Swifts cup success didn’t happen by chance

GAEL Bigirimana’s superb goal-line clearance deep in extra-time during Saturday’s Clearer Water Irish Cup Final stood a fair bit of discussion during the post-match press conference. And rightly so.

In the dying embers of overtime Bigirimana was in the right place at the right time to head a rasping shot off the line following an almighty scramble in the box.

Also discussed were the brilliant saves that goalkeeper Declan Dunne had made in the added on 30 minutes to deny Odhran Casey, Rory Hale and substitute Alex Piesold, not forgetting his heroics in a nail-biting shootout when he stopped spot-kicks from Shea Kearney and Luke Conlon.

Those were all hugely significant moments as 10-man Dungannon Swifts created history by winning the Irish Cup for the first time.

Yet to borrow a well used phrase from Roy Keane, “it’s part and parcel of football, it’s their job.”

That, for me, was the most impressive thing about Swifts magnificent triumph – the players simply did their job, every last one of them.

They didn’t play the occasion, they played the game. From Declan Dunne right through to front men John McGovern and Andy Mitchell they did what they had to do and some.

Centre-backs Danny Wallace and Dean Curry were warriors, full-backs Adam Glenny and Steven Scott, until he got sent off, did the simple things well, Bigirimana, Alves, Dillon and Knowles were magnificent, disciplined and composed in midfield ,and, as I said, the goalscorer McGovern and Mitchell did the business up top. Subs Galvin, McGinty, Boyd, Hutchinson and Bermingham also put in a serious shift when needed.

Swifts’ performance throughout was one of real maturity and composure, and, while that may come as a surprise to some, it certainly won’t to others.

The simple fact is that this season Rodney McAree has taken this Dungannon Swifts team to places they have never been before, places they could only have dreamt of going.

The Tyrone side finished fourth in the Sports Direct Premiership and recorded some stunning results along the way including defeating Crusaders three times, Larne twice, Glentoran and Cliftonville.

So Saturday’s cup win was no fluke, it was in the offing and some chose to ignore that. It was down to meticulous planning and preparation and having a team that had been carefully moulded together, piece by piece. It is also a team that seems very comfortable in its own skin.

On the day it was a tactical masterclass from McAree and his backroom team and his players duly delivered.

Even when it came to the penalty shootout, McAree admitted that he had learned some valuable lessons from the heartbreak of 2007 and he put them to good use a whole 18 years later. Now that’s experience and attention to the finer details.

Some will play this out as underdog story but it’s far from it. Whatever the preferred narrative it all arrived at the same conclusion on Saturday afternoon – that Rod McAree and his players had indeed become the Kings of Windsor!