Dunmore MacHales have ended a 17-year wait to return to the top grade of football in Galway, having defeated a defiant Kilconly by 0-08 to 1-03 in extremely difficult conditions in Tuam Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Dunmore were heavily tipped from the season's start to return to senior grade following their defeat to Naomh Anna Leitir Móir in the 2021 final. There can be no arguments with the outcome as they were a cut above the rest of the teams for the 2022 season. With a young, talented panel, there will be high hopes this team can go forward and stamp their mark on the senior championship next year.
Dunmore opted to play with the elements in the first half and it was clear how the weather conditions were impacting play. Brendan Carr opened the scoring for Dunmore and soon after Padraig Costello opened his account with a placed ball. However, their overall early dominance was not accurately reflected on the scoreboard as they failed to convert a number of easy opportunities.
Paul Mannion, as has been the case all season, was the main man for Kilconly, and his team mates sought to get the ball in his hands at every opportunity. He nailed a difficult free into the breeze in the 15th minute to get Kilconly on the scoreboard before Jake Slattery and Padraig Costello added to Dunmore’s tally.
David Prendergast scored Kilconly’s second point with a sweetly struck ’45 before the sides entered the break with the score 0-04 to 0-02, but finely poised given the strength of the breeze.
It could have been a different story at half-time had Kilconly taken their two goal chances, but they were let down by poor finishing, and Dunmore came out of the blocks in the second half and were driven forward by their star man Matthew Reddington. The centre-forward took every available opportunity to take on his opponent and Kilconly were not able to contain his athleticism and skill.
Dylan Brady and Padraig Costello stretched Dunmore’s lead to four after 40 minutes as Kilconly struggled in the second half, spurning a number of simple point-scoring chances. Michael Newell eventually raised Kilconly’s first white flag of the second half after 20 minutes, but Damien Reddingtonquickly responded for the Shafts.
With the game seemingly getting out of reach of Kilconly, David Prendergast was the sharpest to capitalise on a goalkeeping error to palm the ball into the net. It left just a point between the teams heading into injury time, and three minutes into injury time, Paul Mannion had the opportunity to level the game for the first time with a tricky free from far out on the left hand sideline. His effort struck the postm and from the rebound Dunmore went up and sealed the winner.
It was a fully deserved victory in the end, but Kilconly will be bitterly disappointed to lose in such a manner. They will be back again next season and will no doubt go close again. Dunmore will enjoy their celebrations and then regroup for a crack at the Connacht championship.
Clifden will be playing intermediate next year after beating Athenry by 3-12 to 1-11 in Pearse Stadium Saturday afternoon. In the intermediate relegation group, Headford beat Moycullen 3-14 to 1-05, while Williamstown defeated St Gabriel’s by 2-11 to 0-08 to all but confirm their safety.
