Irish League boss will 'never walk away from this club' but says 'you have to ask the questions' after third consecutive defeat
Dundela manager Stephen Gourley says he will “never walk away from this club” but admits questions need to be asked after his side fell to their third consecutive Championship defeat.
The Duns have started 2025 by losing four of five league matches while their sole victory was a magical rescue act when they came from 3-0 down to defeat Institute 4-3 earlier this month.
Kevin Deery’s side got their revenge on Saturday, leaving Wilgar Park with a 3-1 triumph as Connor Quigley opened the scoring after two minutes before Evan Tweed and Padraig Lynch regained their lead following Sam Dinu’s equaliser.
Having also lost to Ballinamallard United and H&W Welders in recent weeks, Dundela now sit in fifth spot – 18 points adrift of leaders Bangor and 10 behind their East Belfast rivals Welders in the race for Premiership promotion.
Gourley was dealt a significant blow during the January transfer window as the Championship’s top-scorer Michael McLellan departed alongside Aaron Prendergast, who was recalled from his loan spell by Glenavon.
Duns boss Gourley is a club legend having made 436 appearances as a player, winning an array of silverware and captaining the team before transitioning into management, successfully leading them back to Northern Ireland’s second-tier.
He’s enjoying his second stint in charge after returning to the hotseat in May 2023 and had Dundela sitting top of the Championship for large parts of last term.
While he remains determined to see the club succeed, Gourley says his side are in “unknown territory” after a third straight defeat.
"Unfortunately that has been the situation too many times this season and especially lately...that's worrying,” he told the club’s media channel. “We lacked heart, desire, commitment, effort, energy - all those things.
"We didn't look like troubling Institute at all and to give them a goal lead after a minute when we said we needed to keep things tight was criminal, absolutely criminal.
"It just seems so repetitive now the goals we are gifting other teams.
"We don't have that desire at the moment and why has that creeped into our squad? I don't know.
"It's not in my DNA at Dundela or Ginge's (Laurence Fyfe, assistant) or any of the staff and to be fair to the players it's not in theirs during the week so why it comes out on a Saturday is absolutely baffling.
"That's what happens when you play in the Championship...it's relentless and if you don't perform you won't get anything out of it.
"That's three on the bounce now and it's unknown territory for us, especially with two of them being at home. I'm totally gutted.
"We're going to have a chat here and we'll see where that takes us. We've 11 games to go and I'm not sure what the future holds for the players and stuff like that.
"I'll never walk away from this club but at the same time you have to ask the questions when things aren't going right on who is to blame...that's not mine or Ginge's stamp with those performances and the players are admitting to it in there as well.
"If they get the heads down and work hard for the rest of the season then we will see after that...we're not hard to beat anymore and giving teams a goal or two start. It's disheartening and it's not in the Dundela DNA."
Saturday’s Championship results: Dundela 1 – 3 Institute, Annagh United 2 – 2 Limavady United, Ards 1 – 1 Newington, Armagh City 0 – 3 Bangor, Ballinamallard United 2 – 0 Ballyclare Comrades, H&W Welders 4 – 1 Newry City.