Dungannon Swifts assistant boss Dixie Robinson admitted he would have taken a 1-1 draw against Linfield at Windsor Park if offered before 3pm – but two hours later a little bit miffed they didn’t get all three points!

The struggling Swifts, who had previously taken merely two points from a possible 21, appeared to be staring down the barrel when Matthew Fitzpatrick shot David Healy’s men into an early lead.

But they came out after the restart with a renewed confidence and sent their small pocket of fans into a frenzy when they equalised midway through the half, courtesy of a Steven Scott tap-in.

Their plight became a little bit easier when Linfield defender Ethan McGee was dismissed by referee Evan Boyce after picking up a second yellow card.

placeholder image — Linfield's Adam Frizzell battling to keep possession under pressure from Adam Glenny in the draw with Dungannon Swifts. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

It left the Blues hanging on a little bit over the final phase of the game.

“Confidence was low because of our league form of late,” said Robinson. “Our performances have been decent enough but we just haven’t been putting the ball in the net.

“We probably rode our luck a bit early in the second half, but after that I thought we were really good and fully deserving of our point.

“Rodney (McAree, manager) likes the boys to play with a bit of flair but, ultimately, you must do the dirty side of the game and I thought that was evident today.

“We were knocking at the door for an equaliser after the restart, we missed a few decent chances but, thankfully, wee Stevie Scott got on the end of a free-kick to level.

“After that I thought we looked the more likely to win it...I suppose at three o’clock we would have been more than happy to take a point.

“When you concede an early goal at Windsor you are always a little bit wary...but the boys knuckled down well and kept their shape, they deserve all the credit.”

Although the Blues are now 13 games unbeaten since a loss on the opening day of the season against Ballymena United, Linfield boss Healy certainly wasn’t impressed on Saturday.

“We were disjointed and, at this moment in time, I cannot think of any positives to take from the game in terms of our performance,” said Healy. “I take the responsibility for the performance but the players are also aware of their responsibilities.

“First of all, I will certainly assess my own decision-making and then pick through the rest of the display but we looked disjointed.

“It was probably a game we would have lost last season.

"We take the point and move on.”

LINFIELD: Chris Johns, Chris Shields, Kyle McClean, Adam Frizzell, Kitt Nelson, Ben Hall, Rhys Brennan, Isaac Baird, Ethan McGee, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Dane McCullough. Subs: Aidan Glavin, Ryan Nolan, Kirk Millar, Dylan Wells, Jamie Mulgrew, Sean Brown, Kobei Moore.

DUNGANNON SWIFTS: Declan Dunne, Cahal McGinty, Tiernan Kelly, Corey Smith, Steven Scott, Leo Alves, Adam Glenny, Jamie Glackin, Paul Doyle, Danny Wallace, Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe. Subs: Alex Henderson, John Scott, Andrew Mitchell, Kealan Dillon, Shea Gordon, Jack Johnston, Gaël Bigirimana.