Dessie Gallagher is hopeful that his Dungloe side can head to Ardara on Sunday afternoon and get the result that’ll seal promotion back to Division 1.

The Rosses Park men came out on the wrong side against Aodh Ruadh in the opening round of the Division 2 league but have been flawless ever since, winning all ten of their matches and sit top of the table.

“We’ve had a lot of tight battles in between but we got over the line in those games. We’ve gone on a bit of a run now to get to the top of the table alright.”

Dessie and his Dungloe outfit travel to Ardara this Sunday where a victory over Damien Devaney’s side would seal promotion back to the top tier of Donegal football.

Despite being on an extremely good run, the Dungloe boss insists that they’re faced with a tough task as getting a positive result in Ardara’s own backyard is never easily achieved.

“Any day you go to Ardara it’s never easy, especially for Dungloe, it’s a bit of a derby match for us. It would be nice to get a victory there and get up to Division 1 because it’s been a while.”

“Ardara are a decent team and they always give it, we never get anything easy down in Ardara. I’d say they’ve a better record against us than we do against them in the last few years. If we can get everyone on the pitch and fit, that’s the big one at the minute because we’re working off a small panel so it’s a matter of getting everybody out for these games.”

With the Division 2 frontrunners currently working with a limited squad as Gallagher explained, they certainly welcomed back Ryan Greene with open arms when he returned from Australia where he was playing for Penrith Gaels.

He put back on the red jersey for the first time in last Sunday’s away win against Naomh Columba, getting the nod to start, and the Dungloe manager expressed his delight to have Greene back in the setup.

“He played his first game at the weekend there. He got more minutes than he probably thought he’d get because we had to throw him in from the start up in Glen and he did well. It’s good to have him back, he’s brought a good buzz to training and added a bit of craic which helps.”

The Rosses Park men have been residents in Division 2 since their relegation from the top tier back in 2018 and have been challenging to return ever since.

Dessie Gallagher is in his fifth year in the Dungloe dugout and states that securing a place back in Division 1 would mean a lot to both himself and the team as the collective group have been trying to achieve this feat for half a decade.

“I suppose that’s your aim at the start of the year, to try and do well in the league and try to build towards championship.

“It would probably mean a lot at this stage because this is our fifth year trying to do it as a group, both players and management together. We’re five years trying to get to Division 1 and it’s something that’s probably disappointed us so It’d be great to get up there and compete with teams in the league and championship.”

As we approach the end of the league campaign, some teams may be looking over the horizon and beginning their preparations for the championship.

However, this isn’t the case for Gallagher and his Dungloe side who are just staying focused on the league for the time being. He discussed how it’s difficult to get ready for the championship when there’s no draw yet which they’re waiting hard on.

“Because there’s no draw yet you can’t really prepare properly for it until you know who you’re playing against so we’re just training away for the league at the minute. We’re just waiting on this championship draw. I don’t know when it will happen but it seems to be very late and until it comes out it’s very hard to plan things.”

Dungloe were the story of the Senior Football Championship for many last year, reaching the final of the competition for the first time in 60 years before losing out to St Eunan’s.

For Dungloe however, this is now all in the past as they begin their journey again and aren’t looking past round one for the meantime.

“As we know in Dungloe, last year is last year and we’ve to start again. The likes of Naomh Conaill and St Eunan’s, these teams that are aiming for a county final, we’ll still be aiming for the first round of the championship. That’ll be our attitude because last year’s gone we have to move on.