKenna, Conor McAleer, Frank McGurk, Des Treacy and Stephen McGurk.   

By mark Sun 24th Sep