Another giant step on a long road for Dunmore

JIM CARNEY Dunmore MacHales .1-13 Salthill-Knocknacarra .0-3 TWICE recently I saw Dunmore play important matches, first in the League â€â€ out in the Aran Islands â€â€ and at Corofin last Sunday evening, the Championship. On both occasions they played very well and won. Maybe, for the sake of their I.F.C. campaign, I should keep following them![private] It's a long road back to the premier grade for this once truly great, proud club who had a senior team in the mid-1960s that was probably the best in the whole country. In the following decade they had a glory year (1973) when they won all three County Championships: Minor, U-21 and Senior. The last of their â€Â¦ S.F.C. titles was won as far back as 1983, and since then they've been up and down between senior and intermediate. Are they good enough to go back up this year? Only time can tell. Having seen two matches in the Intermediate Championship at Mountbellew last Saturday, I'd say Menlough were the best of the six teams I saw in the I.F.C. over the weekend and there wouldn't be much between all the others. Full marks to Dunmore, they could not have been asked by their loyal followers to win by more than 13 points; they played as a team and played fast, direct football, with everybody putting in maximum workrate. But Salthill-Knocknacarra were always chasing the game and for all their honest endeavour and spirited commitment they ran out of ideas once they entered the scoring zone. It could have been worse for them. The MacHales were in for a goal in the first minute of the match but the seasiders' goalkeeper Greg Rodgers made a brilliant save. Dunmore followed up with an Aidan Fallon point from play, and soon they were playing the long ball very effectively into the left corner where Damien Redington was really on his game. It was 0-8 to 0-2 in favour of Dunmore at half-time and the match was over as a contest. At the end of the day, Damien Redington's 1-7 (1-3 from play) was one point more than three times the total compiled by the entire Salthill-Knocknacarra team, but to their immense credit they kept plugging away and kept their dignity and club pride intact. Dunmore MacHales: R. Byrne; D. Gleeson, K. Reddington, R. Silke; D. Rattigan, P. Gleeson, B. Reddington; D. Cronin, captain (0-1), J. Burke; B. Bowens (0-1), A. Fallon (0-2), P. Glynn; R. Cleary (0-1), M. Cleary (0-1), D. Redington (1-7, 0-4 frees). Subs used: D. Mullins, D. McDonagh, J. O'Toole. Salthill-Knocknacarra: G. Rodgers; J. Ott, C. Donlon, J. Killeen; K. O'Connell, D. Burke, E. Wynne; C. Treacy, captain, D. Tierney, M. Sheehan (0-1), P. Kitt, R. Conlon (0-1), N. Tyrrell; E. Duffy, E. Dunne, A. Butler (0-1, free). Subs used: R. Winters, E. Ryan. Referee: Tom Nally. Herald Sport Man of the Match: Damien Redington (Dunmore).[/private]