Football can be spectacular, entertaining, high-quality, well-balanced, pacey and, ultimately, very cruel and we had all of those tonight at a cold Gortacladdy, as Kildress returned to the Intermediate grade with a 1-12 to 1-11 win over Beragh.
The cruelty here was felt by the Red Knights, as Conor McAleer’s injury time goal snatched victory away from them after a game in which they gave at least as good as they got, and for most of which they enjoyed a consistent if narrow lead. Both teams were missing some regulars, and Beragh had soon pulled back an early Kildress two-point advantage before their penalty goal mid-way through the first half gave them a lead which they were able to hold on to until the game’s dying moments. Conor Quinn’s outstanding point was one of Kildress’ first half highlights which saw them reach the break behind by 0-7 to 1-5.
If anything the pace and quality even improved in the second half, with Beragh deserving their running one/two-point advantage, defending well and running hard at Kildress. Both teams managed some spectacular points and if Kildress nearly paid the price of a reluctance to shoot, Beragh too will be regretting not capitalising on one glorious late opportunity to seal the game. Yet again two points proved to be the classic ‘dangerous lead’ as Kildress’ last, injury time raid, ended with Conor McAleer poking the ball home in a crowded goalmouth. It was a sweet win for The Tones and cruel for the Red Knights who will play much worse yet end up on the right side of the result.
Kildress were best served by the outstanding Stephen McGurk at centre-back and by Marty and Stephen Loughran, Des Treacy (0-3), Paul Connolly (0-1), the roving Conor McAleer (1-0) and the cutting-edge Matty McGuigan (0-7). Paul Gallagher’s refereeing added greatly to a thoroughly entertaining evening.
Kildress: | Mark Treacy | Aaron Loughran, Dean McNally, Marty Loughran | Jonny Connolly, Stephen McGurk, Tiernan McNamee | Enda McAleer, Des Treacy (0-3) | Stephen Loughran, Paul Connolly (0-1), Conor Quinn (0-1) | Shea Quinn, Matty McGuigan (0-7), Conor McAleer (1-0) | Martin Grimes, Shea Loughran, Damian Kelly
