By Jonathan Brown
It was a weekend to remember for everyone associated with Dunnaman FC as their senior team claimed a late win against Glenavy to secure a league and cup double and promotion to Mid-Ulster League Division 1 for the first time in the club’s history.
Promotion was assured on the 9th of May when Donaghmore forfeited their game against Christopher Mulligan’s team, and now they’ve won the MUFL Division 2 trophy with a game to spare, thanks to a first-half strike from Cormac McComb and a late 87th-minute goal from star striker Jack Rodgers on Saturday.
Manager Mulligan gave his reaction to an historic season for the Mourne side.
“It hasn’t been an easy year, but they’re [the players] a good bunch, and when you get the right players available, the league table doesn’t lie.
“This squad has chopped and changed a lot this season with injuries and unavailability but we’ve all dug in and over the course of the year, and the results prove it, you end up being where you should be,” he said.
McComb gave Dunnaman the lead in the 22nd minute and they held that lead all the way until the 85th minute, before Alan MacDonald grabbed an equaliser for Glenavy.
“We started the game pretty well and we felt as if we were in control.
“We got our noses in front before the first water break and although we felt we missed a few chances, Glenavy were always carrying a bit of danger too, so it was always going to be a bit of a battle.
“We held on and we thought we had the job done, but obviously they scored late on,” Mulligan explained.
Just two minutes after Glenavy levelled proceedings, Rodgers popped up with a title-winning goal, ensuring the men in red avoided a must-win scenario against Gilford Crusaders this Saturday.
Although Mulligan admitted it wasn’t necessarily in the gameplan.
“I was thinking to myself it’s not the end of the world if it goes to next week, because it was still in our hands, as long as we didn’t concede another one.
“But the boys had another idea, they took the ball out from the kick off, they fancied their chances, worked hard and got the lead back more or less straight away.
“We left it late but that makes it all the sweeter sometimes.”
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