Drom is so often lamented as a cold, wet, and windy location for a game of football. However, Saturday morning was nothing but blue skies and a warm sun as Salthill Devon Under 13s welcomed Renmore. The young Devon side came into the game on the back of a victory against Barna Utd – their first of the season. This had been played in early November, meaning that it had been well over two months since many of the players had played a match.

Goalkeeper Ciaran O’Connor, so commanding in previous games against Colga, Kilshanvey Utd, and Barna, was ruled out with a broken finger, while Devon were also without the calming influence of left-back Darragh Ruane and playmaker Shane Heavey. Under 12B goalkeeper Jason Murray was called upon, as were Rory Heffernan, Conor Egan, Gary Kineen, and Morgan Hanley from the 12A squad.

After a decent warm-up, the game was alive only two minutes when the Seagulls were forced into an early change. Gary Kineen, starting on the left side of midfield, pulled up with a hamstring injury, to be replaced by the pacey Rory Heskin, who had been very unlucky not to make the starting XI.

Both sides started sluggishly, and it was clear that neither team had had much game time since the Christmas break. It was Salthill who should have taken the lead after five minutes. Daniel Murphy swung a sweet corner into the penalty that caused the Renmore rearguard problems. The ball broke to Joe Ugbo, unmarked, who blasted over from five yards out.

It was the wake-up call that Renmore needed, as they began to gain control of a disjointed Devons midfield. Both Renmore wingers were willing runners, and were having good fortune down the Devon left, winning a number of corners that the home side resolutely defended. On a break out from one of these corners, Salthill – perhaps naively and certainly overeagerly – piled numbers forward. As a bitter learning experience, possession was surrendered, and the ball broke loose to the tricky Renmore striker, who rounded Murray, and, on the second attempt, trickled the ball into the net to give Renmore the lead.

Teams respond to conceding goals in different ways. This young Salthill team never dropped their heads, and straight from kick-off cut down the left, with Heskin winning a number of throw-ins in dangerous positions. The pressure did not translate itself into a goal, however.

The next ten minutes saw some sloppy play from both sides, with both sets of players guilty of misplacing passes and turning into trouble. Indeed, were it not for the last ditch challenges of right-back Damon Munnelly in one instant, and of the excellent Conor Egan in the next attack, Salthill could have been faced with a bigger margin to reduce. As it were, between some individual interceptions, some commanding goalkeeping from Murray, and slices of luck, the score remained the same heading towards half-time.

The last five minutes of the first half saw Devons use the right-wing for the first time in the game. The ever-busy Rory Heffernan collected the ball in a deep area, and ran at the Renmore full-back, turning him and playing a ball in that Ugbo and Murphy could have done more with. Moments later, Heffernan again had the ball at feet, and played it inside to Chris Loughran, who attempted to play in Ugbo. Ugbo and then Murphy took turns to lay the ball off when getting the shot away to properly test the Renmore goalkeeper may have been the better option.

The screw was turning. An attack down the left saw the ball cut back into the six-yard box, and after a failed attempted clearance, Loughran followed in from the midfield to coolly slot home into the bottom corner. Salthill were level on the brink of half-time.

While not all that pretty, the teams left the field all square at the break. The Devon players were made aware that better was expected of them in the second half, with the gaffers suggesting that the lads make better use of the wings. The few times they had ran at the full-backs, they had success in the first period.

The response was immediate. From the kick-off in the second half, Devon were first to every ball for the first five minutes, epitomised by a wonderful piece of tracking back by goalscorer Loughran, who followed his man from the edge of the Renmore box to midway inside the Devon half, making a perfectly-timed challenge.

As an offensive force, the home team was also beginning to look more dangerous. Heffernan, all too often starved of service in the first half, was getting the ball to feet, and ran at the Renmore rearguard with every opportunity. He moved into good areas on a number of occasions, but after squaring the ball, a number of half chances were missed, with the likes of Ugbo, Murphy, and Heskin trying to make another pass when a shot may have been the order of the day.

Nonetheless, the pressure was slowly building, and it came as no surprise when Devon took the lead. It was also consistent with how the second half began that Rory Heffernan was involved. He won possession, and after being played in down the right with an excellent switch of play from Danny Murphy, he squared the ball. The ball managed to break free to Rory Heskin, who had cut in from the inside. Heskin buried the ball in the bottom corner to give Salthill a 2-1 lead. It was his first goal of the season, but was the type of quality finish that he had shown in training to be capable of.

Heskin was almost immediately withdrawn for Morgan Hanley, who played through the middle. This saw a number of changes, as Loughran moved out to the left, and Murphy dropped back to midfield to play alongside John Dunleavy, who had been shadowing and protecting his back four well throughout.

Renmore were not out of the game by any stretch. In fact, going a goal down had only a positive effect on their approach to the game, as they poured players forward in search of an equaliser, even with twenty minutes remaining. They should have made it two-two when a free-kick was well struck and parried by Jason Murray. The ball broke free to a Renmore player, who blazed it wide with an open goal to aim for.

Devons were let off the hook, but were forced to continue to defend well. Captain Sean Candon and Gavin Reidy at left-back made important clearances to maintain the slender lead. Meanwhile, Loughran and Heffernan were having joy on their respective flanks, and the introduction of Hanley caused the Renmore defense a lot of problems with his intelligent movement and touches.

A moment of brilliance soon followed that looked to decide the game. Heffernan did what he threatened to do all afternoon: He picked the ball up just inside the Renmore half, and with confidence and ability, skipped past three Renmore defenders, before cutting in past another and drilling the ball into the back of the net to make it three one with just over ten minutes remaining.

Liam Rafferty replaced Murphy, with Heffernan moving into the centre and Rafferty on the right. At the other end, Renmore could have made an instant response, but for the superb interception of Damon Munnelly, who covered all the way across from the right to clear. The clearance came at a cost, as he was forced to leave the pitch after a very impressive performance following nearly two months out with an ankle injury. Daniel McCoy replaced him, and again Devons had to reshuffle.

The team was looking quite imbalanced, and but for Conor Egan’s well-timed interceptions, Renmore could easily have scored. On the other hand, Devons continued to pile players forward when sitting tight seemed the better option. Joe Ugbo went close after superbly turning two players.

However, the home team’s eagerness to commit men forward was their undoing, as Renmore grabbed a lifeline with a fantastic finish into the roof of the net, setting up a nervy final six or seven minutes.

Despite Renmore’s pressure, the Devon rearguard remained firm, and had useful outlets with Rafferty and McCoy freshly running at the full-backs. With the last kick of the game, Ugbo finally got his goal, turning a defender before bundling home from close range, making it 4-2 at full-time.

For these young players, they have now won two games on the bounce, and must be praised for their hard work and commitment, in spite of some difficult results earlier in the season. The contribution of Tommy McClean’s and Peter Heffernan’s Under 12A team must be acknowledged, as Conor Egan, Morgan Hanley, and Rory Heffernan all played very well yesterday, and have done so whenever called upon this season. John Dunleavy was asked to play in an unfamiliar holding midfield role due to injuries, but performed very well. As always, this is one position on the pitch that involves thankless tasks, but he stuck to his task well. Danny Murphy was also excellent, and looked equally comfortable as a striker and as an attacking midfielder. A goal would have put the icing on the cake for his performance. All in all, it wasn’t an overly impressive performance from the Devon side, and there is a lot of room for improvement, but grinding out a win is a good ability to have. Credit to Renmore for making it such an entertaining contest, who, on another day, may feel like they could have had a few more goals.

Salthill Devon: Jason Murray, Damon Munnelly, Conor Egan, Sean Candon (c), Gavin Reidy, Rory Heffernan, John Dunleavy, Chris Loughran, Gary Kineen, Joe Ugbo, Daniel Murphy. Subs: Rory Heskin for Kineen (2), Morgan Hanley for Heskin (45), Liam Rafferty for Murphy (60), Daniel McCoy for Munnelly (65).