Washington Dermot
September 11, 1992
NAME: Dermot Washington
DATE OF BIRTH: 3/4/74
HEIGHT: 5' 7"
WEIGHT: 10st 7lbs
CLUB: Kilglass Gaels
COUNTY: Roscommon
HONOURS: Connacht Minor Championship medal 1992; North Leinster League medal 1991 (St. Mels); Under 14 Championship medal 1986
INTER-COUNTY DEBUT: Under 16 versus Leitrim 1990
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Student - St. Mel's College, Longford
TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Niall McMahon (Mayo)
FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Hyde Park, Roscommon and of course, Croke Park
FAVOURITE POSITION: Corner forward
SPORTING AMBITION: To make the Roscommon senior team in the near future
DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER SPORTS? Hurling, rugby, soccer
BOYHOOD HEROES: Tony McManus
FAVOURITE PLAYER: Brian Stafford
BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: Fr. Peter Burke at St. Mel's
WAYS OF IMPROVING THE GAME: Defining the tackle more clearly and also improving refereeing standards
DISLIKES ABOUT THE GAA: The inconsistency of referees
BEST GAME SEEN: All the Dublin-Meath games in '91
PLAYERS WITH A PROMISING FUTURE: Gene Bohan - Leitrim, Conor Coneally - Roscommon
HOPES FOR 1992: To win an Under 21 championship with my club
CLUB OFFICIALS TELL US THAT WASHINGTON IS AN OLD ROOSKEY NAME AND THAT THERE WAS 20 FAMILIES REGISTERED WITH THE NAME IN THE PARISH BEFORE THE FAMINE: There were a lot of Washington families in the area before the famine, but at present only two remain
IN ROOSKEY THE FAMILY OF ALBERT REYNOLDS WOULD BE NEAR NEIGHBOURS: That's true. Albert's brother Joe, his wife Maureen and family live in the old family home in the village
YOU HAD A GREAT GAME VERSUS ARMAGH IN THE ALL-IRELAND SEMI FINAL. YOU OBVIOUSLY HAD TO BE PLEASED WITH YOUR PERFORMANCE: I was delighted with the way I played. I was just lucky on the day the way the ball ran. Everything came together beautifully for me on the day, even though that means nothing now as we lost
THERE WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT THIS YEAR'S ROSCOMMON MINOR TEAM. THE TEAM SPIRIT WAS HIGH: This was probably due to the tremendous amount of work and energy that Noel O'Brien put into the Roscommon minor team over the past year. He had us convinced that we were the best minor team in the country and we still believed it up until the last 15 minutes in Croke Park
YOU WERE ST. MEL'S TOP SCORER IN RECENT COLLEGE CAMPAIGNS. IT IS A GREAT SCHOOL FOR DEVELOPING YOUNG TALENTED FOOTBALLERS: A great footballing tradition exists in the college and this seems to attract a lot of good footballers to the school. Then having had trainers like Fr. Peter Burke and Declan Rowley, the talent will always be developed
YOU HAVE BEEN LIKENED TO DOWN STAR JAMES MCCARTAN. SMALL, SAME TALENT AND THAT EYE FOR A SCORE: I'm honoured to be linked to James McCartan, but if I ever have half the success he has, I'll be very happy
TELL US ABOUT KILGLASS GAELS: It is a small club. 1985 was a great year for the club, winning both the junior championship and league. Unfortunately in recent years, it's success rate at intermediate level has been very poor
DO YOU PLAY ADULT FOOTBALL WITH YOUR CLUB? I started to play junior football with Kilglass three years ago. Ever since I've played corner forward on the intermediate team
YOUR CLUB IS SITUATED RIGHT ALONG THE LONGFORD AND LEITRIM BORDERS. TENSION A AND EXCITEMENT IN ROOSKEY MUST HAVE BEEN HIGH BEFORE AND AFTER THOSE RECENT MINOR AND SENIOR CONNACHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES WITH LEITRIM: The fact that a lot of Leitrim people work in Rooskey increases the tension enormously
YOU CAME IN FOR SOME TIGHT MARKING BY THE LEITRIM BACKS THAT DAY IN DR. HYDE PARK: This was probably due to the fact that I was playing well with Mel's all year and I had played with four or five of the Leitrim team in St. Mel's
MAYO WERE HOT FAVOURITES FOR THE CONNACHT MINOR TITLE. DID YOU EXPECT TO WIN AND ESPECIALLY WITHOUT CAPTAIN ROSSA O'Callaghan? Rossa injured himself three weeks before the Connacht Final so we had a lot of time to prepare without him. It was also an extra incentive for us to win, which was very evident in the last five minutes in Castlebar
DESPITE THAT SENIOR SET BACK VERSUS MAYO, ROSCOMMON STILL HAVE A TALENTED SQUAD WITH THE ABILITY TO WIN AN ALL-IRELAND. PLENTY OF YOUNG NAMES INVOLVED, GAVIN, DOUGAN, GREHAN ETC. WILL THE NAME DERMOT WASHINGTON BE INCLUDED IN NEXT YEAR'S CAMPAIGN? I don't think so. Because you play well for the minors doesn't automatically mean you are senior standard. Hopefully, next year I will get a chance to play Under 21 and maybe then the year after I may be strong enough for the senior panel
Taken from Hogan Stand magazine
11th September 1992
Vol 2 No 72
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