Kildress Under 14 Girls made their own very big bit of Kildress history earlier today by winning our Club’s first-ever Grade 1 title with a well-merited 6-4 to 3-6 League Final victory over Omagh in the splendid setting of Loughmacrory.
The win came at the end of a riveting hour’s football where Kildress showed well all over the field, but nowhere better than in defence where great organisation, tigerish tackling and plenty of last-ditch blocking were needed to defuse some wonderful attacking play by St Enda’s.
Early on Omagh surged into a deserved 1-2 to 0-1 lead, but once The Tones found their feet after about ten minutes, they put on an attacking masterclass that yielded 5-1 against a solitary point from Omagh. That left Kildress 5-3 to 2-3 ahead at the break, but still with all to play for.
Omagh were relentless in the second-half, but it was far from one-way traffic as Kildress time and again came calmly out of defence to also keep stretching and testing Omagh. Because of that, the St Enda’s could never get through for the goals they needed and Kildress maintained their composure to clinch, after 70 years of trying, the Club’s first ever Grade 1 title.
Captain Jodie McCrory, Kildress’ first-ever Grade 1 winning Captain, and on her birthday (!), summed everything up perfectly in her speech, stressing how everybody, on and off the field, had “Trained well, worked hard and never given up.” Wise words for us all to heed.
Gerard Trainor’s excellent referring was a major part of a highly-entertaining game.
Kildress: Ella Rose Quinn | Ava Foster, Kaela Foster, Alanna Tracey | Crea Murphy, Aine Heagney, Mya McCullagh | Marianna Loughran, Carla McCullagh | Mia Muldoon, Jodie Mc Crory, Leah Loughran | Aine McCullagh, Ella Tracey, Therese Loughran | Keva McAleer, Maria Kearney, Aideen Corey, Amy Loughran, Clara McCullagh, Grace Baines, Sarah Kearney.
Management: Jarleth Loughran | Fran Loughran | Joan McCrory | Kevin McCullagh | Noel Tracey
