After an inspiring two-month ‘All-Ireland break’, Kildress welcomed adult men’s football back to Gortacladdy today with a fine 1-15 to 0-12 win over a strong Naomh Eoghan team. This was Kildress’ first clash with Tyrone’s newest Club (a merger of the previous Dregish and Newtownstewart Clubs) and whilst their six-point margin was a healthy one, this was a game where they were pushed all the way.
The winning of the game was The Tones’ unanswered blitz of 1-4, all from play, in the opening ten minutes of the second half. The teams had reached half-time locked at 0-5 apiece and whilst Kildress had been a bit wasteful in dropping a few shots short to the goalkeeper, at the other end of the field it was only some exceptional Tones defending that kept Naomh Eoghan from scoring at least one goal. The Kildress goal meanwhile was a masterful effort from Stephen McGurk, who drove through the heart of the visitors’ defence before firing a fierce shot to the net. It will take some Kildress score to better that one this year.
Kildress will be very happy with their performance and result which owed a great deal to their outstanding six defenders. Matty McGuigan top-scored with 0-7 and whilst Marty Grimes and Philip Lennon also ‘hurt’ Naomh Eoghan on the scoreboard, the returning Caolan McNamee at full-forward was a very important cog in this victory. But ultimately Stephen McGurk’s goal will be the best of many good memories for Kildress from this one.
Cathal McCrory was an outstanding referee, contributing greatly to a very entertaining game.
