Kildress were not able to maintain last week’s level of performance against Aghaloo as they fell by two points, 0-14 to 1-9, against a good and strong Owen Roes team at chilly Glenmornan earlier tonight.
The Tones got off to a great start in this one, Shay Loughran’s well-finished goal, following his own clever interception of a misplaced kick-out, putting them 1-3 to no score ahead before the end of the first quarter. But five points in a row from Owen Roes saw them reach half-time just a point behind, 1-3 to 0-5 and had their shooting been better they would have been in the lead.
Five-in-a-row grew to eight-in-a-row at the start of the second half before Johnny Connolly got Kildress’ first score in nearly half an hour. Owen Roes player-of-the-game Tony Devine was just growing and growing in influence as the game went on, and whilst Kildress had plenty of possession, they could not get the better of Owen Roes’ very tight web of a defence. The Tones kept pressing and with some shooting from distance brought it back to a one-point game at the death, but Owen Roes broke away one last time for a final, clinching point.
Shay Loughran (1-0) and Johnny Connolly (0-2) were fine half-backs for Kildress, whilst Conor McAleer saw a lot of the ball around the middle. Up front the Tones found the Owen Roes defence to be very well organised, with Matty McGuigan (0-4) their most consistent threat.
Gary Gormley was a good referee of a good, well-contested game.
Kildress: | Gerard Grimes | Aaron Loughran, Dean McNally, Marty Loughran | Jonny Connolly (0-2), Stephen McGurk, Shea Loughran (1-0) | Enda McAleer, Conor McAleer (0-1) | Stephen Loughran (0-1), Des Treacy, Paul Connolly | Marty Grimes, Pauric Lagan (0-1), Matty McGuigan (0-4, | Adam Connolly
