Gortin keeping up promotion push in Golden Jubilee Season

FIVE games remaining in their Division Two campaign offer Gortin the tantalising prospect of pushing for promotion to climax the celebrations for their Golden Jubilee season.

It’s tight at the top of the Intermediate League table where the double weekend of fixtures have left Eglish on top with 17 points, closely followed by Gortin and Galbally. As a result, there’s little room for error as this intriguing ACL season gathers pace.

Gortin have unveiled new retro jerseys for their special year. The strip, worn by the club during their greatest seasons of 1985 when they reached the Tyrone Senior Final and 1989 when they won the Intermediate title, are certainly proving inspiration so far.

At no stage was that resolve more evident than in the victory over Eglish on a wet and windy Friday night at Fr Connolly Park. The game appeared to have slipped from the grasp of the men in green and gold on several occasions, but they fought back valiantly and fortune favoured them when it mattered most.

One of the main players for them in that narrow two point win was Ciaran Brolly. He hit two crucial goals either side of the half-time break and excelled with a performance of strength, poise and vision. But it’s the team ethos which matters most and he was understandably delighted with the result.

“It was a good win to get, but we definitely haven’t been making it wasy for ourselves this season. There’s no doubt that things have been going, but getting over the line is the main thing,” he said afterwards.

“We were struggling a bit in the first half, and at half-time it was about basically saying we hadn’t played any football and were still in the game. The players thought we’d it all to play for in the second half and just keep going, settle the heads and come through.

“The first goal came just before half-time and that score meant that we only went in a point down. It helped us to keep the heads up and it was nice just to get the result.”

Gortin, of course, played probably their best football in the third quarter when their display highlight all that is admirable about this team.

“We know this year that we have the ability and it’s about just being patient and not panic. There was just a kick of the ball of a difference in the game, and I suppose the game was nearly gone from us. But we could have got two points and things were still there for us.

“You have to make your own luck. The win was important and I suppose it maintains our challenge. There’s five games now left to focus on, we’ve Kildress in the next one this weekend and they’re definitely not going to be easily defeated either.

“That game will be a sort of a derby tie for both clubs. We’re looking forward to it, but it’s going to be another tough one.”