Dungannon Swifts players will now prepare for 'pressure' play-off, says Tony Gorman

A 3-2 success against the Ports condemned the County Armagh side to the Championship next season as Michael O'Connor struck the winner with less than 15 minutes to go.

However, Dungannon will hope they also don't follow Portadown into the division below as they face Warrenpoint Town in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off next month.

“The win was a relief because of the pressure Portadown had been putting on us," Gorman said.

“They’ve been scoring goals through Paul McElroy, Alan O’Sullivan and Cathair Friel and they had that bit of momentum heading into the game.

“If we had been offered the play-off before a ball was kicked, we probably would have taken it.

“We have a few injuries such as Caolan Marron, Cathal McGinty and James Knowles who have been playing through the pain barrier in recent weeks.

“It’s one of them where we don’t have the luxury to give them a rest for the games ahead of us.

“To be fair to them, they’ve played through the pain barrier and the win is as much as a reward for them and everyone involved in the playing side of things.

“We were disappointed with the manner of how we conceded the two goals but we are delighted we showed the character to come back.

“It was a real end-to-end game and it would have been a good match for the neutral."

Gorman remarked that the Swifts will be using the next few weeks to prepare for the 'pressure' games against Warrenpoint Town.

“The play-offs are pressure games as we either play Premiership or Championship football next season so there’s an awful lot riding on it," he added.

“The coming week might give us a chance to rest Caolan, Marc and Cathal and make sure they’re right for Warrenpoint.

“It was a risk today by playing Caolan as he got injured before the Irish Cup semi-final and has been touch and go every week.

“Cathal McGinty is no different with a groin problem that needs rest but we aren’t in a position to give them a game off."