Rodney McAree feels 'very fortunate to have' Dungannon Swifts star in his ranks
Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree feels “very fortunate to have” Leo Alves at the club after he played a starring role in ending Glentoran’s unbeaten record with a 3-1 victory at Stangmore Park.
The Swifts, who came into the fixture on the back of four consecutive wins across all competitions, fell behind in the first half when Marcus Kane headed home from close range.
However, the game swung after the break when Glentoran striker Jordan Jenkins was given his marching orders, collecting a second yellow card for a high boot on Steven Scott, and Leo Alves levelled proceedings with a sublime effort from the resulting free-kick.
With Glens manager Declan Devine also sent off shortly after, Dungannon went ahead through Junior, who enjoyed two seasons at The Oval, before Adam Glenny sealed all three points.
A Guinea-Bissau international, Alves continues to defy his age, producing a string of impressive performances and remaining a key part of the Swifts squad at 37.
Having enjoyed spells across various clubs in Portugal, Alves arrived in the Irish League with Dungannon in 2023 and has now racked up 75 league appearances for the Co Tyrone outfit.
He also helped McAree’s men seal historic Irish Cup glory last term and the Swifts chief was full of praise for Alves’ all-round display.
"The free-kick is in an area of the pitch that if you can capitalise straight away it gives us a better opportunity of winning the game,” he told the club’s media channel. “It's a fantastic strike from Leo.
"He has the capabilities of doing that, of doing it from open play as well. He's a very talented guy at 38 years of age - I would have loved to see him when he was 28 - he's a fantastic footballer and someone we're very fortunate to have.
"He's an extremely fit guy and gets us back in the game. Junior hooks one in and it's a good finish.
"The delivery for Adam Glenny's header from Leo is exceptional as well...Adam was probably beating himself up a bit because he was assigned to pick up Marcus Kane, who scored for them. It's a good reward for Adam because his overall performance was exceptional."
Dungannon have now won each of their last four Premiership matches, including consecutive victories over full-time opposition, but McAree feels Saturday’s showing was his side’s best so far.
"I think it's our best performance of the season,” he added. “We were very unfortunate to find ourselves a goal down...we showed good character after, kept playing the way we were playing.
"I thought we were really good to watch in the first half and unfortunately went in at half-time 1-0 down.
"I just felt that if we could keep our performance and effort levels where they were, we'd give ourselves every opportunity of getting something out of the game.
"We're playing against 10-men when Jordan Jenkins gets sent off, he's probably unfortunate...it's a ball he feels he's going to hook and he has caught Scotty (Steven Scott).
"It gave us a wee bit more of an opportunity of capitalising, but we still had to do the basics well, we still had to do the right things all the time, and I thought to a man the players were fantastic."