By Shaun Casey

DRUMGATH were the story of the opening weekend in the Down Senior Football Championship as they upset the odds to defeat local neighbours Mayobridge, and boss MD McPolin was delighted with how things panned out.

Trailing 1-6 to 0-2 after 25 minutes, things looked ominous for Drumgath. They battled back however to get on level terms and the hero of the day, Packie Downey, stood up to land the winner.

McPolin and a few other clubmen, Miceal Quinn and Niall McNulty, took charge after the side parted ways with their manager following their relegation to Division Three and the new men in got their tenure off to the best possible start.

Few would have given Drumgath a chance against a Mayobridge team that solidified their spot in the top tier for another season, but inside the four walls of their changing room, they knew they had a chance.

“We’re all Drumgath men and we’ll do whatever we can to help out and get the team prepared for what was a big game against the neighbours in the Senior Championship, so we knuckled down and worked and it paid off for us,” said McPolin of taking charge.

“Last weekend was brilliant to be honest, it was a great day for the club. It was a great result, and no one really gave us a chance, I think we were 91 with the bookies.

“Football is all on the day and we prepared well for it these last couple of weeks. We have a game-plan and we worked on it, the fellas carried it through then against Mayobridge and we maybe had a bit of luck as well, but we got out the right side of it.

“You definitely need a wee bit of luck, we’ve had very little luck this year in our league campaign and unfortunately we were relegated but it takes that bit of luck, they hit the wordwork a couple of times, but we missed chances too.”

It’s Warrenpoint up next in the winners’ pot and Drumgath certainly aren’t under the radar anymore. They’re expecting another tight battle against another Division One outfit, but they’re willing to give it a lash.

“It’s Warrenpoint next Thursday evening in Burren and that’ll be another massive game for us, “McPolin added. “They’re an established Division One team and they are a good side; they have some great players.

“We know we’ll be massive underdogs again and no one will be giving us a chance but sure we’ll go and give it a rattle. We have a few long-term injures with fellas that will miss the rest of the year, and they’ll not feature next week.

“We have a few wee niggles still but we’re not too bad. We’ve got a bit of a squad and a wee bit of depth to us with players to come on if we need them. Injuries are all part and parcel of the game.”