St Enda's maintain promising start

Omagh 1-11
Kildress 0-13

OMAGH'S promising start to the new season continued at Healy Park on Wednesday night when they had the minimum to spare over a Kildress side that are still without a win after three outings.

The only goal of the game arrived six minutes before half-time courtesy of Conor McMahon and it was enough to give the St.Enda's a slim 1-4 to 0-6 lead after the Wolfe Tones had started strongly with scores from Martin Grimes, Michael Lennon and Frank McGurk. Omagh were dealt a blow in the opening moments of the second period when defender Michael Gallagher was sent off and things didn't look good for them when a couple of Paul O'Neill points edged the visitors in front.

Jason McAnulla and Des Treacy exchanged points before Conor O'Donnell levelled matters. A close finish was on the cards and it was Omagh who took the spoils thanks to late efforts from Gary Taggart and Joe McMahon.

Errigal too strong

Killyman 0-9
Errigal Ciaran 1-15

ERRIGAL Ciaran made it back to back wins thanks to this nine point success away to Killyman on Thursday evening. The home side started the game brightly with a couple of Eddie Holland points and one from Paul McVeigh but the visitors always looked to be in control with Damian McDermott, Barry Canavan and half back duo Davy Harte and Ciaran McGinley landing ten points between them as they enjoyed a 0-13 to 0-5 advantage at the short whistle.

McVeigh and Ronan McRory exchanged early second half points before Killyman's Conor Boyle took his individual tally for the afternoon to three but they were always fighting a losing battle as they slipped to their fourth consecutive defeat since returning to senior football. McRory grabbed the only goal of the contest in the final quarter before Caolan Tierney concluded the scoring.

St Mary's off mark

Killyclogher 1-12
Galbally 1-6

AT the third time of asking Killyclogher entered the winners enclosure after a comfortable win over a Galbally side that registered only one point in the entire second half.

The home side took the lead in the sixth minute when Leo Meenan made no mistake from the penalty spot after a Galbally defender had touched the ball on the ground inside the small area. Meenan added five points in the first half for good measure with Paul Rafferty kicking four for the visitors before the latter struck for an injury time goal to trim Killyclogher's lead to just two at the break, 1-7 to 1-5.

Any chance the visitors had of getting anything from their travels disappeared in a poor second half performance as Killyclogher eased further clear with scores from Damian Meenan, Ryan McAleer and full forward Leo Meenan who finished with an impressive 1-7 to his name. Galbally had to wait until the final minute of the game to raise an umpire's flag through Rafferty but by that stage the issue had already been decided.

Dromore pushed

Aghyaran 1-8
Dromore 1-10

AGHYARAN came perilously close to picking up their first points of the season at home to defending champions Dromore but in the end the visitors managed to scrape a result to maintain their perfect start to the new season. With time almost up the St.Davogs were awarded a penalty but Anthony Devine's kick was pushed onto the post by Dromore keeper Peter Ward. Dromore led 1-4 to 0-5 at half-time with corner forward Ciaran McCoy getting their goal and county attacker Colm McCullagh kicking three points, Devine and Brian McHugh among the Aghyaran marksmen.

A Martin Penrose goal in the third quarter put the St.Davogs ahead and it remained that way going into the final stages after Penrose and Eoin McCusker had traded points. Another brace of McCullagh frees saw him take his personal haul to half a dozen and in the end that proved to be enough as the hosts failed to convert that late spot kick.

Pacesetters Clonoe

Clonoe 1-10
Coalisland 0-8

CLONOE remain among the early pacesetters thanks to this fully deserved five point success over near neighbours Coalisland at O'Rahilly Park. Both sides went into the contest protecting one hundred percent records but Clonoe always looked the livelier of the two sides, especially in the second half.

The two sides mustered only half a dozen first half points between them as the hosts led 0-4 to 0-2 at the break with PJ Lavery and Ryan O'Neill on target for Clonoe. Gerard Toner and Paddy Early swapped points with Stephen McNulty and Barry McNulty on the restart before Clonoe struck for the crucial score of the contest when Colm Doris buried a 48th minute goal.

The Fianna were unlucky on a number of occasions as they hit the woodwork but on the night Clonoe were worthy winners with Lavery bringing his individual haul to five with his side's last three points of the contest

Eglish gutted

Loughmacrory 1-10
Eglish 0-12

GUTTED could be the only word to describe how Eglish felt after this match as Loughmacrory snatched a goal deep into injury time to break the visitors' hearts and give the St.Teresa's their first league points of the season. Ronan Ward kicked five points in the first half with Ciaran Ward, Enda Ward and Emmett Donaghy also on target as the hosts led 0-8 to 0-5, Michael Jordan and the Dalys Gary and Caolan on target for the St.Patrick's.

It was point for point in the third quarter with Ronan Ward and Jordan on target for their respective sides before Eglish drew level thanks to a brace from attacking half back Mark Gallagher. Jordan and Gallagher then hit late points and it looked as though the visitors were going to take the spoils but Loughmacrory kept plugging away and midfielder Mark McCullagh proved to be their hero with a late major.

Carmen ease home

Carrickmore 0-9
Cookstown 0-4

TWO sides with unbeaten records went head to head here and at the end of a low scoring encounter it was Carrickmore who came out on top to make it four straight wins as they continue to set the pace at the top of the table.

Daire Cummings opened the scoring for the Father Rocks before John Gilmore doubled their advantage but despite failing to score in the opening quarter it was the St.Colmcilles who led 0-4 to 0-3 at the break with efforts from Kevin McNally, Mark Donnelly, Benny Martin and Brendan McCartan.

The visitors' challenge faded after the interval and by the time they hit their only score of half the game was already beyond them. Donnelly and McNally were on target again as were defender Colm McGurk and midfielder Conor Gormley as the hosts secured another two league points