by DSFC Media | September 6, 2026 | Match Report
Dungannon Swifts continued their impressive run of form by defeating newly promoted Limavady United away from home to earn both their fourth consecutive win and fourth clean sheet.
Despite many changes to the starting XI from the win over Dollingstown mid-week, only Danny Wallace left the team from the league win last weekend over Cliftonville. Cahal McGinty replaced him.
Both teams cancelled each other out in the early stages, with half chances and a couple of corners being the extent of the action.
The first real chance of the game came seventeen minutes in. Barney McKeown played a through ball to Paul Doyle, who passed to Leo Alves. Alves had time to release his shot, but Gallagher in the Limavady United goal got down to save well.
The hosts had a huge opportunity to open the scoring just minutes after. The ball was fed through by John Butcher to debutant Jamie McGonigle, but Declan Dunne made a fantastic, close range save to keep the score 0-0. A penalty shout followed, but was waved away by referee Ian McNabb.
Then, the opening goal came. Paul Doyle earned a free kick from approximately twenty five yards out, which Kealan Dillon and Leo Alves lined up for. It would be Alves to hit, and the ball was fired low past the goalkeeper and into the net to put the Swifts ahead. He then delighted the crowd with his signature acrobatic celebration.
Just before the conclusion of the half, the Swifts came close to doubling their advantage. After a one-two between Cahal McGinty and Junior, the defender let fly a great effort from the left hand side, which the ‘keeper just tipped over the bar.
The Swifts came close very early in the second half as Kealan Dillon created the first chance, with his shot going over the bar.
However, Limavady started the second half strongly, putting pressure on the Swifts defence as they searched for an equaliser.
They came particularly close in the 51st minute from a free kick. Lafferty on the right put in a nice ball which met Farren at the back post, and his header hit the crossbar.
The home side came close again just before the hour mark. Philip Lowry’s shot was saved well by Dunne in the Dungannon Swifts net, but the ball fell to Gaston. Luckily for the Swifts, his shot at goal went high over the crossbar.
Soon after, McGonigle had another effort, but was saved easily by Dunne.
After a half chance just minues before, the Swifts got their second goal. Sean McAllister’s shot after a run down the right was saved by the goalkeeper, but Junior headed the rebound goalwords. It was saved by Gallagher, but ricocheted off Ruairi Boorman and into the net to double the lead.
From this, the Swifts really began to control the game, creating more chances and having most of the possession.
They nearly got a third with twelve minutes to go. Jamie Glackin laid the ball back to Kealan Dillon, and his cross went past everyone in the box and struck the post.
Corey Smith looked dangerous after coming on as a sub, having multiple chances to score. In a space of six minutes, he had a shot from a Kealan Dillon pass which went over the bar, and also an effort which dragged past the post after charge down the wing.
Soon after, the referee sounded his full time whistle to signal a 2-0 Swifts win, and bring another three points back to Dungannon. This result sent them top of the table for a short period to the delight of the travelling crowd who were vocal on their way out of the Showgrounds.
Post-match, Dixie Robinson said: “It’s been a great few weeks for us now. We’ve really upped our levels and defensively in particular, I think we’ve been very very solid. So, coming here today, I knew it was a very difficult game and once we got the first goal, I thought it settled us down a bit, a wee bit like, but we always needed a second just to kill the game off. I thought we defended well, they didn’t really create a big pile and I thought we’re on our comfortable enough winners.
“It’s great you know, especially when you’re keeping clean sheets. I think someone said it’s the first time that the Swifts have kept four consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League, so you know that’s a wonderful stat and it’s a credit to the boys.”
The next game for the Swifts is against Linfield with a kick off at the later time of 18:00 at Stangmore Park, and will be shown on NIFL TV.
Limavady United: Gallagher (GK), Farren, T. Boorman, P. Lowry, S. Lowry (C) (R. Boorman 66’), McGonigle, Butcher (Boyd 73’), Lafferty, Gaston (Duffy 80’), Wilson (Carlin 80’), Mullan.
Unused Substitutes: Doherty (GK), Jarvis, O’Donnell.
Dungannon Swifts: Dunne (GK), McGinty, J. Scott, McKeown, Dillon, Alves (Smith 72’), Gordon, Doyle (Glackin 72’), Bigirimana (C) (Kelly 46’), Junior (Mitchell 80’), McAllister.
Unused Substitutes: Henderson (GK), Lowe, Johnston.
by DSFC Media | September 2, 2026 | Match Report
A first-half goal from Shea Gordon was enough for the Swifts to defeat Dollingstown and progress to the next round of the Mid-Ulster Cup.
Rodney McAree named a much-changed starting XI and bench from Saturday’s two-goal league victory over Cliftonville.
John Scott, Tiernan Kelly, Kealan Dillon and Shea Gordon were the only players to remain in the starting team, with youth players making up a chunk of the squad.
Dixie Robinson said of the presence of many youth talents: “We have a great group. The experienced players are so good when the young boys come in to train. They encourage them, they give them advice, they help them along, and I have to say, you know, that’s nice when if you’re a young lad like that, you want to come into that environment where you feel comfortable. And I thought they all showed that tonight in abundance and we’re really really pleased with them.”
“To bring six or seven young lads on here, 16, 17 years of age is tremendous.”
The Swifts started the game well, but the visitors matched them defensively, limiting the Stangmore side to half-chances and keeping the game scoreless.
The first major chance came mid-way through the first half. Kealan Dillon stepped up for a free kick just outside box on the left side, and his shot was saved in the top corner by the goalkeeper.
The goal came in the 31st minute. Shea Gordon found himself with some space outside the box, and unleashed his shot which smashed into the top corner to open the scoring.
There was a chance for the home side to double the lead just before half time when a ball over the top reached Dillon, but his shot dragged just past the post.
The second half continued with Dungannon Swifts enjoying much of the possession, as well as creating lots of half chances.
Rocco Devlin had a number of crosses on the right wing to both Andrew Mitchell and his replacement, Junior, but none ended up in the net.
Dollingstown had a rare chance after a scramble in the box, but former Swifts player Gary Liggett was deemed to be offside after his flick went narrowly wide.
After creating more chances and continuing to have most of the ball, the Swifts had a scare in the last minute when Dollingstown earned a free kick from just outside the box. However, the four-man wall stood strong to block.
A short time later, the referee blew his whistle to put the Swifts into the hat for the next round of the Mid-Ulster Cup.
Assistant manager Dixie Robinson, said: “In cup competitions it’s all about the result at the end of the day ultimately and it’s nice to be through to the next round. It was a difficult tie. I thought Dollingstown made it very difficult for us and worked very hard. Shea scored a great goal. We were a wee bit maybe disappointed we didn’t move the ball quickly enough in the first half because we knew a lot of the kids on the bench, you know, and we we had Jack Johnson and Rocco starting the game and we were hoping to get most of the young lads on and give them plenty of game time and thankfully we got there in the end and when we brought the the young boys on I thought they showed a real spark and that was the highlight of the night for me.”
Up next in the league for the Swifts is a trip to the Limavady Showgrounds on Saturday to face newly-promoted Limavady United.
Dungannon Swifts: Henderson (GK), McGinty (C), J. Scott, Kelly, Smith (Painter 77’), Mitchell (Junior 58’), Dillon (Conceicao 65’), Alves (Jones 65’), Gordon (McNally 77’), Johnston, Devlin.
Unused Substitutes: Dunne (GK), Dolan.
Dollingstown: McClure (GK), Willis, Gordon, Liggett (Duke 80’), Ewart (Pereira 80’), Eakin (Robinson 84’), Hamilton, McCavitt, Allen, Campbell (C), Crooks.
Unused Substitutes: Buchanan (GK), McConnell, Park.
by DSFC Media | August 29, 2026 | Match Report
Two second half goals earned Dungannon Swifts victory over ten-man Cliftonville away from home to earn their third win on the bounce.
There were three changes in the Swifts line-up from the 2-0 win over Bangor last weekend. Leo Alves, Kris Lowe and Jamie Glackin were replaced by Tiernan Kelly, Kealan Dillon and Shea Gordon.
Both defences limited the teams to minimal chances in the opening stages of the match. The chances began with Sean McAllister’s powerful shot which forced a save out of the Cliftonville goalkeeper.
Two half chances for Cliftonville followed. Luke Wilson’s shot from distance went wide of the Swifts goal, and then a short corner was fired on to the head of Brian Healy, whose effort went into the hands of Declan Dunne.
From another corner, the same player thought that he had given the Reds a one goal lead, only to be deemed offside after his header went in.
A big moment in the game happened five minutes before half time. Harry Wilson’s tackle on Swifts captain Gaël Bigirimana was enough to make the referee show him a straight red card and give the Swifts a man advantage as the half came to a close.
The visitors quickly took advantage of having an extra man. Paul Doyle took a short corner to Sean McAllister, and his cross met Danny Wallace, who headed onto the post.
Rory Hale created the first chance of the second period. The Cliftonville captain was played through by Brian Healy, and his shot went narrowly past the post.
Just two minutes later, Kealan Dillon, today’s man of the match, opened the scoring for Dungannon Swifts after coming close minutes before. Paul Doyle took the ball off Cliftonville’s Liam McStravick, and after a drive through the middle of the pitch, he slipped the ball through to an open Kealan Dillon who made no mistake in sliding the ball into the back of the net and giving the Swifts a one goal advantage.
After a half chance from Corey Smith on sixty three minutes, the travelling supporters were delighted once more soon after as the lead was doubled. Sean McAllister’s low driven shot found its way past the goalkeeper and into the Cliftonville net.
Ryan Harpur discussed the goalscores post-match, saying, “It’s always good to spread the goals about the team. I thought Sean all day looked a threat and deserved his goal as well as Kealan Dillon who got back into the team today and thoroughly deserved his goal as well. It capped off a really good performance from Kealo which is good to see.”
After an exciting and eventful third quarter of the match, the chances in the next period were few and far between. The only half chances were a Cliftonville cross that passed everyone in the area, and also an Andrew Mitchell shot which Belshaw got down to save.
Substitutions were made to help keep the lead, and then victory was confirmed soon after to earn the Swifts their third win running, keeping clean sheets in each of the games.
After, Swifts coach, Ryan Harpur said, “At half time we came in at nil-nil. At times we could have maybe moved the ball a wee bit quicker and caused them a few more problems, but we felt that if we could have done that we would get joy and in the end we got the good result.
“It’s brilliant. That’s three clean sheets in a row as well, someone said that the last time we did that was 23-24. So, I think a clean sheet, you know, it’s something to build on and three good clean sheets in a row is very good.”
Up next for the Swifts is the first round of the Mid-Ulster Cup against Dollingstown next Tuesday night at Stangmore Park.
Cliftonville: Morrison (GK) (Belshaw 50’), Wightman, Samuels, Wilson, Hale (C) (Sheridan 67’), Healy (Gormley 72’), McClelland, McMaster, Quinn (Thompson 68’), Bannon, McStravick (Hawthorne 68’).
Unused Substitutes: Daniel O’Connor, Luke Conlan, Joe Gormley.
Dungannon Swifts: Dunne (GK) J. Scott, McKeown, Kelly (Smith 61’), Dillon, Gordon (McGinty 72’), Doyle, Wallace, Junior (Mitchell 72’), McAllister (Johnston 84’).
Unused Substitutes: Henderson (GK),
by DSFC Media | August 22, 2026 | Match Report
Dungannon Swifts recorded their second win of the season after beating Bangor 2-0 at Stangmore Park thanks to goals from Sean McAllister and Andrew Mitchell.
Rodney McAree made three changes to the side which defeated Mid-Ulster rivals Portadown last weekend, introducing John Scott for the injured Adam Glenny, as well as bringing in Leo Alves and Junior for Shea Gordon and Andrew Mitchell.
The Swifts enjoyed the best of the chances in the opening period.
On six minutes, Sean McAllister’s shot from just outside the box went narrowly over the crossbar, while the same player fired wide of the upright just minutes later.
It was third time lucky for McAllister on 11 minutes as he found the net in spectacular fashion to give the Swifts a one-goal advantage.
Today’s man of the match, Gaël Bigirimana, made a run through the middle and after being stopped, the ball fell to Jamie Glackin. He laid it off to McAllister, whose unstoppable shot into the top-right corner of the net made it 1-0.
Speaking after the game, Dixie Robinson said: “Sean even last week was getting himself into some great areas of the pitch and I actually spoke to him today about how he’s due a goal. So, it was great to see him getting on the end of one.
“It was a great strike. He had a couple of chances just before that on his left hand side, so he hit it really well and it was a very good goal.”
Chances were few and far between for the rest of the half, with both defences restricting attacks to half chances.
The Swifts’ efforts came through Junior, who first found himself played through by a fortunate ricochet off the head of John Scott but couldn’t get his shot off on time, and again after being played through by Leo Alves.
Bangor had a free kick 22 minutes which Reece Neale put over the crossbar. The same player put a ball in which was headed on to Jay Boyd at the back post, only for Danny Wallace to kick the ball away to deny the visitors a big chance.
Ten minutes into the second half, Bangor went close to getting an equaliser. Substitute Stephen McGuinness made a quick impact after coming on as he cut into the box, only for his shot to brush past the far post after a slight deflection.
The away side again came close when a Reece Neale throw-in ended up in the box after a sequence of headers and landed at Borja’s feet. His pass went to Tiernan Mulvenna, whose shot curled past the post.
A second goal for the Swifts then came via the penalty spot. Andrew Mitchell fed the ball through to Tiernan Kelly, who was tripped in the box, and referee Tony Clarke pointed to the spot.
Andrew Mitchell stepped up to take it, and cooly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to give the Swifts a two-goal lead.
Just before the end of the game, Kealan Dillon had a couple of efforts to kill the game. The first was a curling shot that went just over the bar, while the second came from a free kick which was blocked, before being fired narrowly over again.
The referee blew the final whistle soon after to confirm a 2-0 home victory.
Post-match, Dixie Robinson said: “The main objective is getting three points in the board and we achieved that. Probably performance-wise, we didn’t reach the levels we’re capable of, but sometimes you have to dig in and keep yourself defensively sound, and I thought we did that and restricted Bangor to hopeful chances rather than anything clear-cut, and then when we got our second goal, you know I still think we come out fully deserving winners but it’s all about the three points and we’re delighted with that.
“I thought for half an hour of the first half we dominated the game, probably took our foot off the gas a little bit towards the end of the first half, and then second half I think we were all a little bit frustrated that we didn’t pass the ball as well as we could and we allowed Bangor more territory than they had in the first half.”
Dungannon Swifts: Dunne (GK), J. Scott, McKeown, Alves (Kelly 65’), Lowe (Gordon 35’), Glackin (Dillon 65’), Doyle, Wallace, Bigirimana (C), Junior (Mitchell 65’), McAllister (McGinty 76’).
Unused Substitutes: Henderson (GK), Smith.
Bangor: Deane (GK), Neale, Francis, Lynch, Harrison (C) (Strachan 63’), Hassin, Mulvenna, McCullough (McGuinness 49’), Boyd (Arthurs 63’), Borja (Devlin 63’), Hughes (McRoberts 85’).
Unused Substitutes: McMahon (GK), Mitchell.
by DSFC Media | August 15, 2026 | Match Report
Dungannon Swifts earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Mid-Ulster rivals Portadown to secure their first win of the new league season.
Rodney McAree’s starting team saw two changes from last weekend’s defeat against Coleraine. In came Jamie Glackin and Andrew Mitchell for Kealan Dillon and Leo Alves. Returning signing Junior was named on the bench.
The visitors made an impressive start, creating numerous chances and testing the Portadown defence on a number of occasions.
Sean McAllister had two opportunities to open the scoring in the first six minutes. The first came in the opening seconds, when a through ball sent him clear but the Portadown goalkeeper was there to save. The same player found himself with the ball outside of the box just minutes later, but this time his effort went over the bar.
The deadlock was broken in the fourteenth minute when a defensive mix-up resulted in the unusual sight of an indirect free awarded just six yards from goal because of a back pass to the keeper.
Jamie Glackin laid the ball to Sean McAllister, whose shot was blocked, but the rebound fell to Kris Lowe who smashed the ball into the roof of the net to open the scoring.
Manager Rodney McAree praised the defender after his man of the match performance: “I thought Kris was excellent. I thought he was absolutely superb. You can’t fault any of the back four, and Decky.
“Kris Lowe showed composure whenever he got it, he showed bravery whenever he got it, but we know no different with Kris. We know he’s capable of that, and that’s two great performances he’s had from the start of the season.”
After the goal, Portadown began to grow more into the game, restricting the Swifts without creating chances of their own.
This would change just before half time as the Ports had two chances to grab an equaliser.
The first came to Baris Altintop, who struck the bar from a shot from inside the area, and the second, which moments later, saw Dunne in the Dungannon Swifts goal to get down and save Jack Scott’s low shot.
The home side started the second half well, creating an early chance as James Teelan unleashed a shot from outside the box which went over the bar.
Not long after, the Ports, managed by David Jeffrey in his first home game as boss, had the ball in the back of the net. A cross from the left saw the ball turned into the net but referee’s assistant Rachel Greer flagged the goal as being offside.
What followed was two great opportunities for the Swifts to grab a second goal. The first came from some good build-up play as Kris Lowe fed the ball to Paul Doyle, whose shot was saved well by Aaron McCarey in goal.
Three minutes after this. Andrew Mitchell was played through to find himself one on one against the Portadown goalkeeper, and he took it past him only to be tackled at the last moment by Breen on the line to stop what looked like a certain goal.
The highlight of the day for many Swifts supporters who made the journey to Portadown came as Junior came on to make his second debut for the club after re-signing last week. He arrived to rapturous applause and fans chanting his name.
“Great to see Junes. He hasn’t played a game since June. He’s been training by himself so it’s difficult for him, so for him to come on today for half an hour is a good thirty minutes in the tank,” said Rodney.
“He’s a naturally fit boy, he’s a strong boy. He won headers whenever he came on, he got us higher up the pitch, and that’s what Junes does.
“He’s also a fantastic footballer who’s technically very good – we’re just delighted to have him.”
Sean McAllister had another great opportunity to grab a goal five minutes from time. A nice one-two between himself and Tiernan Kelly found McAllister with just McCarey to beat, but the goalkeeper did well to save, and Jack Scott also did well to keep the ball out of the net after it ricocheted off him following the save.
The Swifts defence did well to keep Portadown at bay for the last ten minutes to keep their one goal lead and, most importantly, gain a vital three points at a tough venue, keeping a clean sheet in the process.
Rodney said: “I’m delighted. Really, really, really happy. The pitch probably determines that you can’t really overplay but I thought we dealt with it extremely well. I thought we showed a great fight.
“We maybe made it difficult for ourselves because I feel that maybe on another day we could have scored another one or two and made it easier for ourself, and probably that’s something we have to think about.
“Going forward, can we make it a wee bit easier by being that bit more ruthless and putting the ball in the opposition’s goal and killing the game off, but I thought we showed great determination, character, fight, hunger, to get the clean sheet and three points.
“Overall, coming to Portadown, it’s a Mid-Ulster derby, it’s not the easiest place to come to and I think we deserve our three points.
“Everybody who played today, forwards did extremely well. I thought midfield, I thought we fought for everything too. Paul Doyle chased and hunted things at times, and Bigi did a good leader’s job, sitting, used the ball well, broke things up, and did exceptionally well. It’s very hard to pick out the best, it’s very hard to pick out somebody who was poor, we know how hard we’ve had to work when we’ve come here to get the three points, and we’re going to enjoy it.”
The next game for the Swifts is a return home to Stangmore Park to take on the Seasiders, Bangor.
Portadown: McCarey (GK) (C), Carson, Altintop (Wells 70’), MacKinnon, Falls (O’Mahoney 89’), Breen, Teelan, Scott, Hewitt, Flanagan (Kennedy 51’), Martins (Towe 70’).
Unused Substitutes: Barry (GK), Isamala, Minzamba
Dungannon Swifts: Dunne (GK), McKeown, Mitchell (Junior 64’), Glenny, Lowe, Gordon (Kelly 64’), Glackin (Dillon 89’), Doyle, Wallace, Bigirimana (C), McAllister (Smith 86’).
Unused Substitutes: Henderson (GK), McGinty, Alves.
by DSFC Media | August 8, 2026 | Match Report
Dungannon Swifts opened their Boyle Sports Premiership campaign at Stangmore Park on Saturday with a loss against Irish Cup winners Coleraine.
The starting XI named by Rodney McAree featured two new signings, Barney McKeown and Kris Lowe, with Jamie Glackin named on the bench.
Action during the opening period included a Kealan Dillon shot from outside the area, as well as solid saves from Declan Dunne to deny both Senan Devine and Joel Cooper from inside the box.
As the half was coming to a close, the Swifts thought they had taken the lead after Kris Lowe’s inch-perfect cross met Danny Wallace, who put the ball past Webb in the Coleraine goal, only for the assistant’s flag to be raised.
However, in the third minute of stoppage time. Coleraine took the lead courtesy of link up play from Joel Cooper and Matthew Shevlin to set up substitute Jay Henderson to shoot, and his effort went off the right-hand post and in to give the Bannsiders a one goal lead.
The Swifts started the second half brightly, creating a big chance through a Kealan Dillon strike from inside the box. Unfortunately for the home side, his effort went over the crossbar.
Five minutes after this, Coleraine doubled their lead. A short corner ended up with Ben Doherty in possession of the ball, which he curled into the top corner from outside the box to make the score 2-0.
Changes followed this goal, as Rodney McAree brought on Corey Smith, Darragh McBrien, and Jamie Glackin. On sixty eight minutes, the Swifts got their reward. After picking the ball up in the middle of the pitch, Paul Doyle passed it to Sean McAllister, whose strike from twenty five yards found the bottom corner.
Dungannon Swifts came close to an equaliser soon after, with Sean McAllister’s ball finding the head of Jamie Glackin, who headed just past the post.
But their hard work was undone just a couple of minutes later as Coleraine regained their two goal advantage. A disputed free kick in the middle of the pitch eventually ended up with Lewis McGregor, and his cross was met by Matthew Shevlin to make the score 3-1.
In the last ten minutes, the Swifts had a couple of opportunities to reduce Coleraine’s lead. The first came from an Andrew Mitchell cross, which found Jamie Glackin, only for his shot to be blocked by Robert Slevin, to prevent what looked to be a certain goal. Adam Glenny also had two chances from corner kicks, one of which was headed off the line, and one going narrowly over the bar in the dying moments of the match.
After four minutes of injury time, the referee, Ben McMaster, blew his whistle to end an entertaining opening game at Stangmore Park.
After the defeat, manager Rodney McAree said: “I thought we played well, going forward I thought we played well. I thought in the first half an hour we were competitive, Coleraine were trying to get behind us, and did so on the odd occasion, but you expect that because in my opinion, they’re the best squad of players that there is in the league collectively, as a team, and it was always going to be an uphill task, but it was one we were going to be relishing the opportunity of facing them.
“I thought whenever we had the ball, we kept it for the first half an hour, but we gave it away cheaply for the last fifteen minutes. We invited Coleraine on to us, and ultimately we paid a price just on the stroke of half time when we concede a goal, young Henderson scores from the edge of the box. We’re disappointed with the two goals we concede in the second half, but we created so many opportunities in the second half as well that we have a lot to be pleased with, proud of.
“I thought our fitness levels looked good against a full-time, fit club, fit team, but we’re just disappointed. If we can cut out the mistakes or prevent the goals that have gone into the back of our net a little bit more, then we give ourselves more of a chance of getting results.”
Next up for the Swifts is a trip to Shamrock Park to take on David Jeffrey’s Portadown in the first Mid-Ulster derby of the season next Saturday at 15:00.
