Rodney McAree was still able to take “so many positives” despite Dungannon Swifts’ 3-1 loss to Coleraine, who he views as “the best team in the league”.

In what was a repeat of last season’s Irish Cup final, which ended in a 3-2 triumph for the Bannsiders, goals from Jay Henderson, Ben Doherty and Matthew Shevlin ensured Ruaidhri Higgins’ side started their Premiership title bid on a winning note at Stangmore Park.

Sean McAllister had pulled one back for the Swifts after 68 minutes, reducing the deficit to 2-1, but Shevlin’s strike ultimately sealed maximum points for the visitors.

Dungannon have enjoyed a golden period of success recently, reaching consecutive Irish Cup finals alongside recording back-to-back top-half Premiership finishes.

placeholder image — Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

McAree’s men were handed a tough assignment on the opening day of the 2026/27 campaign, and while disappointed with the manner of goals conceded, the Swifts chief could highlight positives to take forward.

"I think they’re (Coleraine) going to be the best squad in the league, to be honest,” said McAree. “I think everybody is saying that.

"I knew coming into the game they have so many good individuals and collectively they’re physically strong as well, the two guys that started at centre-half, Rob Slevin looks as if he’s going to be a great signing for them.

"It was good to see Cameron Stewart back but disappointing to see him go off injured. They’ll be disappointed from that point of view.

"They’re a good side, but I thought we did well at times, really well. We always knew we were going to be up against it, that’s not being defeatist, we wanted to get something out of the game.

"The goals we conceded are poor. We conceded at a poor time at the end of the first half when we need to get in at half-time and keep it at 0-0.

"We come out at the start of the second half and thought we did really well going forward, we created a lot of good opportunities and could have scored more than the one goal.

"We’re disappointed with the two goals we conceded. The short corner shouldn’t be allowed to happen as easily as it did and the third goal we have to close the space.

"I thought at 2-1 we were the team on the ascendancy and the front foot, so it was a sucker punch when we concede the third.”

Dungannon will provide the opposition for David Jeffrey’s first home match as Portadown manager next weekend and McAree is clear his side will continue working hard to improve.

"It’s the first game of the season, it’s against the best team in the league, in my opinion,” he added. “Larne might compete with them but there’s so many positives to take.

"I thought our fitness levels looked good against a full-time team, I thought we looked organised.

"Yes, we could do better in certain areas and we have to keep continuing to work to get rid of the poor errors we make during the game, but you are talking about Coleraine, they’re going to create opportunities against everybody.

"So many positives. I’m pleased with our efforts and most of our play going forward, just disappointed with a few errors defensively.”