Manager’s programme notes
Posted : 25th August 2022
Tonight could potentially be one of the biggest nights in this club’s distinguished history, if we can earn what would be a huge win in this Conference League play-off round, second leg tie against RFS.
The prize at stake for the winner of tonight’s game between RFS and ourselves is huge and both teams will be giving their all, to try and reach the group stages of this prestigious competition.
RFS are Latvian champions and they showed in the last round in Malta that they can go away and win in Europe following a draw in the home leg, so they will arrive here full of belief that they can progress to the next level in the competition.
Last week’s first leg game in Riga was eventful and we scored two excellent goals through Stephen Fallon and Joel Cooper to give us a 2-0 lead, going into the closing stages. It was disappointing to concede the two late goals to leave the tie delicately poised, going into tonight’s return leg.
As disappointing as the two late goals were, nothing should take away from what was an overall excellent team performance and result against a highly talented team full of internationals from various countries.
We now face a ‘cup final’ occasion tonight and we need to make the most of our home advantage, to try and make history by becoming the first Irish League team to reach the group stages of a European club competition.
I’ve been delighted to commence our League campaign with two wins, 4-0 home against Portadown and 3-1 away to Newry City. We have excellent depth within the squad and this has been illustrated by the strength of the line ups in both league games, only a matter of days after demanding away games in Zurich and Riga.
Joel Cooper will miss tonight’s game due to suspension but we are hopeful that we might see Jimmy Callacher and Niall Quinn return to the squad following injury. They have both played several games for the Swifts on the comeback trail and we will hopefully welcome them back to the squad very soon.
Congratulations to Chris Johns who made his 100th appearance in the recent Portadown game and Kirk Millar who notched up his 350th game in the recent away game in Zurich.
Tonight it’s my 350th game as manager of this club and it’s been a huge honour and privilege in each and every one of those games.
17 years ago tonight, Jamie Mulgrew made his European debut and over 50 games at this level later, he’s still a key player for us. What a remarkable career he has had and I know that if we were to win tonight, the achievement would rank as one of the most memorable and significant in his long and successful career.
We have enjoyed several really special European nights and occasions at Windsor Park in recent years and we will certainly need your full and wholehearted backing tonight, to help us try and create perhaps the most special one of all, if we can get the positive result we all want.
In closing, I want to wish our under 16 squad every success for their upcoming trip to the Somme region of Northern France.