Rodney McAree determined to keep talented Dungannon Swifts squad together after five-star Crusaders showing

John McGovern and substitute Tomas Galvin both netted braces while Brandon Bermingham scored on his top-flight debut in a clinical display which moved the Swifts back into second spot.

It was just the latest example of the talented team which McAree has compiled at Stangmore Park with 22-year-old McGovern, who joined from Newry during the summer, showing both blistering pace and ruthless finishing at the start of both halves before Galvin rounded out a tremendous afternoon by firing home a stunning free-kick in the closing stages.

According to statistician Marshall Gillespie, Saturday marked the first time Dungannon had scored five league goals on the road since January 2010 – a stretch of 5,467 days – and their cushion to seventh-placed Ballymena United currently stands at eight points with nine matches left to play before the split.

The County Tyrone club have become accustomed to losing their star talent in recent years with Ethan McGee departing for Linfield last January, following Darragh McBrien to Windsor Park, while Terry Devlin joined Glentoran before making a move across the water to Portsmouth.

McAree has done a tremendous job in recruiting quality in the likes of Kealan Dillon, Gael Bigirimana, Leo Alves and McGovern while handing opportunities to academy stars Steven Scott and Adam Glenny, and wants to keep his side together beyond January.

"The players are happy at this moment in time and nobody has approached us for any of them,” he said. "They are in a good place, enjoying their football, have smiles on their faces and are scoring goals.

"At some stage, Dungannon Swifts probably always lose their best players, but it won’t be at this moment in time.”

McGovern is well and truly back on the goal trail after netting five times in his last three appearances, following up a brace in last weekend’s Irish Cup triumph over Rathfriland Rangers with another double in Belfast.

An injury to Andrew Mitchell in the warm up meant McGovern was moved centrally while January recruit Bermingham played off the left – an alteration which proved devastating for Crusaders.

"He probably went through a wee stage where he wasn’t weighing in with goals or missing the odd opportunity but that’ll happen – as long as he’s still getting into those good areas and giving himself opportunities we’re happy,” added McAree on McGovern. "We know he will come good again.

"We had Mitch starting through the middle and we were forced into making a change before the match started.

"He got hit on the head with the ball and when he fell he tweaked something in his shoulder. The physio thought it wasn’t a good idea to start him so we took him out and went from there.

"When you have the likes of Brandon Bermingham or Tomas Galvin to choose from it makes it a bit easier to make that change because of the qualities they bring and gives us the opportunity to put John through the middle and with his pace we could stretch Crusaders and we score the first goal through that.

"He did extremely well, was a threat, got us up the pitch, created space for other people and allowed us to play a bit of football.”