Coleraine Fc Meets Dungannon Swifts in Windsor Park Final
coleraine fc meets Dungannon Swifts in the Irish Cup final at Windsor Park on Saturday afternoon. It is the first final between two teams based outside Belfast since 2014, and Dungannon arrive with last year’s first Irish Cup title already in the bank.
Windsor Park On Saturday
The final puts two non-Belfast clubs on the same stage at Windsor Park, ending a run that had been dominated by Belfast sides for more than a decade. That setup gives Saturday’s match a different edge: Dungannon are not chasing a first breakthrough, but trying to follow the club’s first-ever cup win last year with another trophy.
For Coleraine, the assignment is simple and immediate. Beat the Swifts at Windsor Park and the club takes the Cup away from a team that has already shown it can finish the job in this competition.
Philomena Begley And The Swifts
The build-up in Dungannon has spilled beyond the pitch. Philomena Begley performed for Swifts fans, players and management in the club’s clubhouse, and the 84-year-old said she is enjoying the link with the team.
“I'm still getting my head around it all, I never thought I'd see the day I'd become the soundtrack for a football team, but I must say I'm really enjoying it.” She added: “I'm singing Blanket on the Ground for over 50 years now, and there's no word about football in it, but it has really caught on with Swifts fans and I'm delighted.”
Blue And White In Dungannon
The town has dressed for the occasion. Dungannon town centre has been draped in the Swifts’ traditional blue and white, while Arlene McFarland turned her shop in Newmills into a mini Dungannon Swifts fan zone.
McFarland said: “I think it's important for a local business to support a local club, because that is an investment back into the community.” She also said: “You can see the whole village has just come alive with colour and the shop has been bouncing with activity, it's fantastic.”
Charlie Calderwood summed up the mood in the town with one line: “The buzz about the town this year again has been second to none,” as the final day moved closer.
