'These lads took our club to a place people thought we would never be' - Gallagher

The celebrations continued long after Dungloe made that heartbreaking walk down the MacCumhaill Park tunnel unsure when their next dance on this county final stage will be. 

When their manager Dessie Gallagher emerged from the dressing room almost 20 minutes later, County Chairperson Mary Coughlan was the first on hand to offer her commiserations. 

But nothing anyone could say could fix the suffering pain of defeat that the men from the Rosses just experienced as their 66-year hoodoo continued.   

Gauging the loser's mood after a final defeat is never easy. There can be different classifications. But there was no hiding Dungloe’s emotions following their 1-13 to 1-10 defeat at the hands of St Eunan’s. 

“There’s serious disappointment in our dressing room at the minute because we came here and believed we were going to win,” Gallagher admitted after the match. 

“The entire county writes us off because we’re Dungloe, but these boys have turned the club around and did the entire community proud. 

“It’s hard at the minute because we probably left a bit behind us in the first half, maybe it was nerves, I’m not sure, but it ended with us going in level at halftime when we probably thought that we should’ve been ahead.” 

With the teams standing level at 1-10 apiece following Ryan Connors' penalty, all seemed destined for a replay, until St Eunan’s ran through the gears to find space and knock over three late points. 

On Sunday, St Eunan’s ended with – to paraphrase a line from Páidí Ó Sé - the extra grain of rice which eventually tipped the scale. 

“Going down the stretch we were level and it was all to play for in injury time but credit to St Eunan’s, they pulled away with three points and we’re just gutted, there’s no other way to put it,” he said. 

Gallagher’s forensic eye casts us back to the 36th minute of the game. Level at 0-5 apiece, it was Niall O’Donnell’s effort at a point which came down off the upright and Pauric Boyle was the first to react, quickly laying off for Conor O’Donnell Jnr to hit home. 

A game-changing moment?  

“The Eunan’s goal was a key moment, yeah, it hit off the post and fell to a St Eunan’s player who ended it in the back of the net but if that shot went over the bar, then we would probably be champions,” Gallagher said. 

“At that stage, we were three points down rather than a point from that move alone. We had so much work to do then from that point to get back into the match and level it. 

“That was probably a key period of the game because at that stage I feel you need to be ahead of St Eunan’s, but they kept working hard to hold that lead, regardless, I’m so proud of the boys and what they’ve done.” 

Given the epic nature of a solid county final, it seemed unavoidable to ask if there was some solace to be taken in the manner of Dungloe’s performance. 

Gallagher acknowledged the effort and the support from the fans but knows that on days when trophies are given out, there are no marks awarded for gallant efforts. 

The challenge for Dungloe is to continue their upsets and become a top team. 

“Look, the lads have taken our club to a place a lot of people thought it would never be; the thing now is we have to back it up, that’s another challenge for us, but at the same time, we got beat in our first intermediate final in 2021 and we came back stronger the following year and won it, so who knows,” Gallagher admitted. 

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“The town is very proud of these boys, but at the minute they’re only words because these lads want to push on and hopefully, we can do that. 

“We have a lot of young players who I hope can push into this team and challenge and make the team better. 

“We had a lot of U-20 players here on the panel and I hope those lads can bring us back here again soon. 

“It’s hard looking to the future when the team is so upset after that final, but we know we will back it up and come again. This isn’t going to be just a one-off, we hope to be back here again soon.” 

Dungloe seemed to defy their presumed social strata this season. If we take their word for it, they plan to be back again soon.