How Linfield won the Irish League title in record speed as Premiership celebrations get underway in Dungannon

In the Blues’ first match since being confirmed champions, the County Tyrone venue was a superb scene of colour as the Linfield supporters, who were in fine voice throughout, got the party started.

Hosts Dungannon also marked the occasion, giving David Healy’s title winners a guard of honour prior to kick-off, and they’ll again be the opponents next month when Linfield likely lift the Gibson Cup at Windsor Park on the weekend of April 11/12 – their final scheduled home fixture of the season.

On the pitch, Joel Cooper played a part in two goals in their 3-0 win, teeing up Kirk Millar for an early opener and struck home a second from the penalty spot after Dylan King brought down Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Substitute Chris McKee rounded out the scoring in the closing stages, striking calmly beyond Alex Henderson after being fed by Kieran Offord.

Here we look at some of the key reasons behind Linfield’s triumph and why they’ve became the first team to achieve that feat before the split.

Consistency and bouncebackability

While everyone else around them struggled for consistency throughout long stretches of the season, Linfield have been the only team yet to suffer back-to-back defeats, responding to all five losses with a positive result (four wins, one draw).

They’ve won 24 matches, scored the most, conceded the fewest, kept the most clean sheets and collected the most points both home and away with an unbeaten run of 12 between late-November and February setting the platform for Gibson Cup glory.

While they’d 78 points at this stage last season, which is slightly more than Healy’s side have accumulated so far this term while winning the Premiership in record speed, it speaks to their consistency that such an achievement was possible.

Deadly duo

Every team that wins the league needs sharpshooting prowess in front of goal and both Cooper, who will almost certainly be named Player of the Year, and Matthew Fitzpatrick have combined to great effect.

Cooper has scored 19 Premiership goals and provided a further 10 assists, while striker Fitzpatrick has netted 11 times, which is already two more than he managed last term in what was a challenging first season at Windsor Park, meaning they’ve combined for 50% of Linfield’s league goals this term.

There has been a great appreciation from Blues supporters for Fitzpatrick, who has played a pivotal part in helping give Cooper the freedom and service to terrorise opposition defences.

David Healy

Healy was undoubtedly under pressure heading into this season after watching Larne lift two consecutive Premiership titles, but he has responded in tremendous fashion to collect a sixth Gibson Cup in nine full seasons as Linfield manager.

He has got most of the big calls correct, masterminding two wins over the Inver Reds while they also defeated high-flying Dungannon Swifts three times – the only team Linfield have struggled against is Big Two rivals Glentoran, who had their number across various competitions.

Alongside success on the pitch, Healy deserves immense credit for how he has led his club through tragic circumstances after the loss of Paul Butler, Michael Newberry and Andy Kerr, showing his class once again.

Getting big decisions right

Another aspect of Healy’s role which has paved the path for success is basically every squad-based decision he made this season paid off.

He made the huge call to drop goalkeeper Chris Johns, an established Irish League shot-stopper, for 22-year-old David Walsh, who has barely put a foot wrong, racking up 12 clean sheets – the Premiership’s highest – in only 20 league appearances alongside being named Player of the Month for December.

Healy masterfully dealt with the noise surrounding Cooper’s impending Coleraine departure as both kept full focus on the task at hand while Matthew Orr’s senior promotion was more than justified – the Northern Ireland youth international could be the next Irish League star to depart for a move across the water this summer.