Déjà vu for Crusaders and Dungannon Swifts as two teams meet again in the quarter-final of the BetMcLean Cup
Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree hopes there’s as much excitement and drama as Saturday’s game against Crusaders as the two teams do it all over again in the quarter-final of the BetMcLean Cup this evening.
The Swifts travel to Seaview for the second time in four days after playing out a 2-2 draw in the Sports Direct Premiership on Saturday.
The four-goal thriller saw Dungannon lead 2-0 at the break as Tomas Galvin and Dean Curry had the visitors in the driving seat.
However, Declan Caddell’s side rallied early in the second-half and got back on level terms when Jordan Forsythe netted from the spot, before Kieran Offord had too much space in the box to head beyond the reach of Declan Dunne.
In truth, the Swifts will be kicking themselves for not getting more from the contest as Andy Mitchell saw an effort cleared off the line, with John McGovern then blazing over and striking the crossbar.
Premiership duty is swapped for the BetMcLean Cup this evening as McAree’s men are expected to be without full-back Adam Glenny after he was withdrawn through injury at Seaview on Saturday.
"I thought today (Saturday) was a good game from the neutral or supporters point of view,” he told Dungannon Swifts’ social media platforms.
"I'm sure everybody got their value for money and hopefully they get their value for money on Tuesday night as well.
"It's a tough challenge by Ross Clarke but I'm not going to talk about it.
"It's disappointing for Adam and I just hope he's okay.
"He'll go and get an x-ray and hopefully there's not too much damage.
"He's been fantastic for us since I came back to the club. He's an absolutely wonderful player and a great lad."
Dungannon remained third in the Premiership table after Saturday’s draw and McAree is hoping for a strong second-half showing to the campaign.
"We are still in the same position and we've played half-a-season.
"It's great and I just hope the second-half of the season is just as good!
"There's teams hovering just behind us, there's teams busting their guts to get by us...but we'll just look forward to our next league match which is Linfield.
"They don't come much tougher than that and we'll enjoy the moment and enjoy that.”