Coleraine clinch Irish Cup glory as Bannsiders see off Dungannon Swifts in five-goal thriller at Windsor Park

The Bannsiders had led 1-0, 2-0 and 3-1 in stages of the gripping contest but the Swifts kept coming back in a rollercoaster match in front of 11,362 at the National Stadium.

However, Coleraine held firm to end a successful first season at the helm under Ruaidhri Higgins to win the famous competition for the seventh time in the club’s history.

In front of a brilliant atmosphere, Dungannon Swifts started the better of the two teams and created two chances within a matter of seconds through Sean McAllister.

The former Everton trainee had a shot parried by Ryan Schofield, before the stopper then showed his reflexes to tip McAllister’s acrobatic effort over the crossbar.

The cup holders then spurned another big chance to break the deadlock as McAllister’s pass was on the money for Kealan Dillon but the midfielder’s shot from an inviting position was kept out by a busy Schofield.

Coleraine, who won their five post-split fixtures heading into the game, finally sprung into life and went close on 11 minutes. Good play in midfield resulted in Matthew Shevlin holding the ball up for Joel Cooper but his low effort was held by Declan Dunne.

However, the Bannsiders struck first and through a familiar source on 19 minutes. A cross in from the right flank wasn’t cleared by Dungannon and Shevlin pounced on that frailty to make it four goals in his last four appearances at Windsor Park.

Despite that setback, Rodney McAree’s men kept coming and should have forged level just two minutes later when the tireless Leo Alves had a scissor kick tipped over, before Caolan Marron’s header from the resulting corner came back off the post as Coleraine somehow survived.

The Swifts were getting a lot of joy on their right-hand side as Alves tried to unlock the Coleraine defence by crossing for Tiernan Kelly but his first-time effort failed to land below the bar.

Whatever Coleraine chief Higgins said to his players at the half-time interval had the desired effect as the Bannsiders doubled their lead barely a minute after the restart. This time Shevlin turned provider as his clever flick released Cooper and he arrowed a precise shot into the far corner.

But Dungannon failed to lie down and halved the arrears on 55 minutes through a fine finish by Paul Doyle as the midfielder curled an unstoppable effort into the back of the net from around 20 yards.

However, all that hard work was undone as Coleraine regained their two-goal buffer on the hour mark. A cross-field pass by Cameron Stewart released Zane Okoro, and after his initial shot was blocked, Shevlin was on hand to stab home the rebound from close range.

Shevlin threatened yet again as Ben Wylie’s deep cross found the marksman but his looping header was somehow clawed away to safety by an outstretched Dunne.

The goals just kept on coming as the Swifts once again managed to get themselves back into the game. This time a dangerous cross into the area saw the ball land to an unmarked Andy Mitchell and the substitute made no mistake from a matter of yards.

With nothing to lose, the Swifts threw on attacking duo Corey Smith and Kobei Moore but Coleraine threatened next as neat play at the edge of the box saw Patching curl into the gloves of Dunne from the edge of the box.

Seven minutes of additional time were indicated by the officials but Coleraine held firm to see off a dogged Dungannon and celebrate Higgins’ one-year anniversary as manager.

DUNGANNON SWIFTS: Dunne, Marron, Kelly (Moore ‘83 mins), Dillon (Mitchell ‘55 mins), Alves (Knowles ‘88 mins), Glenny, McGinty (Smith ‘55 mins), Doyle (Gordon ‘83 mins), Wallace, Bigirimana, McAllister.

Subs Not Used: Henderson (GK), Maguire.

COLERAINE: Schofield, Kane, Patching, Shevlin, Cooper, Ives (Jarvis’ 71 mins), Dunne, Stewart, Wylie (McDonald ‘64 mins), Okoro, Coyle (Boyle ‘57 mins).

Subs Not Used: Webb (GK), McGonigle, Connolly, Devine.

Referee: Steven Gregg