Rodney McAree thrilled to see next crop of talented Dungannon Swifts stars coming through as teenagers handed opportunities in Irish Cup victory

The returning Andrew Mitchell scored after only five minutes against their Amateur League opponents at Stangmore Park before Adam Glenny, who has signed a new two-year contract extension, doubled Dungannon’s advantage.

Kealan Dillon, Cahal McGinty and Joe Moore netted further second-half goals to help set up a sixth round clash with Championship side Ballyclare Comrades.

McAree was able to introduce some of the club’s brightest young talents with 17-year-old Aidan Hegarty coming on as a half-time substitute while 18-year-old Kenny Ximenes played the final 20 minutes in what was just his fourth senior appearance across competitions.

Ximenes has been one to watch in recent years having helped the Swifts U18’s lift the Harry Cavan Youth Cup in 2022, where he was named Man of the Match in a squad that included the likes of current Cliftonville star Shea Kearney.

Dungannon’s youth set-up continues to be amongst the best in class as they consistently churn out stars that are thriving across the water, such as Conor Bradley and Terry Devlin, or plying their trade in full-time Irish League football, the most recent example of which is Ethan McGee’s move to Linfield.

Nineteen-year-old striker Tomas Galvin, who has scored four Premiership goals this season, and 19-year-old Steven Scott also played their part in Saturday’s success.

"It's great to see Kenny coming on,” McAree told the club’s media channel. “He's probably the hardest working player we have at the club and everybody knows Kenny around the town, through the club and everybody loves him.

"I thought he came on and did well and thought when Aidan Hegarty came on he showed positivity. I know as much as anybody what quality Aidan has and he came on, picked the ball up and drove forward.

"He could have scored a goal and it was rebounded to Joe who puts it in the net. Aidan is doing well and it's nice to see the next crop starting to come through."

Mitchell wasted no time in displaying his quality as the 29-year-old, who only joined from Coleraine on Wednesday evening, showed early signs of the goalscoring form that helped him net 26 times in all competitions during his last campaign with the Swifts (2016/17).

"It's a great start for him,” added McAree. “I'm sure Mitch as soon as he signed was itching to get his first goal and probably dreams of getting an opportunity in the first few minutes and thankfully he has put it in the back of the net.

"It's a good delivery from Leo (Alves) and Mitch gets on the end of it at the near post, so I'm delighted for him. I thought he was very, very good in the hour that he played with his link-up play, movement and he tried to get a couple of shots off. I'm delighted with him."

McAree was also full of praise for opponents Willowbank, playing in an Irish Cup fifth round tie for the first time just days after winning the Border Cup crown with a 6-1 success over Comber Rec.

"I thought Willowbank were superb,” he said. “For a team that is playing in Amateur League 1B, I thought they were exceptional.

"They came with belief, a style of play and made it difficult for us by playing good football and created the odd opportunity.

"All you want to do is win the game. We can be better and play better. We won the game 5-0 last weekend (against Newry City) and were 10 times better than we were today. We were lethargic at times today but all credit from that point goes to Willowbank.”