Thanks Michael and Andrew for your replies...did you see the result
that I posted?

I was able to change the formatted date into an integer then apply
templates accordingly.

I am now trying to figure out the best way to turn each of those lists
[of late and ontime items] into lists that decend by date.

Is it best to sort at the point where the date comparison is being
made or at a lower level in a seperate template using <xsl:sort> ?