It was a first win since the heroics in Vaduz just over a month ago for the Swifts as they defeated St. Mary’s YC to begin their Mid-Ulster Cup defence.
Coming into the match, manager Rodney McAree made ten changes to the side which were defeated 2-1 by Bangor, only Caolan Marron keeping his name on the team sheet. Also, captain, Gaël Bigirimana was introduced back into the squad after his suspension, which saw him miss three fixtures: Coleraine, Carrick Rangers, and Bangor.
The game started extremely brightly for the home side, creating chances left, right, and centre. New signing, Junior came close on multiple occasions, Leo Alves hitting the crossbar after being set up by the same man, and Eoghán Liggett and Bobby-Jack McAleese missing from close range.
However, the deadlock was broken ten minutes in when after constant early threat, Thomas Maguire crossed the ball to Junior, who headed the ball into the net to open his Swifts account to make it 1-0.
Out of nowhere, just five minutes later it was the away side who were through on goal, only to be stopped by Alex Henderson in the Swifts’ net. However, St. Mary’s found themselves in the same situation when they cleared from a corner from the side to find striker Marcio Soares, who took the ball past both Caolan Marron and Peter Maguire to become one on one with the goalkeeper.He made no mistake and equalised for the away side.
The Swifts continued to attack with Thomas Maguire and Leo Alves causing havoc on the wing, and seventeen year old Eoghán Liggett bossing in the middle of the park, but just couldn’t get the decisive goal, until three minutes before the half time interval, James Knowles restored the lead for the Swifts and made it 2-1.
The moment of the game came five minutes into the second period of play when Leo Alves found the ball at his feet just outside the area. He then unleashed his shot which nestled into the top left corner of the goal, making it 3-1 to the Swifts, and also making it the perfect start for the Swifts.
A short while later, things would only get better for the home side. Junior was taken down just inside the area, and without hesitation, the referee pointed to the spot. It would be the same man who stepped up to take the penalty, and after a stuttered run up, he coolly slotted the penalty into the left side of the goal, making it 4-1.
In the next twenty minutes of play, the home side would continue to create chances and had the ball in the net on another two occasions. The first goal was a scramble in the box which ended falling to new signing Junior, and just as he thought he had achieved a debut hat-trick, the offside flag was raised. The second goal was ruled out in the same way, however this time eyebrows were raised around the ground. After a good ball over the top, Andrew Mitchell found himself one on one with the St. Mary’s goalkeeper. The flag had been raised as soon as he reached the box, but unaware of this, Mitchell took the ball around Conor Larkin expertly, and passed the ball into the empty net, only to realise afterwards that the flag had been raised.
The Swifts continued to create chances throughout the rest of the second half, including a Sean McAllister shot just inside the area which was blocked on the line, an Eoghan Liggett header at the back post which went just wide, and countless crosses which the St. Mary’s defence. who were resolute all night, cleared away.
There would turn out to be no further chances, and the game ended 4-1 to the Swifts, a perfect start to their Mid-Ulster Cup defence.
Post-match, Rodney McAree explained his thoughts on the game, saying, “It’s nice, it’s been a very, very tough start to the season, it’s been hard, there’s been a lot of thinking, a lot of watching, analysing of the game, and everyone has gone with it, but it’s nice to win a game of football. I thought St. Mary’s were a credit to their club. They came, they set themselves up, they were hard to break down, but I thought we did reasonably well over the duration of the game.
“I thought we played some good stuff, we moved it quickly, we created plenty of opportunities, and we could have scored more on another day, its just unfortunate that we didn’t, but it’s still nice to have scored the four and got the win,” he said.
Coming into the biggest match of the league season so far on Saturday against Glenavon after a win against St. Mary’s, Rodney said, “It maybe gives us a wee bit of a lift, there’s certainly a lot more smiling faces tonight after this match, and I think we have to embrace that, we have to understand what that feels like, we scored an absolute wonder goal through Leo Alves as well, and we keep saying to Leo, Leo needs to shoot more and whenever he can do something like that, you wonder why he doesn’t shoot more. He’s a credit to himself in terms of how he keeps himself fit, how he conducts himself, and a quality player. He gives us a wee bit of a lift knowing that we can score a goal like that also.”
Dungannon Swifts: Henderson (GK), P. Maguire, Marron, Knowles (Dillon 72’), Alves (McAllister 63’), T. Maguire, Smith (Galvin 72’), McAleese, Bigirimana (C), Liggett, Junior (Mitchell 63’).
Unused Substitutes: Glass (GK), S. Scott, McGinty.
St. Mary’s YC: Larkin (GK), Monteiro, Djalo, Hamill, Donnelly, Verenka (Da Silva 55’), Tavares (Withers 66’), McAlinden (Cusack 66’), Soares (Da Silva Camara 81’), McCann (C), Borges Cassama (Robnson 66’).
Unused Substitutes: Conaty, McAleenan.
There is a huge game in Mourneview Park against Glenavon on Saturday 6th September, with a 3pm kick off. Up the Swifts!