'We lacked conviction' - Magilton on final defeat

BBC News

03-05-2025

Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton said his side "didn't do enough to win" as they fell short in their bid to win back-to-back Irish Cups.The Reds lost out 4-3 in a penalty shootout against Dungannon Swifts after a 1-1 draw after extra time.Shea Kearney scored a fine goal to equalise after John McGovern had opened the scoring for the Swifts, who had Steven Scott sent off on 70 minutes.Despite playing with a man advantage for the end of the second half and extra time, Magilton felt his side failed to make it count."We lacked real conviction today. I just didn't think we had enough about us to go out and win the game and it was a bit hopeful," he said."That's a real disappointment for us, but I want to congratulate Rodney [McAree] and the club, they've done a great job this year."We've got to take it on the chin and move on."
'You can't begrudge Dungannon'
Magilton praised the Swifts' display and believes they were worthy winners in the end as they lifted the Irish Cup for the first time."They go down to 10 men and you think you're going to capitalise on that, but Declan [Dunne] had a really good day in goal," he added. "They showed unbelievable character, defensively, I thought they were absolutely outstanding. "If you looked at [Dean] Curry, he hasn't played for, a month, since the semi-final, it's an unbelievable shift he and they put in, so you can't begrudge them, you really can't."The Reds boss was perturbed, however, that a coin toss did not take place to decide which end the penalties would be taken in the shootout.The spot kicks were taken at the Dungannon end due to an IFA decision, who in a statement said: "The decision was taken based on safety advice in accordance with Law 10.3 of the IFAB Laws of the Game."The law states that: "Unless there are other considerations (e.g. ground conditions, safety etc.), the referee tosses a coin to decide the goal at which the kicks will be taken, which may only be changed for safety reasons or if the goal or playing surface becomes unusable"."I would be amazed if Cliftonville agreed to that, that is pretty amazing, I have never heard that," Magilton said."Did it ultimately cost us the game? No, because that would be taking credit away from Dungannon and we don't want to do that. Would we have liked to be shooting into our end? Yes."It is pretty startling though a penalty shootout being decided on safety measures, what was the security risk, our supporters getting exuberant? I think it is pretty poor if they thought that."If we take the penalty shootout out of it, though, we had to do more, and they were pretty composed with their penalties."
'We need European football'
The north Belfast club have endured an incredibly tough season despite winning the BetMcLean Cup in March.Defender Michael Newberry died suddenly in December with the Cliftonville players again wearing his number five on their jerseys at Windsor Park. The heartbreaking cup final defeat means that the Reds will now compete in the Irish Premiership play-offs for a place in Europe.Cliftonville are away to Glentoran in the semi-final on Wednesday night and captain Rory Hale said it is now his job to pick up his devastated team-mates for a massive game."We can't cry over spilt milk, it's over and done with now, but it's very disheartening for myself," he said."I put a lot into this season, and it's been really, really emotional for us."The young players have gone through a lot, the highs of winning a trophy, the lows of, losing a team-mate and finishing in the bottom half of the table, and now another bit of heartbreak for them, to try and cope with."It's up to myself, Jonny Addis and Joe Gormley, to really get these kids motivated again for Wednesday night because we need European football."