On Tuesday night, the BetMcLean Cup semi-finals were finalised at last and we now know exactly who will compete for a spot in the prestigious decider.
One side of the draw features a mouthwatering Mid-Ulster Derby at Mourneview Park, where a high-stakes tussle between Glenavon and Portadown takes centre stage and the bragging rights of the region will have even sweeter a taste than normal for the victor.
And on the other, holders Linfield travel to Stangmore Park, with Dungannon Swifts lying in wait and hoping to shock the 56-time record Irish League champions after their extra-time disposal of Newry City on Tuesday night.
It is an intriguing make-up, first and foremost. Three of the four were Irish League champions at one point or another. All of them are prior League Cup winners.
There is history and heritage attached to each of the representatives – three of them in the top-tier; Portadown the exception given their demotion to the Championship at the end of last term – and there is no doubting their capabilities to make the showpiece. You couldn’t write one off out of hand.
Dungannon, winners of the competition under Rodney McAree in 2018, are aspiring to repeat the feat under the same manager this time around.
It looked as if their journey would be coming a close when they found themselves behind in their showdown with Gary Boyle’s Newry – a match deferred seven days following the controversial postponement of the first encounter by referee Shane Andrews – after the deadlock-breaker from Swifts striker Ben Gallagher 18 minutes from time was overturned by the visitors through Adam Salley’s leveller and 15-year-old Paul McGovern’s first senior goal.
But the Co Tyrone men had a joker in their pack. Bright forward Tomas Galvin bit back on behalf of the hosts to bring it back to 2-2 and force extra-time where he turned the tide again with his second strike, before Kealan Dillon applied the finishing touch and booked Dungannon’s date with the Blues.
Linfield are the odd one out for a number of reasons. Stating the obvious, they are the sole outfit of the quartet not based in the Mid-Ulster region, as well as the only club remaining with a full-time model in place.
The latter should make them the on-paper favourites by default, but David Healy – whose Windsor pack reigned supreme on penalties away to Larne following extra-time drives by Euan East and seemingly Everton-bound teen Braiden Graham – knows better than to underestimate McAree.
The former Glentoran manager, who toppled the Northern Ireland’s national team’s all-time record goalscorer and his panel in a 3-0 Valentine’s Day massacre at The BetMcLean Oval earlier in 2023, won the competition at Ballymena United’s expense five years ago and will of course want his blue-shirted charges to offer a fresh spark.
Meanwhile, not far away in Lurgan, the Glenavon faithful have been gleefully looking down at their red-shirted noisy neighbours this term, but for all the poking the bear, Portadown will be desperate to rip the stick off their rivals and leave them red-faced.
Stephen McDonnell has begun brightly in charge of the Mourneview Aces and rather astonishingly handed Coleraine their first BetMcLean Cup defeat outside the Final in five years when Jack Malone, Aaron Prendergast and Cohen Henderson struck in the 3-2 victory at the Ballycastle Road Showgrounds.
But Niall Currie was a finalist with second-tier Ards in 2016, and from a quality point of view, the Ports have the quality within their ranks to cause problems – something that Crusaders and Loughgall have learnt the hard way already, with Eamon Fyfe and Eoghan McCawl on target in the latter last-eight duel.
They possess a powerful team at Championship level that is vying hard to bounce right back up and have an array of aces in their pack, with Kenny Kane, Eoin Bradley and Ryan Mayse prospective thorns in the side in attack.
What happens on the pitch is anyone’s guess, but if it’s anything less than a raucous sell-out in the stands, then there’s something not right.
Image from Dungannon Swifts Social Media.
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