Rodney McAree admits leading Dungannon Swifts into an Irish Cup final as manager is “something you dream of” and says it’ll take some time for the achievement to sink in after Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Bangor.

McAree was captain in the club’s last Irish Cup final appearance and has continued a special season by guiding his beloved Swifts back to the biggest stage in Irish League football.

From post-match emotions to praise for an “absolute warrior”, here’s what McAree had to say after the Seaview success.

BELIEVE YOU’RE DUE A HAIR CUT NOW?!

placeholder image — Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree and assistant Dixie Robinson celebrate after reaching the Irish Cup final. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

“At the start of January I said I wouldn’t cut my hair until we get beat or reach the final of the Irish Cup.

"Thankfully I can now go get my hair cut and tidy myself up a bit!”

THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH?

"I was happy for half an hour. We gave the ball away in the first five minutes and invited Bangor onto us a bit, maybe gave them some hope, but after that we were good and controlled the game.

"Then we stopped doing the simple things well, started forcing things, trying flicks round corners and different things that made us look scrappy.

"We didn’t finish the half as well as we wanted to and I was weary going into half-time at 1-0 because the conditions were tough and I knew what Bangor would offer in the second half.

"I knew we would have to defend well and if it had went 1-1 then the momentum could have swung massively, but I thought we did well.

"We’d a couple of opportunities to kill the game and we didn’t take them, but it’s a great delivery from Kealan Dillon and a fantastic header from a warrior in Dean Curry.”

CAPTAIN’S PERFORMANCE FROM DEAN CURRY?

"He’s an absolute warrior.

"He’s playing at the minute with his knee bone-on-bone, there’s nothing he can do with it...we wrap him up after one game until the next.

"He does a little bit of a session with us but spends a lot of time on the bike and we’re trying to get him through games and until the end of the season so he is still involved.

"For him to score the goal that sealed the win for us was fantastic.”

HE TOLD US YOU CONVINCED HIM NOT TO RETIRE EARLIER THIS SEASON?

"It was September or October when we went away to Coleraine and he was in a tough place because he thought his career was over.

"He came off the pitch and had a few setbacks. We’ve a great medical team led by Steven Symington and he managed to get him a brace which he goes home and puts on his knee after games and most nights.

"He lies up in the house and sleeps in it sometimes and it takes the pain away, so that has helped, but we will try and see if we can do anything else for him after today and keep him going to have him involved in a cup final.”

WILL IT BE DIFFICULT TO FOCUS ON THE LEAGUE NOW?

"I’ll never be involved in any team that wants to go into a game and just throw the towel in or looking to get a game out of the way.

"I want to be competitive, I count myself as a winner and I get frustrated when we get beat – I’m hard to live with.

"Competition for places in the cup final is a great carrot in terms of boys putting themselves in the picture.

"The hardest thing I had to do today was leave Dylan King and Leon Boyd out of the matchday squad...they are two lads who have been in the squad week in, week out.

"Dylan has played a lot of matches while Leon has been a very good substitute for us, offering something when we bring him on. He maybe hasn’t started as many matches as he would have liked.

"We have good strength in depth, Cahal McGinty and Caolan Marron back, Leo Alves came back into the team today, so we have huge competition for places.

“If boys want to get into the 18 for the cup final then they’ll have to be at the top of their game.”

HOW SPECIAL IS IT GOING TO BE LEADING DUNGANNON INTO AN IRISH CUP FINAL AS MANAGER?

"It’s something you dream of.

"It hasn’t really hit home yet to be honest.

"We had good support here today who made plenty of noise and I’m sure they will come out in their numbers.

"The last cup final we got to we had a good support...we’re not a Linfield, Glentoran or Cliftonville, we won’t fill Windsor, but we will bring as many as we can.

"Our loyal supporters are great people who have pushed the Spirit of ‘49 Supporters Club, it keeps growing in numbers and generating a bit more income to help us improve as a club and team.

“The support has grown and the community has got behind us. There have been so many people this week who said ‘good luck on Saturday’ but unable to make it today, so hopefully those people who are supporting us from a distance and very keen to see us doing well can make it to the final.”