Rodney McAree always has faith in Dungannon Swifts' penalty hero after BetMcLean Cup progression
Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree insists he always backs penalty shootout hero Declan Dunne when it comes to spot-kicks after his side continued their fine recent record by beating Ards in the BetMcLean Cup.
McAree’s men sealed the club’s first-ever Irish Cup crown on penalties with success against Cliftonville at Windsor Park and collected a Charity Shield via the same method after beating reigning Premiership champions Linfield during pre-season.
Dunne proved to be Dungannon’s hero on a historic afternoon which will live long in Swifts memory, saving two Reds penalties following a fine performance across the 120 minutes prior.
Wednesday’s cup clash went to penalties after Junior cancelled out Eamon Scannell’s extra-time strike and Dunne once again showed his prowess in a 4-3 Swifts success.
Kealan Dillon, Leo Alves, Adam Glenny and Andrew Mitchell converted their penalties, and while McAree would rather win games in a more comfortable fashion, progressing is always the main objective.
"You could probably do without them to be honest!" McAree told the club’s media channel. “You'd rather win in normal time and be much prettier than we were, but cup football is about winning the game you're playing and progressing. We look forward to the draw and seeing who we get.
"They (squad) are all together, we've no individuals, we're a collective as a team.
"When one maybe misses or doesn't take an opportunity, others are there to try and pull them out and that's what we did.
"We seem to have got quite good at penalties and have a bit of fortune when it goes to penalties. I always put faith in Decky when it goes to penalties that he'll save at least one so it's up to everybody to do the business."
Victory at Clandeboye Park continued Dungannon’s winning momentum – McAree’s men have now won their last four matches across all competitions ahead of welcoming unbeaten league leaders Glentoran to Stangmore Park this weekend.
McAree was able to ring the changes with five players drafted in from Saturday’s 2-0 triumph over Larne, including a first start for Luton Town loanee Sam Anderson.
"We spoke before about 'by hook or by crook', whatever it takes we had to get through the round,” he added. “We got a bit fortunate, I think on the night we're second best and Ards created the better opportunities.
"We did well in the first half, had a lot of possession, but when we got into Ards' half and got behind them we weren't assertive enough or asked enough questions.
"Second half of extra-time we probably rode our luck a bit...sometimes when you win games or football or a competition, you look back on fortunate games and times during the process and last night could be a time we look back on favourably from that point of view.
"It's good to get people minutes. There are some not getting minutes at the moment because other players are doing so well.
"It gave us an opportunity to freshen things up and I thought there were good individual performances from certain ones and a lot of minutes into the legs. That will stand to them as we move forward."