Rodney McAree admits leading Dungannon Swifts into an Irish Cup final as manager is “something you dream of” after guiding his beloved club back to the biggest stage for the first time since 2007 following a 2-0 victory over Bangor.

The last – and only – time the Swifts reached the Windsor Park showpiece was nearly 20 years ago when McAree led them out as captain during a penalty shoot-out defeat to Linfield.

Now, Dungannon’s special season, which already includes securing their maiden top-six Premiership finish since 2010, will culminate with a final date against reigning champions Cliftonville on May 3 where they’ll also have the extra incentive of sealing European football.

A Kyle Owens own goal and emphatic Dean Curry header ensured progression past Championship high-flyers Bangor at Seaview and McAree admits it will take some time for such a significant achievement to sink in.

placeholder image — Rodney McAree celebrates with Dungannon Swifts fans after reaching the Irish Cup final. (Photo by Inpho/Stephen Hamilton)

"It’s something you dream of,” he said. "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 for the final.

"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.”

With five Premiership matches left to play and second spot still up for grabs, McAree has a potential conundrum in how to handle the weeks before the club’s biggest fixture in nearly two decades, but he wants to remain competitive across all fronts.

"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,” he added. "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.”