Northern Ireland U18 Youth International, Corey Smith, has been rewarded with an improved deal at Stangmore Park. Smith scored his first senior league goal on Friday night against Glenavon FC, after coming off the bench with 15 minutes to go.
Eighteen year old Smith has played regularly for Swift’s U20s when not on International duty and has a total of 9 first team appearances off the bench this season. He’s got one goal to his tally with hopefully lots more to come.
Smith himself is delighted to have signed an improved deal at Stangmore Park;
“It’s something that’s been on my radar for a while now. I enjoy being at the club and I’m up around the first team a lot more often now which is really good. My aim is to push on and be up with the first team and involved with the match day squad, week in and week out. This is something I’m really looking forward to doing.”
Corey Smith
Congratulations to Corey on this improved deal. We are really looking forward to seeing lots more of him in action in a Dungannon Swifts shirt.
Swifts manager Dean Shiels rued his side’s inconsistency after falling to a disappointing defeat against Portadown under Friday night lights at Shamrock Park.
Having impressed in a 2-0 win away to Newry the previous week, Dungannon had hoped to carry that momentum forward and widen the gap to their Mid Ulster rivals at the bottom of the league table.
Instead, Portadown’s second league win on the bounce and only third of the year leaves them eight points behind with a game in hand.
Shiels expressed his frustration at the below-par performance.
“I think as a whole we had a right go first part of the second half but in general it was really poor,” he said.
The first half in particular was a horror show for Shiels and the vocal away support, with the manager admitting the team were “very lucky” to go in just a goal down.
That goal came after only four minutes when Paul McElroy collected a low cross from the right and was able to swivel and shoot past Declan Dunne.
Just two minutes later there was a major let-off when the former Swifts man hit the post after a cross from the left found him unmarked just eight yards out.
Portadown later found the other post when Stephen Teggart flashed a ball from the byline across the goal and off the far upright.
There were several other close shaves during the half, including a good save by Dunne from a Teggart shot before half-time.
Dungannon’s closest effort was a shot from Michael O’Connor from near the half-way line which hit the side netting as Ports keeper Mastny scrambled back after clearing the ball.
The Swifts needed a big response in the second half and they were a transformed team right from the whistle, tackling like tigers and looking dangerous each time they went forward.
First O’Connor saw a goal-bound shot saved by Mastny at full stretch. Then Rhyss Campbell came agonisingly close, stretching to reach a superb Marc Walsh cross but hooking the ball just inches past the post.
After further pressure, Dungannon got what they deserved on 57 minutes when Campbell let a throw-in run past his body and crossed from the byline for Ethan McGee to fire in the equaliser.
As the players celebrated with the ecstatic away support, it seemed there was only one team now in the contest.
However, the momentum would shift again just minutes later when out of nothing, McElroy was found on the left-hand side of the box and his shot squeezed past Dunne at the near post.
The drama continued when referee Lee Tavinder awarded a penalty for a challenge by Dunne on Lee Upton, only for the offside flag to reverse the decision.
A minute later, it was the Swifts’ turn to hit the woodwork when Jordan Jenkins smashed the ball against the crossbar with just the keeper to beat.
However, the away team’s challenge fell away as the half continued and it was Portadown who began to look the more likely to score. Victory was secured in the final minutes when McElroy completed his hatrick from the penalty spot after being brought down by Caolan Coyle
Afterwards, Shiels said the team were too easy to play against in the first half.
“When we were attacking, every time we lost posession, the transition, they stuck it in behind us and they looked very threatening. We weren’t preparing to lose the ball,” he said.
“I knew we would get a reaction at half time. I felt we would come out and maybe create chances and we did that. At 1-1 we looked quite threatening and then we gave them a wee bit of momentum. We had full momentum and then that shifted by letting in a really poor goal defensively.”
He said inconsistency has been an issue across most of the season.
“At Newry we get a clean sheet, we never looked like conceding. We were so well organised defensively. And it’s the same team, I put trust in the same team that were so good at Newry and then so poor tonight. So it’s just inconsistency in the individals and then collectively,” he said.
Next up for Dungannon is an Irish Cup quarter-final against Cliftonville at Solitude, before returning to league action against Carrick back at Stangmore on 11th March.
Congratulations to Padraig Lynch who has been rewarded, for all his hard work, with his first professional contract at Dungannon Swifts Football Club. This is fantastic news for the eighteen year old forward who is a very dedicated player.
“Since arriving through the doors of DUY indoor community programme as a 7 year old it didn’t take long for us to realise that Padraig was a talented young lad. He always had a great football brain and an eye for scoring all types of goals from those early days and this has continued right up until now as he has scored 30 goals already this season. We are delighted to see Padraig get his first professional contract with the club and I have no doubt that he will have a very good future ahead of him. “
Dixie Robinson
Congratulations Padraig, we wish you every success with your new contract.
Dungannon Swifts are proud to announce the loan signing of Jordan Jenkins from Glentoran FC until the end of the season.
Although Jordan is only 22 years of age, he brings with him the experience of over 100 appearances across spells at Carrick Rangers, Portadown, Glentoran and, a successful period, at Glenavon where he played in several Europa League qualifiers. Jordan also turned out for the Northern Ireland U19’s and has an international goal at that level.
Swifts fans can expect hard work, determination and a willingness to press opposition back lines, which makes Jenkins an ideal candidate to lead the line in the high pressing Dean Shiels’ system. Jenkins is also prone to drop deeper when his side needs support in the defensive phases of the game, operating in the space between the opposition defence and midfield and help trigger the press for the side. In attacking transitions, Jenkins likes to play on the shoulder of the last defender, using his pace and control to make goal scoring opportunities for himself or team mates.
Jordan has the opportunity to take the field against Knockbreda FC this coming Saturday in the Irish Cup, only a stones throw away from where he grew up. Your first opportunity to support him at Stangmore Park this season will be in the Mid Ulster Cup final on Tuesday the 7th of February.
Dungannon’s fine run of home form was brought to an abrupt end by a ruthless Coleraine side on Saturday, but the 3-0 scoreline did not tell the full story.
The Swifts matched the visitors for much of the game but conceded late in both halves to miss the chance to record a sixth straight win at Stangmore and climb out of the league’s bottom two.
Instead it was to be a ninth consecutive victory for the Bannsiders over Dungannon as they extended their unbeaten run in league and cup to 14.
The home side had lined out with four changes from the team hit by six at Glentoran last Tuesday, with Michael Ruddy, Cahal McGinty, Gerarda Bruna and Joe McCready coming in for Steven Scott, Padraig Lynch, Ryan Mayse and Oran O’Kane.
Coleraine were missing midfielder Jamie Glackin through suspension and Conor McKendry with injury, with Lee Lynch and recent signing Andrew Scott promoted to the starting 11.
From the kick-off there was no sign of the frailties on display at the Oval. Dungannon played with intensity and tested the Bannsiders’ backline with probing balls for the pacy Rhyss Campbell and Marc Walsh, although there were no clear-cut chances created by either side.
Caolan Marron and Mayowa Animasahun marshalled the defence and maintained a disciplined high line which repeatedly caught the Coleraine attack offside.
The Swifts did come within inches of taking the lead in the final minute of the half, when a ball sprayed out left by James Knowles was collected by Bruna and his low cross was deflected onto the bar by Coleraine skipper Stephen O’Donnell.
In stoppage time, however, it was the visitors who took the lead when Scott released top scorer Matthew Shevlin with a perfectly weighted pass and his shot was partially blocked by Declan Dunne, only to trickle agonisingly over the line as the keeper and McGinty both desperately tried to intervene.
The second half was a similar story, with Dean Shiels’ men enjoying possession but limited penetration and feeling themselves hard done-by when the second goal eventually came.
Cahal McGinty appeared to have been pushed over in the 81st minute before conceding a corner but despite appeals, play was allowed to continue.
Lynch’s resulting delivery was not cleared and fell to Coleraine subsitute Eamon Fyfe inside the six-yard box and he managed stab it in.
Dungannon played with more urgency, with Mayse coming close from distance, but the visitors extended their lead in the 89th minute when a Josh Carson cutback allowed the prolific Shevlin to slot home his 19th league goal of the season and 50th for the club.
Later he would be denied a hattrick when a header bounced onto the crossbar, while the Swifts had attempts from substitutes Padraig Lynch and Joe Moore.
Afterwards, Dungannon boss Dean Shiels rued the late first-half goal, which originated from a throw-in at the other end of the field.
“We were probably the better side in the first half but we concede one minute into injury time and they don’t, and that’s the momentum swing.”
He said the 3-0 scoreline flattered Coleraine, as his side took risks in the last 10 minutes to secure a point, and paid tribute to the team’s efforts.
“The effort of the players was everything, they gave everything they had. Second half we came out and responded well, we looked to play on the front foot again. I think we dominated the ball throughout the game, we took the ball off Coleraine, but in the last third they had more quality than us.”
Coleraine coach Oran Kearney said he had expected a reaction from Dungannon after the heavy defeat to Glentoran and praised his players for standing firm in the first half.
“They were patient to a man and at times, like a game of chess, we had to hold a certain area of the pitch and a certain territory, and wait and wait and wait and be patient and not get caught and not give them any injections or any big great hope more than anything else, and to a man I thought we were brilliant.”
Next up for Dungannon is a visit to Knockbreda in the fourth round of the Irish Cup, followed by an away trip to Crusaders in the league.
The Swifts then return to Stangmore three days later for a Valentine’s night date with second-place Larne.
