Hard work and a bit of belief were the main ingredients in Dundrum's four point victory over Division 3 table toppers Tullylish on Friday night.

   Despite being torn apart in the 1st half the Duns somehow managed to go in at the break level pegging. This was probably down to the fact that Tullylish hit ten wides in this period.

   The predatory Paul Rooney opened proceedings with a well executed point for the away side. However, despite the Duns drawing first blood, Tullylish remained unfazed. Full forward John McAreavey got them off the mark and soon after he added a free to put the Lish in the driving seat.

   With McAreavey looking to be Tullylish's danger man, the Dundrum management switched Philip Shields on to him. For the remainder of the game Shields hounded and harried McAreavey to no end and the big man's influence on the game waned.

   With Kevin Blaney's side seeing the majority of possession, Dundrum were forced to live off scraps. Yet both teams were guilty of wayward shooting. It was Tullylish though who had the majority of chances and despite numerous wides midfield man Peter Quinn did manage to sail over a free after twenty two minutes of action.

   The nippy Gary Chambers then added to Quinn's set peice to leave the Laurencetown natives three points clear. However, the game was turned on its head just before Eugene O'Hares half time whistle. The Tullylish defence was caught napping as John Hurley placed an excellent through ball into Conor McShane. McShane accelerated towards the Lish goal and finished supremely to the net to level the game after a wretched 1st half of football.

   Dundrum were most definitely the happier team at halftime. Despite playing second fiddle to Tullylish they were level pegging and in the knowledge that they could only improve in the 2nd half. As mentioned earlier hard work and belief carried them through in the final thirty minutes.

   Dundrum captain Kieran Walsh put his team in the lead for the first time in the game five minutes in. The classy Chris Hogg then notched his first of the night to extend the Duns lead to two. Peter Quinn did pull one back for the homesters but John McAreavey's missed penalty minutes later proved extremely costly to his side's aspirations of victory.

   With just under fifteen minutes to go Tullylish did manage an equaliser but Dundrum's greater resolve and fitness took over in the closing stages. Neil McComiskey, John Hurley and Marc Cunningham began to tighten up at the back while Kieran Walsh made midfield his own. The forward unit began to run the Lish backline ragged and with Martin Coughlan coming deep and Declan Kavanagh attacking from wingback Tullylish had plenty to keep them occupied.

   Cormac Venney's first score of the night put Dundrum ahead by the minimum. Venney's perserverance really paid off in the closing stages as previously he wasnt getting much change out of the Tullylish full back. Kieran Walsh then added another point before Venney closed the game out with a crucial major. It was the result of a very quick reaction from Conor McShane who slid the ball in to Venney's path after a poor kickout from the Tullylish netminder.

   The homeside did manage a late score but the Duns held on for a deserved four point victory. In the end hunger and desire won it for John McShane's charges. More of the same is needed if the Baysiders are to progress any further.

Dundrum: C.King, N.McComiskey, M.Melville, P.Shields, D.Kavanagh, J.Hurley, M.Cunningham, K.Walsh (0-02, 1F), A.Doyle, C.McShane (1-00), C.Hogg (0-01), J.McKibben, P.Rooney (0-01), C.Venney (1-01), M.Coughlan. Sub: R.Fitzsimons