Kildress’ perseverance this season finally paid off when this time they came out on top of yet another tight game, by 1-9 to 0-11 over Augher in the First Round of the Senior Championship at Edendork today, despite hitting 14 wides over the hour. What added to the occasion was the fact that it was the Tones’ first successful outing in Championship football since their 2011 Intermediate Final win over Galbally.
The game may not have had the highest billing in Tyrone but it was hugely entertaining as it flowed first one way, then another, with referee Brian McCallion contributing greatly to things.
Kildress got off to a perfect start with an early opportunist goal from Niall Quinn (who would top-score with 1-2) and despite playing into a strong breeze managed to lead by 1-3 to 0-5 at the break. The half’s outstanding player though was Augher’s Darragh Kavanagh who fired over four spectacular points from play. The second half continued to be a nip-and-tuck affair with never more than a point between the teams before Kildress moved two points ahead with five minutes left. Augher, brilliantly driven on by mid-fielder Aiden McElroy, had their chances but some committed and disciplined defending saw Kildress through. Kildress put in a fine team effort on and off the field with Johnny Connolly, Conor McAleer (0-1), Dean McNally, Aaron Loughran, Damian Kelly, Philip Lennon (0-2), Niall Quinn (1-2), Des Treacy (0-2) and Frank McGurk (0-2) consistently catching the eye.
