Rodney McAree praise for 'good character' as Dungannon Swifts players react on day of drama

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Rodney McAree celebrated a first Dungannon Swifts win of the Sports Direct Premiership season on Saturday – but the manager’s main focus centred on his four players involved in a pre-match four-vehicle collision.

Declan Dunne, Thomas Maguire, James Knowles and Danny Wallace were travelling to Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Ballymena United when their car was involved in a four-vehicle collision on the Lisburn Road area around Moira.

Police stated “it is not believed that anyone was seriously injured in the collision” and McAree offered his gratitude for the fortunate outcome for all involved, as well as describing the timeline.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I think at ten to one we get a phone call and obviously first and foremost the only thing you want to know is everyone's okay and no-one's seriously badly hurt,” said McAree after watching Kealan Dillon’s goal settle victory at home to Ballymena United. "Everybody's doing well...we'll assess them over the next period and go from that but, thankfully, no-one's seriously hurt.

Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)
Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)

"It's not a phone call you want to get at that stage of your plans with preparation done and team picked.

"All of a sudden, out of a car load, you've three starting (and) a new guy coming in going to be making his debut in some way involved probably from the bench.

"It give us a little bit of ammunition in terms of going out and trying to get a result for those boys.

He added: "They're all okay...they were all in one car.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We'd a video call from Decky (Dunne) and we could see the damage that was done (to the car) and I just hope there was no-body else with anything serious.

"I've never got a phone call like that."

McAree singled out the response of his squad as an example of the “togetherness” within the Swifts group.

"We're blessed because we've got a great changing room, good togetherness, good character and that showed in abundance today,” he said. "We try to keep it away from the players but obviously the players have their own group chat and suddenly a photo is sent in and they become aware of it.

"They were made aware everyone was okay so that reassured them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We tried to use it as a little bit of motivation to say 'let's go out and get three points for them' and, thankfully, we did.”

McAree felt the Swifts could have “made it more comfortable” beyond Dillon’s decisive free-kick finish on 15 minutes that found a path direct into goal from distance to secure the welcome win.

"I thought we were good enough in the first half...in the second we could have managed it a little bit better, we invited pressure on,” he said. "I thought we had opportunities...Tom Galvin has a header in the second half, we got into good areas in the second half but didn't make enough of it.

"We had a couple of really good opportunities in the first half and could have maybe gone in three or four up at half-time.

"Andy Scott missed one for Ballymena but it was probably the only opportunity they had...we could have made it more comfortable."

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1737
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice