ULSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL Naomh Conall 1-12 Kingscourt Stars 0-11:LEO McLOONE's 49th-minute goal proved pivotal as hosts Kingscourt were put to the sword in a thrilling encounter at O'Raghallaigh Park.

The visitors’ goal made it a 1-11 to 0-9 game and, despite a gutsy fight to the finish by the Cavan champions, the Donegal side won out.

In front of over 3,000 spectators, the writing was on the wall for the Stars as they only scored a single point between the 34th and 52nd minutes. In the same period, the Donegal champions outscored their hosts by 1-6 to 0-1.

Naomh Conall’s greater sharpness and scoring capacity was evident from early but still they went in 0-5 to 0-6 down at half-time.

Kingscourt worked overtime to cash in on some intelligent counter-attacking moves but McLoone’s goal made their task a mountainous one.

NAOMH CONALL: S McGrath; T Donoghue, J Bonner, C Boyle; M Boyle, A Thompson (0-1), E Waide; M Regan, J McLoone; B McDyer (0-1), L McLoone (1-0), D Gallagher (0-2, both frees); J O'Malley (0-3), D Molloy (0-4, one free), L Thompson (0-1). Subs: D Bonner for C Boyle (inj, 4); C McNelis for L Thompson (60 mins); S Corcoran for J O'Malley (62 mins).

KINGSCOURT STARS: B McCormack; S Gray, T Wakely, K McCabe; B Tully, A Clarke, JP Reilly; C Smith (0-1), G Sheenan; B Reilly (0-3, one free), P Smith, J MacMahon (0-1); T Malone (0-1), R McCormack (0-5, all frees), D Martin. Subs: M McGovern for S Gray (25 mins), M McKeown for D Martin (41 mins), N McCabe for G Sheenan (53 mins); P Tinnelly for J MacMahon (54 mins); J McCarthy for P Smith (58 mins).

Referee: Padraig Hughes(Armagh).