Dungannon Swifts Manager McAree Praises Team’s Battling Qualities After Carrick Rangers Win

Dungannon Swifts, currently third in the Irish Premiership, secured a 1-0 victory over Carrick Rangers at Taylors Avenue on Saturday. Following the match, manager Rodney McAree commended his team’s resilient performance. James Knowles netted the decisive goal late in the game. The contest, while not exceptional in terms of quality, featured considerable effort from both sides. McAree stated to BBC Sport NI, “We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, the overnight rain didn’t help, although the pitch was in tremendous condition so fair play to Carrick.” He further added, “We knew it was going to be a battle and we had to fight for everything that we got and keep it tight at the back to give ourselves a chance.” McAree also commented, “I thought there was always going to be one goal that decided it.” The Stangmore Park-based club has rebounded from a three-game losing streak by achieving consecutive victories against Glenavon and Carrick, keeping clean sheets in both matches. According to McAree, “It was important we got out of that rut of three defeats in a row and now we’ve kept two clean sheets and clean sheets win games.” He elaborated on their season’s performance, stating, “This season we haven’t conceded as many goals and that’s given us the chance to earn more points – we haven’t scored as many but as long as we’re not conceding we’re giving ourselves an opportunity to stay as close to the top for as long as we can.”