St Dominic’s missed out on a Connacht club intermediate football title after a 1-16 to 1-13 defeat to Dunmore MacHales.
Having claimed the Roscommon intermediate championship in impressive fashion, St. Dominic’s boss Tomas Gilleran was hoping for a “fairytale” victory in the provincial decider.
“We were doing the warm up and I couldn’t help but hear Shane McGowan and fairy-tale of New York” explained Gilleran. “We were hoping for a fairy-tale at Kiltoom but it didn’t happen this evening.”
St. Dominic’s started impressively, leading four points to two inside the opening 12 minutes. 60 seconds later, Shane McGrath’s penalty goal gave Dunmore a one-point lead.
The sides traded four points each during the remainder of the half; St. Dominic’s trailed 1-6 to 0-8 at half-time.
St. Dominic’s kept pace with Dunmore during the next quarter, Brendan O’Meara eventually brought the sides level on 46 minutes.
Dominic’s were down one man either side of the interval. Half-back Kyran Dockery was shown a black card, but Gilleran says his side handled the pressure well.
“I think the lads on the pitch did a fantastic job. I think we managed that period of the game well. We said at half-time, given the momentum in the group we had, we were going to play that first seven and a half minutes at 15-a-side. We had it in our heads that everyone was going to make up for that loss.’’
While his side showed great resilience when playing with a man down, Dunmore dominated the closing stages of the game, running out three-point winners.
Cian Kelly managed a last-gasp goal for Dominic’s but it wasn’t to be. Kyran Dockery also received a second black card five minutes from time.
“We were getting really good scores but they were able to respond that bit easier, that bit slicker” admits Gilleran, Dunmore being more cohesive and more clinical in front of goal.
“They got a lot of what we call in training “Dublin scores” where they came to the 21-metre line and clipped it over the bar. They could give themselves that bit of space more often” added Gilleran.
Ultimately it’s not the result St. Dominic’s were hoping for but Gilleran says his side can have fond memories of the past 12 months; “We fell short today and all credit to Dunmore but 2022 was still a successful year for us so we’re happy.
