We are delighted to announce Joe McAree, former Dungannon Swifts Manager & Chairman, now community relations officer, has been awarded an MBE by The Queen.
Many congratulations to you Joe from everyone at Dungannon Swifts and Dungannon United Youth.
Full story to follow
We have been drawn to play Moyola Park, away, on Saturday 11th January 2014 in the 5th Round of the Irish Cup.
The full draw can be found below.
IRISH CUP FIFTH-ROUND DRAW
Linfield v Dergview
Bangor v Glebe Rangers
Ballyclare Comrades v Kilmore Rec
Moyola Park v Dungannon Swifts
Queen’s University v Limavady United
Ards v Armagh City
Glenavon v Sport & Leisure
Ballymoney United v Banbridge Town
Ballinamallard United v Strabane Athletic
Crumlin Star v Crusaders (at Seaview)
Cliftonville v Coleraine
H&W v Ballymena Utd
Lisburn Distillery v PSNI
Carrick Rangers v Dundela
Portadown v Glentoran
Warrenpoint Town v Chimney Corner
The spotlight will be on Dungannon Swifts in the new year when they play in front of the Sky Sports cameras and a national television audience.
Dungannon’s clash at Crusaders has been selected as the channel’s fourth live Irish League fixture of the season.
The game, originally scheduled for January 4, will now take place on Monday, January 6 with a 7.45pm kick-off to facilitate live coverage.
It is only the second time a Dungannon game has been selected for coverage by the broadcaster.
Dungannon Swifts community relations manager Joe McAree said he was delighted that the team would be televised again.
However, he is hoping that a home game will be selected in the near future to allow a national audience to see the quality of the club’s Stangmore Park facilities.
“I’m obviously delighted that Dungannon Swifts will feature on Sky television again, albeit the game is in Belfast,” Mr McAree said.
“I would love to see a home game screened live and I think we deserve for the cameras to come here in the near future.
“We have a lovely ground which would look very well on Sky TV.”
Stangmore Park has previously featured on television when Dungannon were competing in the all-Ireland Setanta Cup tournament.
It has also hosted a televised under-16 Victory Shield match involving Northern Ireland.
Mr McAree said he had no doubt Dungannon would put on a good show for the cameras.
“Our stadium always looks so well on television and it would be great for the club, the supporters and the sponsors to have a home match,” he added.
“I have no doubt Sky TV would be very impressed with our facilities.”
That, however, is for the future. The immediate focus is on the January 6 date at Seaview.
And if it’s anything like the last time Dungannon played in front of the cameras, Irish league supporters will be in for a treat.
Their only other Sky game was at Cliftonville in January 2012.
In another Monday night fixture, they fell just short as the nine-man Reds held on for victory in a thrilling encounter.
It was a game which had everything – chances at either end, red cards, late drama and a goal of the season contender from Barry Johnston.
Cliftonville edged ahead after 11 minutes when a Martin Donnelly free-kick wasn’t dealt with, and the ball dropped for Joe Gormley to fire home.
The home side doubled their lead in sensational style in the second half, via a superb right-foot volley over the ‘keeper from Johnston.
But it was only the start of the drama, with Dungannon striker Sean Friars immediately pulling it back to 2-1.
As the clock ticked down, the red mist descended, and Aaron Smyth and Donnelly were sent off within the space of 60 seconds.
Dungannon nearly made Cliftonville pay right at the finish, with Ronan Scannell’s goal-line clearance dramatically denying Johnny Topley an injury-time equaliser.
Next month’s Monday night live game will be the third meeting between Swifts and Crusaders this season.
In early September the sides played out a 1-1 draw at Seaview.
A second half header from Ryan Harpur saw Dungannon come from behind to claim a point after Gary McCutcheon had scored for the hosts.
And last weekend Crusaders claimed a 1-0 win at Stangmore Park.
A 39th minute strike from Paul Heatley was the difference in a hard-fought match.
A defensive lapse ended Dungannon Swifts’ three-game winning run as title challengers Crusaders passed another significant test at Stangmore Park.
The league leaders maintained their position at the top of the table after a strike from Paul Heatley overcame a determined Dungannon side. While not a classic, flowing performance from the Crues, it was the type of battling, gritty result on which championships are so often built. For Dungannon it was a disappointing loss, made all the more frustrating by the error which gift-wrapped Crusaders what proved to be the winning goal.It came in the 39thminute when Fra Brennan failed to cut out a long ball forward, allowing Heatley to ghost in and fire home a right-foot shot. But Swifts manager Darren Murphy can take consolation from a hard-working, committed performance from his players.
In a closely-fought game, they limited Crusaders to a handful of chances and had opportunities themselves to take something from the game. The best fell to David McCullough, Ryan Harpur – who impressed on his return to the team – and, most invitingly, to Matt Hazley in the final seconds. Harpur’s energy and defensive work in midfield was a positive, albeit Dungannon did miss the injured Johnny Topley’s class and experience. The loss of Jamie Douglas’s attacking guile, also because of injury, made their task more difficult.
Darren Boyce, their leading scorer and November’s player of the month, rarely threatened albeit he suffered from a lack of service. For Crusaders this was another important win although, as manager Stephen Baxter pointed out, the season is only at its halfway point. It is still too early to make definitive judgements on their title chances. The Crues had hit top spot last weekend and were quickly into their stride at Stangmore Park, stringing together some promising moves in the opening stages. Gary McCutcheon had the first chance with a neat turn and shot from distance, while the impressive Heatley tested Niall Morgan with a 25-yard snapshot. But the best chance of the opening half came in the 22nd minute. Stefan Lavery’s strike was spilled by the goalkeeper but Sean O’Neill redeemed his error by making an important block to prevent McCullough converting the loose ball.
The game began to open up towards the end of the first period. A Jordan Owens pass found Chris Morrow in the box, he missed his kick but got the ball across to Heatley, only for him to pull his shot wide.
Crusaders were starting to pose more of a threat, aided by some hesitancy in the home back line, and this led to the opening goal.
A promising Dungannon attack broke down and, as the ball was pumped forward, Brennan failed to cut out the danger, allowing Heatley to cut inside and fire home. It was a hugely disappointing way for Swifts to go behind, and it could have got worse three minutes later. Another error, this time from Adam McMinn, saw the ball find its way to Owens, but he opted to take his shot early and rifled just wide. Boyce, who had been quiet thus far, had a chance after the restart but couldn’t find the target with a free-kick from wide on the left. The second half was largely subdued, but as the game entered the final quarter of an hour, Dungannon threatened an equaliser.
A foul on Chris Lavery led to a free-kick, with Harpur’s well-struck effort just a little too central, allowing the goalkeeper to tip it over. But the best chance came in stoppage time. McMinn set up Jamie Glackin, who opted to cross instead of shoot with Hazley directing his header just wide of the back post.
DGN SWIFTS: Morgan, Brennan, McMinn, McCaffrey, Grieve, McCullough (Hazley, 58), Hutchinson (Costello, 85), C Lavery, Boyce, S Lavery (Glackin, 82), Harpur
Subs not used: Lowe, Fitzpatrick
CRUSADERS: O’Neill, Leeman, Magowan, Coates, Robinson, Morrow, Heatley, Adamson, McCutcheon, Owens (Snoddy, 76), McClean
Subs not used: Hanley, McMaster, Watson, McAllister
Referee: Raymond Crangle (Belfast)
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Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae. Non equidem invideo, miror magis posuere velit aliquet. Qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Prima luce, cum quibus mons aliud consensu ab eo. Petierunt uti sibi concilium totius Galliae in diem certam indicere.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Idque Caesaris facere voluntate liceret: sese habere. Magna pars studiorum, prodita quaerimus. Magna pars studiorum, prodita quaerimus. Fabio vel iudice vincam, sunt in culpa qui officia. Vivamus sagittis lacus vel augue laoreet rutrum faucibus.
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| Pharetra | Malesuada | Cursus | Euismod |
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| Ipsum | Portalion | Elitesimo | Aenean |
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Idque Caesaris facere voluntate liceret: sese habere. Magna pars studiorum, prodita quaerimus. Magna pars studiorum, prodita quaerimus. Fabio vel iudice vincam, sunt in culpa qui officia. Vivamus sagittis lacus vel augue laoreet rutrum faucibus.
Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae. Non equidem invideo, miror magis posuere velit aliquet. Qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Prima luce, cum quibus mons aliud consensu ab eo. Petierunt uti sibi concilium totius Galliae in diem certam indicere.
