Kildress came off second best in a highly entertaining game at Dungannon today, losing to The Clarkes by 4-12 to 1-12. The damage was done in one minute midway through the first half when, with things evenly balanced at four points to three, Dungannon goaled twice to establish a lead that Kildress could just never pull back. The first goal came off a penalty that was well-saved by Mark Treacy who then had no luck whatsoever when he also got a hand to the rebound only to see it deflect into the net off a post. There was nothing lucky however about the second goal that followed immediately, Dalaigh Jones putting away as fine a finish as Kildress Gaels have seen for a long time. An unfortunate bounce saw Kildress concede a third goal to reach half-time an intimidating 3-7 to 0-6 behind. The Tones didn’t wilt however and an early Philip Lennon goal and three points, plus some strong attacking play saw them reel the Clarkes back in though their opponents were also guilty of some bad misses. A fourth home goal put the game to bed but Kildress kept trying to the last. Over the hour they had good performers in Stephen McGurk, the Connolly and Holland brothers, Matthew Heagney, Matty McGuigan, Caolan McNamee and top-scorer Philip Lennon (1-7). Referee Mickey McCann contributed to things by letting the game flow.
In the Reserve game Kildress’ season-long unbeaten run finally came to an end with a 5-9 to 1-6 loss to the home side.
