BERNARD Dunne will meet former world champion Felix Mechado on his return to the ring in Castlebar’s Breaffy House Hotel complex in April, eight months after his sensational defeat to Spain’s Kiko Martinez cost him his European title. “I just can’t wait and it’s great to have a date to work towards now,” revealed Dunne, who celebrated the birth of his second child in December.

“I’ve had a good break and I got to spend a lot of time with the latest addition to the family Finian. I missed that when Caoimhe was born because I had to go into training camp not long after so it was nice to be able to spend so much time with Pamela and the kids, but I’m ready to go now again.”

The 28-year-old is determined to put the sole blemish on his pro career behind him and get back to winning ways against Venezuelan southpaw Machado.

“To be honest I don’t care who’s in the other corner,” said Dunne. “I just want to get back in there and get back on track starting with this fight on April 12th.

“I’d like to get Mr. Martinez in the ring again as soon as possible for obvious reasons. There are other factors to consider though with Kiko fighting under a different promotional banner, so I don’t know if the fight can be made but if it comes along I’ll be ready for it.

“Hopefully it will but myself, Brian Peters and Harry Hawkins have sat down and established our own plan if that doesn’t come off.”

Looking back on his defeat to Martinez Dunne insists that he has no excuses.

“I said immediately afterwards that I had no excuses and I’m not going to start making excuses now. It happened and that’s boxing. I was 100% mentally and physically ready for that fight but I just got caught by a shot I didn’t see coming.

“In sport there’s always a winner and a loser so when you come out of a fight on the wrong side you just have to deal with it and bounce back.”

In other boxing news, Cavan teenager John Joe Nevin has booked his place at the Beijing Olympics after winning the bantamweight final at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Pescara, Italy when he beat Moldovan Veaceslav Gojan 17-10 in Saturday’s final.

Nevin will join Paddy Barnes from Belfast at the Olympics with the remaining Ireland hopefuls traveling for the final qualifier in Athens next month.

Cork’s Comeback

CORK footballers finally made their 2008 bow at Kiltoom on Sunday and marked their return to action after the infamous strike with a narrow 1-14 to 0-15 win over hosts Roscommon.

“Winning was a bonus because the performance was the thing that we were most concerned with getting,” said new boss Conor Counihan afterwards. “It was a concern that we had no games played, but having said that, I knew that the lads were very up for it. Even in the short time I have been involved, I have seen a lot of spirit and pride.”

Counihan refused to take any personal credit for the win and added, “That’s down to the lads themselves. In the short time I have been involved, they have shown a lot of spirit, a lot of determination and a lot of pride.

“I am not going to take credit for that because that is coming from themselves. Winning today was a bonus. They worked hard and grafted and they got what they deserved. It was a good start but I would not be getting carried away with it.

“The lads showed plenty of spirit but at the end of the day it is just one game. It is just one game and we have Westmeath in two week’s time, and there is nothing between the teams in this division. We are just hopeful that we can come out the right side of it again the next day.”

New Cork captain Graham Canty added, “We were a bit rusty and we have a lot of work on but it was great to be back playing. That’s what we always wanted to do.”

Roscommon manager John Maughan is still angry that the GAA have awarded points from Cork’s cancelled games to both Meath and Dublin. Maughan said, “That decision was fundamentally flawed. That’s not having a pop at Dublin or Meath or Cork for that matter. The games should have been played. It is unprecedented.”

As for the Cork game Maughan added, “We had several opportunities we didn’t take and we gifted them a soft goal from a cheap turnover in the middle of the field. I thought Cork looked rusty and certainly looked stale. They didn’t have the benefit of a couple of games and that told. Yet they are gone away with two points.”

Dubs So-So

DUBLIN were far from impressive when carving out another NFL Division Two win (1-9 to 0-7) in Cavan on Saturday night, but manager Paul Caffrey was happy with the end result if not the performance.

“We have Monaghan coming down the road in a fortnight’s time and we expect a big battle but I like the maturity I’m seeing from our guys,” said Caffrey. “The conditions were horrific. For a long time, it looked like eight or nine points would be enough to win it for either team. Winter football is winter football. We failed those type of challenges previously so we’re happy enough to get out of here with a victory.”

Dubs star man Mark Vaughan was also pleased to pick up the win. “It was tough enough and the weather conditions didn’t help with a soft ground that meant the forwards were always going to struggle,” Vaughan told Setanta Ireland.

Cavan manager Donal Keoghan said, “We scored seven points which is not good enough to win any game, but I thought we played some great passages of football. In the first 20 minutes, I think we kicked five points and after 70 minutes we had seven points on the scoreboard. It’s not good enough, I think we’ll improve. If we improve on that performance, we’ll probably stay up in Division 2.”

NFL Results

KILDARE scored their first win under new boss Kieran McGeeney thanks to an injury time point from Mickey Conway against Donegal on Sunday, but the winning manager had no doubts about the result.

“I’m pleased with the overall level of performance, especially the way the lads battled on under real pressure in the second half. We missed a fair number of chances but then so did Donegal, but overall I thought we just about deserved to shade it,” said McGeeney.

“I’d be biased and say we should have edged it –- as we did. Johnny Doyle had a great run in the first half and might have got a goal from it. I was pleased that we dug deep when we had to against a quality side like Donegal. They kept running at us and, in fairness, we got a few of the decisions in the second half. The boys kept on fighting away so I’m a happy man.”

In other results, Monaghan displayed a strong mental attitude again to defeat Armagh by just a point –- 1-11 to 1-10 — and maintain their unbeaten start to the new NFL much to the delight of manager Seamus McEnaney.

Midfielders Niall Coleman and Eddie Hoare earned high praise from new Galway boss Liam Sammon after their NFL win over Tyrone (1-14 to 2-9) stretched his unbeaten run as boss to seven games.

Laois football boss Liam Kearns has rejected claims that Joe Higgins and Tom Kelly are to return to the county squad in the wake of Saturday night’s NFL draw with Mayo. Speaking after the game Kearns said, “There is no word , they are not with us and that is the reality.”

Derry boss Paddy Crozier was furious with referee Michael Collins after his side’s NFL 1-10 to 0-9 defeat to Kerry in Killarney.

“Some of those decisions there today were bordering on the ridiculous,” claimed Crozier who was also agitated by the red card picked up by corner back Francis McEldowney.

Westmeath finally ended a 35-year wait for a win over their neighbors Meath with a deserved victory in Mullingar on Sunday but man of the match Damien Healy made little of the statistic afterwards.

“A lot of people were going on about this 35-year malarkey but this is a young team with no baggage on their shoulders,” said Healy. “They had their own names to make today and they did. It’s great, but it’s only a league match in March and this division is going to be a real scrap.”

GAA Shorts

LEGENDARY hurling goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald finally returned to the Clare team on Sunday but was on the losing side as Kilkenny triumphed by 2-12 to 3-11 in a game to mark the official switching on of the new floodlights at his club Sixmilebridge . . .

HENRY Shefflin has stepped up his recovery from the cruciate ligament injury picked up in the All-Ireland hurling final win over Limerick last September and has returned to light training with the county squad . . .

BRIAN Begley remains a serious injury doubt for Limerick ahead of their Munster hurling championship campaign.

Lombard Out

CORK’S Cathal Lombard has declined the opportunity to race in the World Cross Country championships in Edinburgh at the end of the month despite his victory in the national championships in Belfast on Saturday.

Lombard was banned for two years for doping offenses and was shunned by several athletes after Saturday’s win, including the third place Vinny Mulvey. “I’ve respect for every other athlete, but not him,” claimed Mulvey.

“My view is when you get done for drugs you should get done for life. You shouldn’t be able to make a comeback.”

The Irish men’s team will be led by Alistair Cragg who took second place last weekend. The women’s team will be headed by Fionnuala Britton who won the women’s race in Belfast to retain her title.