It was a frustrating day for the Swifts in the season’s first league game at Stangmore Park as they were defeated 4-1 by Mid-Ulster rivals Portadown.
The home side came into the match with a changed side to the one defeated in Windsor Park six days ago, bringing in Alex Henderson, Steven Scott, Tomás Galvin and Kealan Dillon for Declan Dunne, Mal Smith, Thomas Maguire and James Knowles.
Just two minutes in, Lewis MacKinnon fouled Galvin just outside the area, Dillon whipped in the free, and it went just past the post.
However, the away side were the team who created the best chances after this.
James Teelan whipped in two crosses in the space of a minute, one finding striker Abu Obhakhan’s head, who headed wide of the upright, and another just missing everyone in the area and going narrowly wide.
With six minutes on the clock, Portadown captain Gary Thompson got a ball to the face on the halfway line, going down, but the away side played on, and Eamon Fyfe found himself one on one with goalkeeper Henderson, and slotted it past him to make it 1-0.
Portadown maintained their momentum, earning a corner kick twelve minutes later. It found Josh Ukek and his header looped into the home team’s net, making it 2-0.
This sparked a reaction from the Swifts, with some great play finding Galvin in the box, who dribbled past one defender, and was too much for the next one to handle, being taken down, and the referee had no other choice than to point to the spot.
Sean McAllister stepped up from twelve yards and coolly slot the ball to Aaron McCarey’s left and into the net.
It looked like the away side would restore their two goal lead on twenty nine minutes when another corner was whipped in, this time however being cleared by Danny Wallace in the Swifts’ goal.
Despite there being three goals in the opening forty five minutes, the main talking point of the half came on thirty eight when the ball came to the middle of the pitch towards the Swifts captain, Gaël Bigirimana, who made an attempt at an overhead kick in the centre circle, but was unaware of the oncoming Eamon Fyfe, and connected with his head. Referee Steven Gregg immediately showed his red card to the man in blue and the Swifts were down to ten men.
“I thought it was a red card. Listen, he doesn’t know, I think it was Eamon Fyfe, he doesn’t know Eamon Fyfe is in the area that he is, he’s watching the ball go over his head, and he has a high foot, and it probably looks as if it was reckless. It’s very high, but it wasn’t intentional, but unfortunately, letter of the law, he deserved the red,” said Rodney McAree afterwards.
Even though it was the decisive moment in the first period, it wasn’t the last action. The Swifts whipped a ball into towards the Portadown defence, which found Tomás Galvin, and despite the last touch being off a red shirt, the linesman deemed him to be offside. The striker was unaware of this, and slotted it past the Portadown goalkeeper.
Rodney made three changes at the half time interval, bringing on James Knowles, Leo Alves, and Mal Smith.
The Swifts gained the first chance of the half when Steven Scott battled past a number of Portadown players and played the ball over to Sean McAllister whose shot went over the crossbar.
There looked to be a second penalty for the Swifts after this when Sean McAllister was tripped inside the box, however, to the disbelief of everyone in the ground, the challenge was waved away.
The second turning point of the game came twenty two minutes from time, when Leo Alves found himself sent to the dressing room. His first yellow card seemed harsh, with his first challenge of the afternoon landing him in the referee’s book. His second looked a little more reckless, and the referee showed him his second yellow card of the game, putting the home side down to nine men.
Regarding the second red card of the game, Rodney said, “The first tackle was found as a reckless challenge, I didn’t overly see it as a reckless challenge. I saw Leo, a lad who is a very good footballer take a poor touch, and he has dove in, he’s took a man down half way inside their own half, I didn’t see that as a yellow, and then it puts him under pressure, but the second yellow is a definite yellow.”
Despite the best efforts of the nine men in the blue shirts, the away side scored a third and fourth in the back end of the match.
Portadown’s third goal came from a deflected Jordan Gibson shot, which lifted over Alex Henderson in the home net, and the fourth came in injury time when a Ryan Mayse free kick found Jordan Gibson’s connected with the ball, and then landed in the back of the net, sealing his brace and a disappointing day for the Swifts.
Post-match, Rodney said, “I think whenever you look at us last season, we were competitive, and we fought for every ball, we competed for every second ball, we showed a competitive edge to us last season that we didn’t want to lose out in duels. First half, we didn’t win enough duels, first half we didn’t pick enough second balls up, we didn’t show any hunger, we didn’t show any desire. To be honest, the first half performance is totally unacceptable, we were lucky to go in at 2-1 down, we were lucky it wasn’t more.
“Losing Bigi at the stroke of half time was a disappointment, but I think the second half performance, and people may laugh at this, but the second half performance was probably the proudest I’ve felt as a manager of this football club, in terms of the effort, the desire, and the guts and determination that we showed in the second half, I thought that they were exceptional with ten men.
“I think we went thirty two minutes until we lost Leo to a second yellow card, I thought we were excellent. We competed, we were the better team for that thirty two minutes, we looked as if we were going to get an equaliser or get something out of the game, but unfortunately then we lose Leo to two yellow cards, and you’re fighting an uphill battle at that stage.”
Tense, thrilling and ultimately triumphant – the Swifts showed tremendous character in a titanic battle against Portadown to take a crucial step towards securing their Premiership place next season.
Dungannon had to take the lead three times to wrestle three crucial points from the visitors in a result which condemned their mid Ulster rivals to automatic relegation.
Dean Shields’ men now face the prospect of a two-game play-off against Championship runners-up Warrenpoint Town to extend their 20-year stay in the NIFL’s top tier.
It was the biggest game at Stangmore for several years and there was an atmosphere and attendance to match, with both sides roared on throughout by a huge support.
Having at one point been 15 points adrift at the foot of the table, Portadown had narrowed the gap to Dungannon to just two and hoped they could continue their Houdini act against a home side who’d collected just one point from their last three games.
However, it was the Swifts who looked the more confident team for much of the opening half, dominating possession and looking dangerous from set pieces.
Portadown got a warning after 19 minutes when a corner from James Knowles was headed onto the foot of the post by Cahal McGinty.
A minute later another perfect Knowles delivery saw Ethan McGee rise like a salmon and head into the corner to put Dungannon into a deserved lead.
The vocal home support in the corner of the ground were briefly celebrating again two minutes later when Jordan Jenkins hit the net, only for the offside flag to go up.
Portadown grew more into the game in the latter stages of the half, with Steven Scott perfectly positioned to head a Cathair Friel header off the line, but the score remained 1-0 at the half-time whistle.
The home team were forced into two substitutions at the break, as Corey Smith and Mayowa Animasahun replaced the injured Marc Walsh and Caolan Marron.
And the second-half immediately saw a reversal in momentum, with Portadown starting to impose themselves much more on the game.
When the equaliser came it was from a familiar source – former Swifts man Paul McElroy had scored a hatrick in the last meeting at Shamrock Park and he levelled the tie on 58 minutes when he tapped in from close range after a deep cross was headed into his path by Lee Chapman.
Portadown’s tails were up and they set out in search of a second goal. However, Dungannon instead re-took the lead five minutes later when Jenkins burst past two Portadown defenders to collect a long clearance by Dean Curry and coolly slot the ball into the corner of the net.
If it looked like Portadown’s bubble had been burst, there was more drama to come just minutes later as McElroy equalised again.
A tame cross from the left found McElroy eight yards out and his snap shot struck the crossbar and rebounded off the back of keeper Declan Dunne to cross the line.
The game – and top-flight survival – was in the balance again but it was Dungannon who somehow summoned the spirit to find a winner.
Corey Smith had been tying Portadown defenders in knots each time he got on the ball on the left and when substitute Bruna fed him on the touchline with 10 minutes to go, he twisted and turned before sending a low ball into the box which was met by an unmarked Michael O’Connor to send the home fans delirious again.
Dungannon then withstood some inevitable late pressure, with Dunne batting the ball away from a close range connection from a corner in injury time to see out a famous victory.
Assuming the Swifts don’t beat Newry by 13 goals next weekend, they now enter a play-off against Warrenpoint on May 2 and 5 to keep their place in the Premiership.
Assistant manager Tony Gorman said there was a mixture of relief and joy after the game as the focus now shifts to the next big challenge.
“The threat of relegation was hanging over us, and in such a pressure game and a big crowd and against a very difficult opponent, we’re delighted the boys have come out on top,” he said.
“I thought we started the game really well, the first half-hour. A wee bit disappointed we didn’t have a two-goal lead at half-time.
“The second half-then was one of those where Portadown just went for it because they were playing for their survival. We’re just delighted we’ve come out on top of a five-goal thriller.”
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.
