by DSFC Media | Sep 22, 2025 | Match Report
It was a satisfying afternoon for the Swifts as they defeated the same side they made history against earlier this year to achieve a first home league win of the season.
Coming into the match, manager Rodney McAree made three changes to the side who were disappointingly defeated 3-0 by Crusaders seven days ago. He brought in Caolan Marron, Tomás Galvin, and Bobby-Jack McAleese, replacing Cahal McGinty, Thomas Maguire, and Leo Alves.
Both teams started the match brightly, with Cliftonville earning a free kick that went just wide of the post, but the home side undoubtedly began better.
Crosses from Kealan Dillon and Adam Glenny were caught by Cliftonville goalkeeper Morrison, before some great link-up play between Steven Scott and Tomás Galvin, who then passed it to Junior, who turned his defender from six yards out and his shot went agonisingly close to making it 1-0 to the Swifts.
Soon after, there was some more exquisite play on the right hand side of the pitch which ended up in a goal-line scramble.
The ball eventually found Tomás Galvin, whose shot was saved by midfielder, Rory Hale. Instead of letting Junior tap the ball in, referee Declan Hassan awarded a penalty to the Swifts and handed the Cliftonville skipper a red card, bringing them down to ten men.
After a stuttered run up, Junior coolly slotted the spot kick into the left side of the goal, making it 1-0.
After a number of half chances at either end, things would get better for the home side on thirty-three minutes. After former Swifts loanee Micheal Glynn took out Scott, Dillon stepped up to take the free kick.
He whipped in a beautiful ball towards the back post which found the head of Caolan Marron, whose header looped over the Cliftonville goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
For the remainder of the first period, there would be chances at both ends. The home side created some more opportunities, including crosses and corners. However, the Cliftonville defence and goalkeeper stood strong.
For the visitors, despite being a man down, they also piled pressure on the Swifts defence, earning a number of corners and free kicks, but the home goal remained intact.
After making a triple substitution at the break, the Reds got exactly what they needed.
Seven minutes after the restart, the home side lost the ball after some sloppy play and it found Joe Gormley, who took it past a number of defenders and released his shot from just outside the area into the far corner to make it 2-1, and score his thirtieth career goal against the Swifts.
Afterwards, Rodney McAree reflected on the three goals.
“The first goal was a good move. Tomás Galvin ends up getting a shot off in goal and it’s saved on the line by Rory, and thankfully Junior’s got up and Junior’s a confident boy, I’ve seen him taking penalties before, and I was I was confident whenever he has the ball in his hands and I was glad to see it hit the back of the net, which gets us off to a good start.
“The second one comes from, I actually think we’re a little bit careless on the ball but we end up getting a free kick off the back of it and Kealan Dillon’s delivery was very, very good and and Caolan Marron’s header was exceptional and found the top corner, I was delighted for Caolan as well, it was nice to see him weigh in with a goal, it was nice to see one of our our defenders or one of our centre halves score as well, and it gives us that little bit of cushion.
“Disappointed with the goal that we concede. I think we need to do better with it. We need to stop the shot first and foremost and then from Decky’s point of view, he’ll probably admit that he needs to do better with the shot as well.”
After the Cliftonville goal, both teams would continue to create chances.
For the Swifts, substitute Sean McAllister whipped in a superb free kick from the left side of the pitch which found the head of fellow substitute Thomas Maguire, whose header went into the side netting, and for Cliftonville, they earned corner after corner, but they couldn’t get past the Swifts back line on each occasion.
For the last ten minutes of the game, the away side started to properly put pressure on the Swifts. First, a corner was whipped in and found the head of a Cliftonville player, only for Danny Wallace to clear it off the line. Another corner saw Conor Falls head over the bar from six yards out, and an Eric McWoods shot was saved well by Dunne in goal.
On an already frustrating afternoon for the away side, they were reduced to nine men on eighty-seven minutes. Mal Smith was running through the middle of the park and a late challenge by Jonathan Addis saw the referee take out the yellow card, Addis’s second of the afternoon on his five hundredth start in the Irish League.
It was still a nerve-wracking last minutes for the Swifts as Cliftonville created two dangerous chances. However, the Swifts defence stood strong again to gain a second win and first home win of the league season.
Rodney said: “I thought we started the game very well. I thought we did well, I thought we did well in the first half.
“Listen, Cliftonville go down to ten men, and were a credit to themselves as well, they know they worked extremely hard. They still played good football at times, whenever they were allowed to, and asked us questions.
“Coming in at half-time, we thought it was a good opportunity for us to regroup and set about our stall in the second half, but we looked like a team in the second half that had only got three points from the first seven games.
“We looked nervous, we looked as if we were very panicky, and that’s probably understandable. It’s understandable whenever the players have had the start of the season that they’ve had.
“And listen, I asked them at the start of the game that all I wanted was a hard-working, honest performance, and I think we got a hard-working, honest performance. We can do without the jitters and we can do without the panicking, and that probably comes through results as well, so maybe if results improve, then whenever the same situation happens again we can take better control of the game, I think we can all agree with that.”
Also in today’s match, loan and returning signing Sam Anderson made his debut.
Rodney said: “It was nice to see Sam, he’s a strong boy, he’s impressed since he’s come in, he’s done well, probably comes into a team today that’s a little bit nervous and can do better and will do better, but listen today it’s three points. It’s great to see Sam make us make his debut and it gives us something to build on going forward.”
Dungannon Swifts: Dunne (GK), S. Scott, Marron, Kelly, Galvin (McAllister 45’), Dillon (T. Maguire 69’), Glenny, McAleese (Anderson 69’), Wallace, Bigirimana (C) (Smith 40’), Junior.
Unused Substitutes: Henderson (GK), Alves, Mitchell.
Cliftonville: Morrison (GK), Pepper (Robertson 45’), Addis, Hale (C), Curran (Barr 45’), Gordon (McCay 45’), Gormley (McWoods 65’), Glynn, Casey, Keaney, Fapetu (Falls 81’).
Unused Substitutes: Ridd (GK), Wilson.
Up next for the Swifts is a trip to the Showgrounds to face Ballymena United next Saturday afternoon. Up the Swifts!
by DSFC Media | Sep 8, 2025 | Match Report
It was a marvellous afternoon in Mourneview for the Swifts as they defeated Glenavon to secure their first points of the season.
Rodney McAree made four changes to the side that was defeated 2-1 in Bangor last Saturday. Leo Alves, Thomas Maguire, Gaël Bigirimana and new signing Junior all came in, replacing Cahal McGinty, Andrew Mitchell, Tomás Galvin and Sean McAllister.
The Swifts earned the first chance of the game when they won a free kick just outside the area. Leo Alves supplied Steven Scott and the right-back sent a low, driven ball into the box, which was cleared by the home defence. In the process, Glenavon’s Kyle McClelland went down holding his shoulder, and was eventually forced off, with former Swifts player Kris Lowe replacing him.
Eleven minutes in, Glenavon would create the best chance of the game so far. Ben Wilson crossed the ball from the right, finding David McDaid on the edge of the box, whose shot went just past the post.
On 13 minutes, the away side were given a free kick after Glenavon defender Harry Murphy pulled back Junior’s jersey, earning him a yellow card.
Junior then prevented the ball from going over the goal-line with an acrobatic back flick, allowing Scott to cross the ball to Thomas Maguire, who expertly guided a looping shot over the Glenavon goalkeeper, making it 1-0 to the Swifts.
After the game, Rodney spoke highly about the goalscorer: “Tom’s attitude is absolutely top drawer, he’s a great kid, he’s got himself fitter than he’s ever been in my opinion. He’s waited for his opportunity, he probably gets frustrated at times, and he doesn’t score enough, he’ll admit that himself, and he’s desperate to score goals, so for him to get his season up and going, and score a goal, and get us off to a good start, it’s a credit to him and it’s great to see.”
Ten minutes later, things would go from bad to worse for the home side. Maguire, raiding down the left wing, was running towards goal when he was tripped by Murphy and without hesitation, the referee handed a second yellow to the Glenavon defender, putting them down to 10 men.
The Swifts continued to keep their foot on the gas , hitting the post from one cross, while Adam Glenny created two chances in a short space of time, the first being a shot from just outside the area that drifted past the far post, and the second bringing an excellent save from the left of the penalty spot.
All this came before what would turn out to be the deciding moment of the game. The side in yellow earned a free kick thirty yards from goal, which Kealan Dillon and Leo Alves stood over. It would be the Westmeath man who would take the free and it was a peach of a hit, fired over the wall and into the corner of the net to the despairing keeper’s right.
It would be the home side, now 2-0 down, who started the second half the brighter, earning a free kick five minutes in which came to nothing.
But the Swifts then grew into the half, earning a free kick which Leo Alves put over the crossbar, as well as several half chances.
Then, sixty-eight minutes in, the game was effectively over as a contest. The away team earned another free kick, with Barney McKeown booked for his challenge. As Glenavon players objected, McKeown began clapping referee Jamie Robinson and was shown a second yellow for dissent, bringing his team down to nine men, with a yellow also shown to the Glenavon bench for their protests.
The Swifts continued to create chances in the last twenty minutes through substitutes Bobby-Jack McAleese, Sean McAllister and Andrew Mitchell, but were unable to add a third goal.
After only two minutes of additional time, the full-time whistle was blown and Rodney McAree’s men had three precious points to take up the motorway.
He said it felt great to finally get off the mark after five successive defeats, lifting the team from the foot of the table.
“Listen, it’s been a long time coming. We’ve had the start we didn’t want, and we’ve come to a ground that, I think there was a stat that came out yesterday, we hadn’t won in fourteen games.
“I thought we started the game very well – I thought we were the better side with 11 v 11. From Glenavon’s point of view it’s disappointing they’ve a man sent off in Harry, but probably we got into good areas and we put people under pressure, and with starting the game well, we find ourselves going 1-0 up, which is great, then we go 2-0 up with a great free kick from Kealan.
“We can be a little bit picky and we can talk about the second half not being good enough, and we should do better, and we need to create more, we need to do more.
“There’s a lot of nerves probably within the group as well, even though you’re playing against nine men. There was a wee bit of a reluctance in terms of going forward and leaving ourselves open and listen, after the start that we’ve had, losing the five in a row, it’s nice to get a 2-0 win and leave here with three points.”
Glenavon: Carney, Murphy, McKeown (C), McDaid (McGovern 59’), O’Kane, McClelland (Lowe 6’), Lomboto (Smith 59’), Wilson, Kee (Malone 30’), O’Connor (Carlin 45’), Quinn.
Unused Substitutes: Byrne (GK), Bosakani.
Dungannon Swifts: Dunne (GK), Scott, Marron, Kelly, Dillon (Smith 70’), Alves (Mitchell 75’), Glenny, T. Maguire (McAllister 65’), Wallace, Bigirimana (C) (McAleese 70’), Junior (Galvin 75’).
Unused Substitutes: Henderson (GK), McGinty.
Up next for the Swifts is another big game against tenth place Crusaders next Saturday in Stangmore Park, kick-off 3pm. Up the Swifts!
by DSFC Media | Sep 4, 2025 | Match Report
It was a first win since the heroics in Vaduz just over a month ago for the Swifts as they defeated St. Mary’s YC to begin their Mid-Ulster Cup defence.
Coming into the match, manager Rodney McAree made ten changes to the side which were defeated 2-1 by Bangor, only Caolan Marron keeping his name on the team sheet. Also, captain, Gaël Bigirimana was introduced back into the squad after his suspension, which saw him miss three fixtures: Coleraine, Carrick Rangers, and Bangor.
The game started extremely brightly for the home side, creating chances left, right, and centre. New signing, Junior came close on multiple occasions, Leo Alves hitting the crossbar after being set up by the same man, and Eoghán Liggett and Bobby-Jack McAleese missing from close range.
However, the deadlock was broken ten minutes in when after constant early threat, Thomas Maguire crossed the ball to Junior, who headed the ball into the net to open his Swifts account to make it 1-0.
Out of nowhere, just five minutes later it was the away side who were through on goal, only to be stopped by Alex Henderson in the Swifts’ net. However, St. Mary’s found themselves in the same situation when they cleared from a corner from the side to find striker Marcio Soares, who took the ball past both Caolan Marron and Peter Maguire to become one on one with the goalkeeper.He made no mistake and equalised for the away side.
The Swifts continued to attack with Thomas Maguire and Leo Alves causing havoc on the wing, and seventeen year old Eoghán Liggett bossing in the middle of the park, but just couldn’t get the decisive goal, until three minutes before the half time interval, James Knowles restored the lead for the Swifts and made it 2-1.
The moment of the game came five minutes into the second period of play when Leo Alves found the ball at his feet just outside the area. He then unleashed his shot which nestled into the top left corner of the goal, making it 3-1 to the Swifts, and also making it the perfect start for the Swifts.
A short while later, things would only get better for the home side. Junior was taken down just inside the area, and without hesitation, the referee pointed to the spot. It would be the same man who stepped up to take the penalty, and after a stuttered run up, he coolly slotted the penalty into the left side of the goal, making it 4-1.
In the next twenty minutes of play, the home side would continue to create chances and had the ball in the net on another two occasions. The first goal was a scramble in the box which ended falling to new signing Junior, and just as he thought he had achieved a debut hat-trick, the offside flag was raised. The second goal was ruled out in the same way, however this time eyebrows were raised around the ground. After a good ball over the top, Andrew Mitchell found himself one on one with the St. Mary’s goalkeeper. The flag had been raised as soon as he reached the box, but unaware of this, Mitchell took the ball around Conor Larkin expertly, and passed the ball into the empty net, only to realise afterwards that the flag had been raised.
The Swifts continued to create chances throughout the rest of the second half, including a Sean McAllister shot just inside the area which was blocked on the line, an Eoghan Liggett header at the back post which went just wide, and countless crosses which the St. Mary’s defence. who were resolute all night, cleared away.
There would turn out to be no further chances, and the game ended 4-1 to the Swifts, a perfect start to their Mid-Ulster Cup defence.
Post-match, Rodney McAree explained his thoughts on the game, saying, “It’s nice, it’s been a very, very tough start to the season, it’s been hard, there’s been a lot of thinking, a lot of watching, analysing of the game, and everyone has gone with it, but it’s nice to win a game of football. I thought St. Mary’s were a credit to their club. They came, they set themselves up, they were hard to break down, but I thought we did reasonably well over the duration of the game.
“I thought we played some good stuff, we moved it quickly, we created plenty of opportunities, and we could have scored more on another day, its just unfortunate that we didn’t, but it’s still nice to have scored the four and got the win,” he said.
Coming into the biggest match of the league season so far on Saturday against Glenavon after a win against St. Mary’s, Rodney said, “It maybe gives us a wee bit of a lift, there’s certainly a lot more smiling faces tonight after this match, and I think we have to embrace that, we have to understand what that feels like, we scored an absolute wonder goal through Leo Alves as well, and we keep saying to Leo, Leo needs to shoot more and whenever he can do something like that, you wonder why he doesn’t shoot more. He’s a credit to himself in terms of how he keeps himself fit, how he conducts himself, and a quality player. He gives us a wee bit of a lift knowing that we can score a goal like that also.”
Dungannon Swifts: Henderson (GK), P. Maguire, Marron, Knowles (Dillon 72’), Alves (McAllister 63’), T. Maguire, Smith (Galvin 72’), McAleese, Bigirimana (C), Liggett, Junior (Mitchell 63’).
Unused Substitutes: Glass (GK), S. Scott, McGinty.
St. Mary’s YC: Larkin (GK), Monteiro, Djalo, Hamill, Donnelly, Verenka (Da Silva 55’), Tavares (Withers 66’), McAlinden (Cusack 66’), Soares (Da Silva Camara 81’), McCann (C), Borges Cassama (Robnson 66’).
Unused Substitutes: Conaty, McAleenan.
There is a huge game in Mourneview Park against Glenavon on Saturday 6th September, with a 3pm kick off. Up the Swifts!
by DSFC Media | Sep 4, 2025 | Match Report
Dungannon Swifts are delighted to announce the signing of thirty-one year old English striker, Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe.
Junior is no stranger to the Irish League, spending eighteen months between 2023 and 2024 at Glentoran, scoring thirteen goals in the process.
Regarding his previous Irish league experience, he said, “Obviously I liked this league when I was here, I enjoyed myself, scored goals, so I’m just happy to come here.”
He has spent a big chunk of his career playing in the League of Ireland, having two stints on loan at Derry City, with his first being very successful, scoring fourteen goals in thirty three appearances, and also playing for Sligo Rovers, Dundalk, Bohemians, and his most recent Irish team, Galway United.
Other notable clubs Junior has lined out for include English sides Colchester United, Bromley, and Leyton Orient and Millwall in his youth days.
His most recent club was Karşıyaka Anamur, who play in Cyprus.
He started his Swifts career with a bang, scoring two goals on his debut against St. Mary’s YC in the first round of the Mid-Ulster Cup.
After his brace on Tuesday night, Junior said the following on how he got to the club: “Things started with Greggy calling me two, three weeks ago, and speaking to me about obviously coming to Dungannon, and at the time I thought, I was open to it, but I wasn’t quite sure just in general. But, after a while he obviously convinced me, talked to me about the good football that’s played here, so I just thought it fits the way I like to play, so it was a no brainier.”
We wish Junior all the best in a Swifts shirt, and he will wear the number 40. Up the Swifts!
Click below to hear Junior chat to us.
https://youtu.be/ZYMu72iRG3Q
by DSFC Media | Sep 1, 2025 | Match Report
The Swifts suffered their fifth league defeat of the season at the hands of newly-promoted Bangor in a game which was played in dreadful conditions in Clandeboye Park.
Rodney McAree strengthened his squad this week with the signing of Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe, but the striker was unable to make his debut against the Seasiders.
On the new addition, the manager said: “Junior is one I believe can come in and help us, he’s a good centre forward, he wants to play in the eighteen yard box, he’s somebody I enjoyed working with before.”
Rodney made four changes to the side which was defeated 2-0 in Stangmore Park last Saturday by Carrick Rangers.
Brandon Bermingham, Leo Alves, Mal Smith, and Bobby-Jack McAleese were replaced by Caolan Marron, Tiernan Kelly, Kealan Dillon, and Andrew Mitchell.
The first chance of the game fell to the away side. After a slow start from both teams, a Kealan Dillon corner from the right hand side of the artificial surface was whipped in, headed out by a yellow and white shirt, only to find Tiernan Kelly – who was making his first league start for the Swifts – and his attempt drifted past the right post of Gareth Deane’s goal, which would be one of many corners for the away side in the first twenty minutes of the contest.
Bangor would get their first chance of the game on twenty four minutes when a Recce Neale cross found the head of star striker Ben Arthurs, but the ball was stopped by the Swifts goalkeeper Dunne.
Eleven minutes later, the Swifts were celebrating. A cross from the left hand side of the pitch found the rising Andrew Mitchell, whose header was too strong for Bangor goalkeeper as he palmed the ball into the goal to break the deadlock and give the away side their first goal from open play in the league this season.
However, the celebrations were quickly halted when Tiernan Mulvenna played the ball through to Ben Arthurs, whose shot found the top corner of Declan Dunne’s goal.
This would turn out to be the final chance of a half played in extremely bad conditions and finishing all-square.
The first big chance of the second period fell to the Swifts. Four minutes in, Tomás Galvin did very well to beat his man on the left side of the pitch, and whip the ball into the Bangor box, having Swifts fans holding their breath. However, goalkeeper Deane did very well to grab hold of the cross before any of the men in blue could connect with the ball.
An hour in, disaster struck for the away side when Recce Neale delivered a corner into the area, which was thought to have found the head of Mark Haughey, but the final touch came off Steven Scott, making it 2-1 to home side, turning around the game.
There was controversy ten minutes from time when a Kealan Dillon corner flew directly into the goal, only for the celebrations to be cut short as the referee deemed the Bangor goalkeeper to be fouled, meaning it remained 2-1 to the home side.
Despite bringing on fresh legs off the bench, the Swifts couldn’t get an opportunity to level the game and it ended 2-1 to the Seasiders, keeping the away side on no points and at the bottom of the league five games in.
Post-match, Rodney gave his thoughts on the disallowed goal: “I saw an absolutely wonderful ball being put into the box by Kealan Dillon, and it was going into the far corner of the net, and I saw Gareth Deane back tracking trying to keep it out of his net, and he falls into the corner where the ball falls into.
“Unfortunately, the referee has judged it as being an infringement, and that unfortunately has went against us. Listen, it’s not an easy job, the referees don’t have an easy job, they have to make their own mind up, they have to make the own decision, but in this occasion that has definitely gone against us in my opinion.
“It would have given us a little bit of momentum in the closing stages we maybe could have had the belief that we could have gone and nicked it. But certainly leaving here today in the conditions that there were, if we had left here with a point, it would have been a positive result, especially after the first four defeats. We want to try and get our season up and running and if that’s an ugly 2-2 draw away to Bangor, it would have been a start, but we have to take it on the chin, it hasn’t happened, we can’t change anything now, and we have to focus on the next,” he said.
Regarding the slow start, Rodney said: “I just feel as if we’re lacking a bit of confidence, we’re lacking a bit of belief, but our second half performance today, in my opinion was better than the first half. We played with the wind in the first half and it was too much kick and run after it. Second half I thought we used the ball a little bit better and we played a little bit better, we played a wee bit more like ourself.
“For us to turn this around, we have to believe in what we did last season, we have to believe in what we’re trying to do this season, which is the exact same thing, there will be little tweaks along the way, there will be new faces, there will probably be ones moving on, but we have to believe in the process, and try and get us going.”
Bangor: Deane (GK), McGuinness, Neale (C), Haughey, Hassin, Mulvenna (Devlin 57’), Arthurs, Cushnie (Garrett 84’), O’Mahony, Lynch, Morgan (Osew 69’).
Unused Substitutes: Owens (GK), McArthur, Burns, McMahon.
Dungannon Swifts: Dunne (GK), S. Scott, Marron, Kelly (Knowles 88’), Galvin (Alves 65’), Dillon (McAleese 88’), Glenny, McGinty (C) (T. Maguire 65’), Wallace, Mitchell, McAllister.
Unused Substitutes: Henderson (GK), P. Maguire, Smith.
Up next for the Swifts is the start of the Mid-Ulster Cup defence against St. Mary’s YC at Stangmore Park on Tuesday night with a 19:45 kick off. Up the Swifts!
