Reds, Coleraine & Swifts into Irish Cup last four

March 7, 2026 No Comments

Reds, Coleraine & Swifts into Irish Cup last fourImage source, Pacemaker/PresseyeImage caption, Liam McStravick, Steven Scott and Joel Cooper were on target for their sides on SaturdayPublished7 March 2026, 17:12 GMTUpdated 34 minutes agoCliftonville, Coleraine and Dungannon Swifts all saw off Championship opposition on Saturday to book their places in the Irish Cup semi-finals.Holders Dungannon saw off H&W Welders 3-0 at Stangmore Park thanks to goals from Steven Scott, Shane McGinty and Kobei Moore as they continue their defence of the trophy.Cliftonville remained on track for a third successive final appearance as Keevan Hawthorne, Shaun Leppard and Liam McStravick were on target in a 3-0 win against Loughgall at Lakeview Park.Joel Cooper and substitute Matthew Shevlin were the second-half goalscorers as Coleraine were 2-0 victors over Limavady United at the Showgrounds.The three sides are joined in the last four by Larne, who defeated Glentoran in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in Friday night.

The semi-final draw has paired Cliftonville with Dungannon in a repeat of last year’s decider, while Larne will face Coleraine.

The ties will be played at neutral venues on the weekend of 3-4 April.

Bannsiders banish Limavady

Second-half goals from man-of-the-match Cooper and Shevlin saw Coleraine get past dogged second-tier promotion hopefuls Limavady.

Cooper rifled home his 20th goal of the campaign just after the hour before setting Shevlin up for his 19th of the season with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Dean Jarvis should have done better when well placed by Zane Okoro inside the opening two minutes but the Coleraine defender sliced his volley well wide of the target.

Teenager Senan Devine was proving to be Coleraine’s premier attacking threat in the game’s early stages and three times in quick succession he was denied by fine saves from Marty Gallagher.

At the other end, John Butcher fired over after a corner had been cleared to him on the edge of the box while Ryan Schofield got down well to gather a Leon Boyd cross.

The deadlock was broken just after the hour. Half-time replacement Ben Wylie fed Cooper, who took a touch before rifling an unstoppable 25-yard shot into the top corner of the net past a helpless Gallagher.

The visitors upped the tempo in the final quarter and Shevlin was denied by a goal line clearance from Tiarnan Boorman, Mark Coyle’s follow-up effort also blocked.

The second goal the Bannsiders had been threatening duly arrived 12 minutes from the end.

Reading Tiarnan Boorman’s under hit back pass, Cooper got to the ball in front of Gallagher amd rounded the keeper before teeing up Shevlin with a simple finish 12 yards out in front of goal.

Swifts continue cup defence

Holders Swifts end Welders Irish Cup dreams

Welders could have opened the scoring at Dungannpn after Enomfon Nto ran all the way from his own half into the Swifts’ box, but Declan Dunne stood up well to his effort.

Some 10 minutes after that Scott latched onto an excellent long-range pass from Gael Bigirimana and expertly lifted the ball over the onrushing Samuel Safaei and into the net.

Sean McAllister nearly doubled the lead but when he was one-on-one with Samuel Safaei, Welders’ keeper made himself big and pulled off a super save. Safaei went on to make several big stops throughout the match.

Around the hour mark, Dungannon grabbed the second goal and gave their visitors a real uphill task.

Paul Doyle saw his goalbound effort somehow cleared off the line by Ewan McCoubrey but from the resultant corner, Leo Alves found McGinty at the back post and he powered his header into the net.

Dungannon kept up the pace for the remainder of the game and Moore well and truly put the game to bed with a very well-taken effort with just over 10 minutes of the game to go.

From outside the area, Moore struck the ball low and found the corner of the net.

Reds ease past Loughgall

Cliftonville claim semi-final spot with victory over Loughgall

Loughgall were quick out of the blocks and almost caught the visitors cold when Rory Hale gifted possession to Scott McCann, and the playmaker picked out the run of Kirk McLaughlin, but the striker’s low shot was comfortably gathered by PJ Morrison.

Despite that early pressure, Cliftonville struck first when Adebayo Fapetu found Hawthorne on the edge of the area, and the midfielder clipped a composed finish into the far corner beyond a helpless Ross Glendinning.

The Villagers nearly responded within minutes as Paul McElroy showed quick feet to backheel into the path of Darragh Stewart, but with only Morrison to beat, the forward opted for power and blazed well over the bar.

The Reds doubled their advantage shortly after the half-hour mark when Leppard rose highest at the near post to guide Michael Glynn’s corner past substitute Berraat Turker for his second goal in successive games.

After the restart, Jim Magilton’s men pressed forward as Hale delivered a teasing cross to the back post, where Hawthorne connected from close range, but James Carroll was alert to hack the ball clear off the line.

Loughgall should have reduced the deficit when McCann robbed Josh Kelly and immediately fed McLaughlin, whose thunderous drive towards the near post cannoned back off the crossbar.

The visitors eventually made it three when Fapetu slipped a neat through ball into the path of McStravick, and although Turker pushed away the winger’s initial low effort, the winger reacted quickest to convert the rebound.

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